Laptop Fire kills man in Vancouver

[thetransporter]

I think its about time, makers like Apple HP, Toshiba, Dell, Acer, make their computers run as cool as Sony VAIOs, in addition just to using Sony Batteries.





Laptop fire blamed for Vancouver death



Apple laptops were among several recalled by manufacturers because of
problems with overheating batteries causing burns.

26/08/2009 3:07:13 PM

CBC News
An overheated laptop computer left on a couch caused a fire that killed a 56-year-old Vancouver man, the Coroners Service of British Columbia has concluded.


The fire took place six months ago, but the victim's name has not been released.

The fire started after the computer was left on a couch, plugged in and turned on. Because of the lack of ventilation under the laptop, less than an hour later the lithium-ion battery overheated and burst into flames, sparking the fire that eventually killed the man.

The coroner did not release the make of computer involved in the death, but did say several makes of laptops have been recalled in recent years due to problems with lithium-ion batteries overheating and bursting into flames.

Since 2004 in B.C., four other laptops have either overheated or short-circuited when left plugged in, causing fires. The death earlier this year, however, was the first in B.C. blamed on a laptop fire, the coroner said in statement issued Wednesday morning.

And there have been 15 other fires caused by short-circuiting or overheating in such equipment as personal computers, DVD players, and cellphone chargers.

Safety recommendations

The coroner's office recommended anyone using a laptop take the following precautions.

- Always operate on a hard surface that allows ventilation. Soft materials can block the airflow vents and cause it to overheat.

- If it is not possible to avoid using a soft surface, an optional heat-sink base should be used to maintain cooling.

- Always shut down your laptop, even for short periods of time, especially when placed in a carry bag.

- Inspect and clean the air vents on a weekly basis. Forced-air dusters can be used to keep the vents clean and free from debris.

- Replace any equipment or parts that do not work.

- Using a laptop desk or cooler to allow air circulation between the laptop and the desk

- Visit the Health Canada recall listings website to see if a laptop has been recalled.

- Review the manufacturers' website for additional safety tips and recommended maintenance.

[Masked Bandit]

Hello Lawsuit!

[TorqueDog]

I don't think you should be able to sue for something this idiotic.

"Wow, this thar computer box sure gets warm! Uhyuk!"

With every laptop I've ever owned, the documentation clearly states not to do exactly this due to risk of fire, overheating, or burns.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by TorqueDog
I don't think you should be able to sue for something this idiotic.

"Wow, this thar computer box sure gets warm! Uhyuk!"

With every laptop I've ever owned, the documentation clearly states not to do exactly this due to risk of fire, overheating, or burns.

You don't think there'll be a lawsuit on this? May I remind you that coffee is hot and should not be placed on your crotch?

[TorqueDog]

Originally posted by Masked Bandit
You don't think there'll be a lawsuit on this? May I remind you that coffee is hot and should not be placed on your crotch?

Originally posted by TorqueDog
I don't think you should be able to sue for something this idiotic.

I'm sure someone is bound to suggest legal action, but I don't think they should be able to. Someone already tried to protect you from your own stupidity.

[B4tMan]

The reason they have that coffee warning is because someone won a lawsuit against them.

[FraserB]

I dont see why HP is on that list. My HP never gets hot, even when I accidentally left it on my bed for a few hours.

[beyond_ban]

Does anyone know what kind of laptop started the fire??

[TurboD]

Originally posted by beyond_ban
Does anyone know what kind of laptop started the fire??

The coroner did not release the make of computer involved in the death

really what difference does it make?
if 10 000 laptops all of the sudden caught fire, then i would say its important that you know what the make and model is.

but one laptop, the make and model are really not important information.

[beyond_ban]

I was just wondering... and i defs just skimmed the article so i didn't see that.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by thetransporter
I think its about time, makers like Apple HP, Toshiba, Dell, Acer, make their computers run as cool as Sony VAIOs, in addition just to using Sony Batteries.

Yeah, because Sony VAIOs never have wiring or battery problems:

This also pales in comparison to the recall of nearly 10 million of a different model of Sony batteries in 2006 and 2007, which affected almost every major PC manufacturer, including Dell Inc. and Apple Inc.

In this batch of problematic laptops, the bulk of the 35,000 affected computers in the U.S. were sold by HP between December 2004 and June 2006, according to the safety commission, including HP Pavilion, HP Compaq and Compaq Presario models.

Some Dell Latitude and Inspiron models shipped between November 2004 and November 2005 are also covered by the recall, as well as some Toshiba Satellite and Tecra laptops sold from April 2005 to October 2005.

[ZenOps]

Probably no positive outcome lawsuit.

Plenty of houses have been burnt down by all sorts of appliances, from toaster ovens to hair dryers.

They all have warnings of some sort - but If you can plug it in - the responsibility is mostly on you to make sure you use it in a responsible manner. IE: If you open up your car and try to relieve pressure from the radiator cap by unscrewing it while still hot - no court would charge a carmaker with any injuries you may take.

Likewise - it should be more common sense to operate a computer in a ventilated area, much like having adequate airflow for a toaster oven.

Common sense seems to disappear when people get their hands on a laptop.

[msommers]

Candles should come with a warning, "May start house on fire."

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by thetransporter

The fire started after the computer was left on a couch, plugged in and turned on. Because of the lack of ventilation under the laptop, less than an hour later the lithium-ion battery overheated and burst into flames, sparking the fire that eventually killed the man.

I don't even leave my netbook on the couch, and it barely gets warm.

