NEC Japan has asked anyone who bought in a Valuestar H all-in-one desktop PC manufactured between November 2003 and June 2004 to contact the company for a free replacement after two of the machines caught fire, the company said today.

The machines are believed to have contained faulty power supply units which produced sparked to produce smoke and flames. No one was injured, it appears. However, to prevent such an outcome, NEC said it would replace machines potentially containing the same PSU.

The recall covers models PC-HV3007A and PC-VG11NWZEF, the latter sold exclusively through NEC's Japanese online store. The model numbers are displayed on the back of the Valuestar's display unit, and NEC urged all owners to check their machines to see whether they are due a replacement, even if they use their computers only occasionally.

According to a Reuters report, some 14,600 such PCs shipped in Japan. NEC has yet to put a figure on the cost of replacing the machines. ®