So this is something that I've been curious about for a while. My roommate told me that if I put my laptop on my bed, it will overheat. I told him he was a damn fool and still use my laptop on my bed. Was I right? Oh, and if a recently made laptop does start to overheat, will it shut down automatically, or just fry everything?
I know for a fact my my son's laptop gets actually physically hot because he got me to feel it one day! It doesn't fry automatically; but after it gets really hot and stays hot for more than 2 hours, you probably should shut it down for a bit. He never said anything about it shutting down; but it seems he said it didn't function as well if got too hot for too long. I know he has gone through one, and this is his 2nd laptop (that I know about)
its just a bad general use practice imo. they tend to suck up alot of dust/hair from odd surfaces such as beds, floors, etc. which clogs up the cpu heat sink, making the computer run hotter, decreasing performance, and the overall life of the electrical components. i have spent plenty of time taking apart numerous peoples laptops to clean said dust out.
How long depends on how the laptop is designed. Once I pulled about a glass-full of hair and dust from a laptop heat sink. Setting a laptop on a bed is more likely to cause an overheat as opposed to a flat, open surface. Ideally, you want the fan holes to have lots of open air to breathe. Don't smuffacate yer laptopz!
i clean mine about once a year, maybe more often if you use your computer on odd surfaces. if you have little screw drivers, are very intuitive about dismantling small fragile things, and can remember where to replace about 30 very small screws, then yes, you can do it.
Well damit I decided to clean mine yesterday,(it was icky). Well now I have to get a new power plug my battery won"t charge.So I have to use hubbys laptop,or my home computer...I want mine back!!!
Your roomate is definitetly right on this one. It's a big time no no to place a laptop on a bed or any soft surface which will choke it's airflow. It will get hot and shut down when it gets too hot. The first thing most people do when this happens is too immediately try to turn it back on. You should allow the machine to cool back down (at least 10 minutes) before trying to refire it. Continual overheating will result in the laptop going to sleep for good, until you replace the burned out parts.
I ordered a power plug yesterday,I wont get it until Sat,so I went and bought one from Radio Shack today,could'nt wait any longer...
I use mine on the bed all the time....but I put an old lp record or a stiff cardboard mailer under it to keep the air inlets unobstructed...Ive never got it hot enough to shut off but I been surprised a few times when I forgot to plug it in and it powers off with no warning ....and if I leave it unattended I always flip it upside down
