PSP Overheats, Leaving 2nd Degree Burns

[Gonad]

Link.

Asher Moses
February 8, 2008 - 10:18AM

Sony Australia said it stood by the quality of its PSP after one of the handheld games consoles overheated in a 12-year-old boy's pocket in the United States, leaving him with second-degree burns to the leg.

The company's local spokesman, Adrian Christie, said Sony was investigating the issue but "this case is an isolated matter".

The boy, Harold Clay, was burned while at school in the Detroit, Michigan suburb of Farmington Hills when the handheld gaming device in his pocket spontaneously caught fire and melted on to his leg.

"He said it wasn't a gradual heat. It really started heating up. He's always been taught, burn- fire- smoke, you drop and you roll. So, he was in his band class and he dropped and rolled," Harold's mother Sheila Clay told broadcaster Click On Detroit.

Police confirmed that the PSP had overheated. The boy's father, also Harold Clay, said the PSP wasn't turned on when the incident occurred.

Farmington Hills Public Schools district spokeswoman Diane Bauman told The Detroit News that the school was locked down after the incident so emergency medical personnel could get to the student.

And in an ironic twist, the game inside the PSP at the time was a racing title called "Burnout Legends".

Mr Christie said Sony had sold 10 million PSP handhelds but had not seen any evidence of a broader issue.

"I do not have access to the case specifics but I can assure you that we stand by the quality of all our first party PSP hardware and batteries," he said.

"We will be investigating the matter closely to ensure that whatever the circumstances we prevent it from occurring again."

A note on Sony's website advises PSP owners to only use genuine battery packs and chargers so as to "avoid hazards such as firing or explosion".

It said genuine battery packs and chargers are equipped with "protective devices that meet our quality standards" and using batteries without such devices "may cause a failure or an accident".

Stupid kid, but the idea of a PSP overheating while turned off is not positive.

 

[jack]

That would be because it was more likely on, and why did the kid have it in his pocket during school? I smell bullshit, because I've had one for almost 4 years, and they only heat up when they're on for more than an hour straight.

 

[Marquis De Sade]

 

[whisky]

Do these things take regular batteries, because this sounds to me a lot like be put one in the wrong way, or mixed two different brands, I had a remote control do something similar once.

Youd be surprised how two little 1.5 volt batteries can overheat real fast if they are cross conected.

I littererally had to throw it from my hand, and luckily the batteries popped out at that point or I dont doubt that remote would have gone up in flames too.

 

[Marquis De Sade]

I'm getting one.

I approve of :

Metal Gear Solid : Portable Ops
Final Fantasy 7 : Crisis Core
LocoRoco

 

[Parallaxis]

I have a PS2 Slim and that thing, as Rodney McKay would say, operates in a state of controlled melt down.

It gets hot, freakin major hot.