Gadgets and gizmos

If you own a fairly recent model of Sony Vaio laptop that you didn’t buy here in the UK then you might be interested to learn that it’s just about ready to overheat, explode, and generally fall apart by the sound of the recalls that are going on. Nearly half a million of the popular Sony laptop manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008 and sold in one of 48 countries have been recalled because some dodgy wiring may cause the units to overheat.

Some 440,000 laptops from the TZ series of Vaio units are said to potentially suffer from the problem and a recall notice has been issued to all those that have possibly been affected. The biggest hit country of the 48 is unsurprisingly Japan, where 67,000 units are expected to be effected.

The problem has occurred because a small wire has been placed too closely to the lid hinge and its proximity means that it’s prone to overheating. 209 reports of overheating have been received with several complains that the technical fault has led to owners being burned. No incidents have been reported with UK models and Sony believes there is no reason to recall UK laptops.