Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Household

Let’s be honest — after sinking a few large on a new HDTV, a few hundies on some overpriced cables and even more on HD programming, you weren’t about to cough up another month’s paycheck for a decent TV stand. For the 48,600 customers out there who purchased one of four different King Pao Enterprise TV Stands (likely sold and distributed by Studio RTA), you now have a product known for tipping over and ruining lives. The E Series, Fierro, Madison DLP and Madison 3000 — all of which were sold at Best Buy and other big box retailers from May 2004 to August 2008 — have been deemed unstable and unfit for use in your living room, and it’s suggested that you cautiously remove your set and wait for a “repair kit” before it does the removing for you. Godspeed.

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Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

Maybe it’s a netbook, or maybe it’s a ridiculously small notebook. Whatever it is, it’s recalled. Raon Digital has issued a recall for its delightfully tiny Everun Note due to a handful of “failure symptoms” detailed on its Korean website. Best we (and Pocketables) can tell, users hearing a high-pitched fan tone, seeing a “Blue Screen phenomenon,” or getting torched by an unfathomably hot CPU have a problematic unit, and even if your battery indicator is acting wonky, you too are entitled to a replacement. It’s not clear whether affected users will be gifted with a new unit or if they’ll receive their old machine back in tip-top condition, but either way, we’d hit the read link and do a little investigating if you own one of these puppies.

[Via Pocketables]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Hey, remember that tiny power adapter you got with your new iPhone? Well guess what? It could get a little dangerous — so Apple wants you to swap it for a newer, less dangerous one. Apparently, the adapter’s metal prongs can break right off, thus creating a “risk of electrical shock” and general mellow-harshing. The company issued a recall today for any of the “Ultracompact USB Power Adapters” which came with iPhone 3Gs in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and “several Latin American countries” (don’t worry, they’ve got a list). Check the read link to figure out if you’ve got the bad kind of adapter, and for goodness sake, be careful when unplugging that thing!

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Filed under: Laptops

Here’s an interesting, albeit confusing, story: we’re getting word that MSI has recalled some Wind laptops running SUSE Linux, since some random oddities had snuck onto the disk image. Namely, illegal screener copies of movies and some family photos. That could explain MSI’s temporary delay in shipping this thing out — a preemptive recall — but the when, where and what of the recall are a bit hazy, so we recommend rummaging around for the files just in case they’re eating up your hard drive room or contain that one flick you were dying to watch with large “Screener copy!” signs flashing past.

[Thanks, Patrick S.]

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Filed under: Laptops

Look Sony, nobody’s rooting for your recovery more than your pals at Engadget. But seriously, two major recalls — first the $200+ million battery fiasco now 440,000 VAIOs — in two years? No wonder your stock is at a 3-year low.

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Filed under: Laptops

Look Sony, nobody’s rooting for your recovery more than your pals at Engadget. But seriously, two major recalls — first the $200+ million battery fiasco now 440,000 VAIOs — in two years? No wonder your stock is at a 3-year low.

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Filed under: Laptops

Own a Sony VAIO TZ? Well, we hate to be the bearers of bad news but your TZ is likely infected by a possibly dangerous manufacturing boo boo. As such, all VAIO TZ models sold between May 2007 and July 2008 are subject to overheating (unrelated to the Lithium Ion battery, mind you) and eligible for free repair. So far, the announcement only covers Japan, we have yet to see any announcements for the rest of world. However, we do have a reader tip saying that US-based Micro Center stores have pulled all the VAIO TZs from its shelves. We’ll update you with US and European support information just as soon as it’s available. For now, check the Japanese machine translated models listed after the break.

Update: And here we have it, the official statement of voluntary recall for the US. 73,000 VAIO TZs — VAIO VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VGN-TZ2000 series sold between July 2007 and August 2008 — are affected after 15 reports of overheating resulting in one consumer who suffered a minor burn. Full notice after the break.

[Via Impress, thanks BigDaddyM]

Continue reading Sony recalling VAIO TZ models due to overheating risk (Update: now official for US)

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Filed under: Laptops

So now that HP’s joined Dell in releasing information on which laptops have those defective NVIDIA GPUs, we can sort of piece together which chips are faulty — and just as had been rumored, it looks like basically every Geforce 8600M and 8400M chip is affected. That’s not good news for NVIDIA, which has been saying that only “previous-generation” chips were problematic — unless the chipmaker is planning on updating the hugely popular 8×00 series sometime, say, now, that’s not exactly true, now is it? Other affected chips appear to be in the GeForce Go 7000 and 6000 lines, as well as the Quadro NVS 135M and the Quadro FX 360M, but that’s just looking at model numbers, and we can’t be exactly sure. We’d say that if you’ve got a machine with any one of these GPUs, it might be wise to call in and see what your laptop maker is going to do — and it would be smart for NVIDIA to come right out and say exactly how big and how bad this problem really is.

Read - Dell list of machines and patch
Read - HP list of machines, extended warranty info

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Filed under: Cellphones

Hey, you remember the Neonode N2? The OG full-face touchscreen phone? Well, better cherish those memories, since every N2 is being recalled due to “reception problems.” A fix is apparently ready to go, but seeing as we haven’t heard a peep from Neonode since it promised us a totally new OS and handsets back at CES, we’ve got a feeling you might be better off swapping out handsets for a while — besides, who still uses EDGE?

