Acer Recalls Aspire Laptops After Some Casings Melt

Acer is recalling about 22,000 Aspire laptop computers after customers reported that some models were overheating.

The problem lies in a microphone wire found underneath the notebook's palm rest, which can short-circuit and overheat, according to an alert published Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Acer initiated the recall after three customers (none of them from the U.S.) reported "light melting of the external casing."

The recalled notebooks are the Acer AS3410, AS3410T, AS3810T, AS3810TG, AS3810TZ and AS3810TZG. Affected units were sold between June and October of 2009, the Commission said. U.S. customers who believe they may own a recalled laptop can call 1-800-571-2237.

Acer apparently first notified European customers of the issue back in October, saying that the "microphone cable may overheat when extreme pressure is applied repeatedly to the left palm rest," in a note on its Web site.

The company could not immediately be reached for comment. A customer service representative said Friday that affected customers are being contacted via e-mail, but he declined to provide further information on the recall.