Handspring has discovered a defect in a component of the backlight assembly in some of its Treo 90 and Treo 270 products, which can render the backlight inoperable. They say most of their Treo 90 and Treo 270 products will not experience this problem and the backlight failure does not in any way affect or cause loss of the user’s data. It is impossible for a user to determine whether a particular unit will fail, but in general, units that operate for longer than six weeks without backlight failure are unlikely to fail in the future.

Handspring is currently screening all units in its inventory for the defective component and is building new product with new, verified components. As a cautionary measure, the company is currently not shipping orders of Treo 90 and Treo 270 until the screening process is completed. Shipments should resume within the next two to three weeks.