Not two years after Sony were forced to recall 4.1 million laptop batteries which were placed in Dell, Apple and Lenovo notebooks and which were prone to overheating problems, they are forced to do so again. This time it is with their own VAIO line of notebooks, specifically the VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200, VGN-TZ300 and VGN-TZ2000 series, which, because of "irregularly positioned wires near the computer's hinge and/or dislodged screw inside the hinge," are susceptible to short-circuits and overheating, possibly even posing a fire risk, as one user found out when her arm was scorched by her VAIO.

Sony are offering a free inspection, either at home/the workplace or by shipping the notebook to one of their service centers, and in case of an affected unit, a free repair.

Sony said that they do not expect the problem to cost them very much because no other companies have been affected and the problem is relatively simple to fix, the affected notebook being returned to the user quickly after repairs. Nevertheless the company has been criticized for being too slow in reporting the problem to Japanese regulators, as they only reported it last month despite having been aware of it for the past year. Toshihiro Nikai, Japan's economy, trade and industry minister, is quoted as saying, "It is not appropriate, given how big the issue is.”

The VAIO line has struggled with falling profits due to a combination of powerful competition and falling sales prices, and despite this new problem, Sony are determined to turn VAIO into a 1000 billion Yen business by the end of fiscal year 2010.