Hi everybody. If you own a laptop computer you know how complicated they are by looking at how many parts that they try to place in a very small area. These tight quarters allow you to have a system that is small and lightweight but the amount of heat that is produced is almost always greater then that of a desktop counterpart. For this reason, there are some common sense things you should remember when operating your laptop. In this column, we will discuss some of the things you can do to help prolong their life.

Today’s laptops are like a modern marvel. They allow you to take your work almost anywhere so you are not confined to a single location. I have often seen customers placing their laptops on the bed, on the couch and yes, as the name implies, on their lap. The thing all these places have in common is that the surfaces are soft. The soft surface of a pillow or cushion can block the bottom ports of the machine.

This can lead to overheating and in some cases, damage to internal components. Whenever you need to place your laptop on a surface that is not solid, you should use a laptop cooler or a portable laptop stand. These devices ensure that the machine is not placed directly on the soft surface. Laptop coolers are fans built into a portable stand that you can place on your desk or anyplace you want to place the machine. These fans help to remove heat from under the computer so it stays cooler. In my tests, I have seen as much as a 10-degree difference in the operating temperature of the laptop we tested.

As like desktops, laptops can also accumulate dust and dirt in the cooling fins of the processor. You should use some canned air from time to time and blast away any dirt that is located around the cooling ports of the laptop. You might be surprised to see how much dirt might actually come out when you spray it. Be sure the machine is off when perform this operation. You can also use the air to blast away any dust or crumbs that might have accumulated in the keyboard. If your computer is running very slow and you have had a software cleanup performed and you have performed the steps I just described, your processor fan might not be working properly. While the machine is running, place your hand near the area where the fan blows out of the case. You should feel at least some hot air being discharged through the airport. If you do not, there is a good chance that the fan is defective. Laptop fans are complicated and sometimes expensive to replace. If the machine is older, you might want to consider a new machine over replacing the fan. This is something you would have to weigh out.

 

Author:  Joe Zelenak, Staff Writer