If You Have a Sony Laptop, You Need to Read the Warning the Company Sent Out

Sony released a warning Friday: If you have one of their Vaio laptops, users should "immediately discontinue use, shut down and unplug."

Done? No, really, go do it now. The Japanese manufacturer says the tablets have a massive battery problem that may cause a fire.

The Sony Vaio Fit 11 has a battery issue that may cause a fire, the company says users should immediately unplug and turn off any of these devices (Image via CNET).

According to Time, the electronics giant warned consumers its latest Vaio laptop, the Fit 11A -- also sometimes called the Flip 11 --  contains "a compromised battery pack that could overheat and burn the computer's housing."

“It has come to our attention that some of the internal, non-removable battery packs provided to us by a third party supplier and included in VAIO Fit 11A released in February 2014 have the potential to overheat resulting in partial burns to the housing of the PC,” Sony said in a press release.

The company is currently notifying over 25,000 Vaio owners about the potentially faulty batteries. The VAIO Fit 11A was introduced worldwide earlier this year, offering a small-screen update to the larger Fit convertible laptops, but the new version failed to make much of a dent in the market.

Sony says it sold 25,905 of the convertible tablets in total, including 497 in the US, 7,158 in Europe, and 3,619 in Japan. Sony will likely announce a formal recall shortly, according to the Verge.

The Vaio Fit 11A is a notebook with an 11.6 inch display that you can flip over so it lays flat against the keyboard, allowing it to be converted into a tablet. Sony launched the Fit 11 in February with a starting price of $799.

The Fit 11A received positive reviews when it was released in February, but the company is expected to issue a formal recall for the roughly 25,000 units sold. (Image source: YouTube)

Battery recalls aren't as common as they were last decade, but Global PC leader Lenovo was forced to recall over 150,000 battery packs for its popular ThinkPad line in early 2014 when the company discovered similar problems, and every year there are isolated incidents of phones "melting" in owners' pockets, according to The Verge.

Check out this video review from Liliputing — if you've purchased a flip tablet recently and this looks like your model, check Sony's website for instructions.

(H/T: Time)

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