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

NVIDIA’s stock took a pretty big hit last week when it announced that “significant quantities” of “previous-generation” GPUs and mobile and communications processors were defective and that it would take a $250M charge against earnings to repair and replace the affected chips, but the company didn’t say which chips specifically were faulty, nor how many. That might be because the problem is much worse than it even sounds — according to a report in The Inquirer, every single G84 and G86 GPU in the 8400M and 8600M series of cards is affected. Apparently both chips share an ASIC, and the core design suffers from the same heat-related issues. That certainly implicates a “significant quantity” of chips, all right, but this is just a rumor for now — one that’s probably best handled by NVIDIA stepping up and letting its customers know exactly how big the problem is.

[Thanks, Rich]

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Filed under: Laptops

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/hardware/NVIDIA_significant_quantities_of_laptop_GPUs_defective’; If you’re the type to watch the late stock tickers, you might have noticed that NVIDIA’s stock just took a pretty big hit, down 24 percent to $13.56 — that’s because the company just informed investors that “significant quantities” of previous-generation graphics chips have been failing at “higher than normal rates,” and that it’s lowering its Q2 estimates due to pricing pressure. NVIDIA will be taking a $150M to $250M charge against earnings next quarter to cover the cost of repairing and replacing the affected chips, but didn’t specifically announce what products were defective, just that they include GPUs and “media and communications processors.” Laptop makers have apparently already been given an updated GPU driver which kicks in fans sooner to reduce “thermal stress” on the GPU, and NVIDIA says it’s talking to its suppliers about being reimbursed for the faulty parts. That’s great and all, but we’d really rather know which chips specifically are failing — if you’re serious about playing in the big leagues, you better come clean, guys.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Hey you. Yeah, you. You’re about to beam that resume facsimile-style to a prospective employer, aren’t you? If said machine is a Hewlett-Packard Fax 1010 or 1010xi, we’re recommend firing (ahem) it over through email instead. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with HP, has issued a voluntary recall for the aforementioned fax machines after receiving three reports of “overheating,” two of which resulted in “minor property damage.” If you just so happen to own one of these machines, and you’d prefer your abode not be burned to the ground anytime soon, we’d suggest following the read link and applying for your rebate. After you unplug the machine and shove it in the freeze, of course.

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Filed under: Laptops

It’s not like LG hasn’t had issues with its batteries before, and even after confirming that they were unquestionably safe just last week, the firm has suddenly removed its Z1-AE007 from the market after suspecting that faulty batteries may be included. Reportedly, one of said models “caught fire” in Seoul and presumably startled the graduate student who owned it, but a company spokesperson stopped short of proclaiming that a recall was in order. Furthermore, the individual noted that “the matter should be consulted with the battery maker,” essentially shoving every ounce of blame as far as humanly possible away from LG.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Early adopters of Sony Ericsson’s W910i on the Orange network may have noticed that their phones suffer a tiny little flaw — shutting down 10 seconds into a phone call. The bug only wormed its way into a small number of W910s sold by Orange, but the two companies aren’t taking any chances — they’ve recalled every W910i sold thus far for inspection and repair / replacement. Models in stores now are apparently fine, but we’re hearing scattered reports of replacements having the same problem as well. No word on what’s causing the problem, but we can’t seem to get through to SE to get more details — the call keeps ending, for some reason.

[Via TrustedReviews]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We’ve all broken down and done a little late-night discount pharmacy gadget shopping, so we promise not to judge — but if you’ve got a Coby DVD boombox stashed away in your place, you might want to run and unplug it real quick. Coby’s just issued a recall of 12,000 TF-DVD170 and TF-DVD176 DVD boomboxes sold between May 2006 and October 2007 because they have the unfortunate habit of overheating and starting fires. This isn’t the first time we’ve mentioned the words “Coby,” “overheat,” “fire” and “recall” all in one post — looks like 2006 was a bad year to be a Coby fanboy.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Digital Cameras

It looks like Canon is pulling all EOS-1D Mark IIIl units from shelves in response to the autofocus issue plaguing their professional DSLR. In what appears to be a legitimate letter sent to dealers on October 25th, Canon states that they have “decided to stop shipment of all EOS-1D Mark III. We would therefore like to collect all unsold EOS-1D Mark III units from your stock.” A shipping recommencement date is promised at a later time. That’s a bold move by Canon since the issue only affects some of the units sold so far. Still, with a customer-focused action like that Canon, you’ve got our loyalties nailed.

[Thanks, Anand]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s not every day a company has to recall their recall, but Cybex International is once again recalling six different treadmill models just two weeks after first recalling them — because the wire nuts used in the first recall repair are causing the units to overheat and catch fire. Five treadmills have gone up in smoke thus far, and if you own a Cybex 400T or 410T, Trotter 510, 525, or 535, or just the charmingly unbranded CXT+ treadmill, you may want to unplug their rig and pick up the phone ASAP. No word on what this next recall will cause, but we’re hoping for sentience with a dash of world domination.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Getting some nasty light in your PowerShot A650 IS pictures? Finding that no amount of Photoshop retouching can make your family photos look decent? Well, take heart — in might not be your fault. Canon has issued a recall for the aforementioned camera, due to a defect when shooting with the Vari-Angle LCD display under sunny conditions which allows light to leak through the body and cause image problems. The company’s US branch has yet to issue a statement, though Canon China has made the recall official, and we’re guessing other regions will follow suit. That is, we hope they will — we’ve got some familial engagements coming up, and those pictures need to look awesome.

[Via pictureline, thanks ElvisF]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!