Hey, I know, I should put my toaster on the couch, and then make toast until it burns my house down, and sue the toaster company!

[dirtsniffer]

I'm pretty sure the couch fire killed him.. the fire from the laptop would be small...

FUCK YOUR COUCH..

[thetransporter]

Originally posted by FraserB
I dont see why HP is on that list. My HP never gets hot, even when I accidentally left it on my bed for a few hours.

doesnt count if the computer doesnt even turn on anymore... HP' notebooks are nitrous for complete failure.

[thetransporter]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz


Yeah, because Sony VAIOs never have wiring or battery problems:

Yes, no company is perfect, why do they all use Sony batteries if sony is a problem?

It was bad design of the non sony computers (thermal, airfloor, etc) that contributed to the fires)

Not one sony computer battery was recalled, except for the Tx250p batteries, for un related matter... (charging errors)

try calling apple, hp, etc and getting a replacement battery cause your battery is not charging right.. yeah right...

That $120 million dollar recall acutally helped sony, consumers realized , "oh all the companies use sony batteries, lets by a sony computer"

i am not saying sony is the best , but they have the lowest rate of returm, and the highest life in terms of continuous use. ..


The company I worked for was the first company in North America (even hollywood) to use Sony VAIO notebooks to replace their IBM fleet (thinkpads) they too where duriable, however BATTERY Life always sucked.

[hampstor]

shitty to hear this happen... i'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. Notebooks generate a shitload of heat - i wonder if he had it on the couch and the vents were blocked. There is a reason why warning labels always say to never heat batteries!! RIP.

thetransporter, you need to check your facts before you making some of these statements. You made a few errors but i'll only point out a few :

- The actual flaw in the batteries recalled was due to contaminants in the foil from flawed processes partially originating from when they retooled their factory. It is not the OEM/ODM's fault.

- Sony's marketshare in notebook sales for north america is in the neighborhood of 4-5%. No one is flocking to them because of the battery recall. Their market share continues to shrink year of year. I wouldn't be surprised if they withdrew from the PC market within the next few years.

- congrats on the company replacing their entire fleet of IBM Thinkpads with Sony notebooks. I find it hard to believe any business at an enterprise or even an SMB space would buy Sony notebooks. They are overpriced for what you are getting and they don't offer 24x7 onsite service. Next time you think to say 'call IBM/Lenovo' and try to get a battery replaced because it's not charging right, I can tell you for a fact that I have had IBM/Lenovo come out with a new battery and install it for one of our staff (at a hotel in Ontario) within 24 hours of me making that service call.

Sony is the 'Apple' of the PC world. They try and differentiate themselves by having products that are more about a 'lifestyle'. Apple can get away with it because they also offer unique functionality (MacOS) while Sony offers pretty much the same functionality as everyone else on the Windows PC market.

[thetransporter]

Originally posted by hampstor
shitty to hear this happen... i'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. Notebooks generate a shitload of heat - i wonder if he had it on the couch and the vents were blocked. There is a reason why warning labels always say to never heat batteries!! RIP.

thetransporter, you need to check your facts before you making some of these statements. You made a few errors but i'll only point out a few :

- The actual flaw in the batteries recalled was due to contaminants in the foil from flawed processes partially originating from when they retooled their factory. It is not the OEM/ODM's fault.

- Sony's marketshare in notebook sales for north america is in the neighborhood of 4-5%. No one is flocking to them because of the battery recall. Their market share continues to shrink year of year. I wouldn't be surprised if they withdrew from the PC market within the next few years.

- congrats on the company replacing their entire fleet of IBM Thinkpads with Sony notebooks. I find it hard to believe any business at an enterprise or even an SMB space would buy Sony notebooks. They are overpriced for what you are getting and they don't offer 24x7 onsite service. Next time you think to say 'call IBM/Lenovo' and try to get a battery replaced because it's not charging right, I can tell you for a fact that I have had IBM/Lenovo come out with a new battery and install it for one of our staff (at a hotel in Ontario) within 24 hours of me making that service call.

Sony is the 'Apple' of the PC world. They try and differentiate themselves by having products that are more about a 'lifestyle'. Apple can get away with it because they also offer unique functionality (MacOS) while Sony offers pretty much the same functionality as everyone else on the Windows PC market.

Thank you, that was very useful information, its great IBM is replacing batteries at a hotel after 24 hours...

Here in Calgary, WestPeak/SONY came within an hour after I plugged a staff vaio to a Toshiba TV via firewire and the TV fried the port (common problem on that tv) they looked at it, said they will replace the motherboard, they asked us if we would like to keep the notebook for tommorow, we said we didnt need it. (this was tuesday) Wednesday Evening they replaced the motherboard and keyboard (without us asking simply cause i took off a button while cleaning i didnt put it back on) Great Service. I know not every city has a WestPeak but they sure gave us good service.


We have VAIOs here from 2002. The batteries still hold 1.5 hour charges. This great.


We love thinkpads too, they are bulky, but the recovery sucked the worst, it would have a recovery partition, it would use windows 98 (yes in 2009) part of its recovery, extracting 1 file at time in its win98-dos batch commands, it would take a long long time. It was stupid things like that that made us switch.

The IBM thinkpads are better then Sonys in many ways, but long term practical use the VAIO's turned out better for us.

[euphoria]

Originally posted by FraserB
I dont see why HP is on that list. My HP never gets hot, even when I accidentally left it on my bed for a few hours.

actually? my hp laptop is garbage, i leave it on my sofa for 2 minutes and its already hot. i swear if i really wanted to i could an egg on the underside of my laptop.