question about cooling of laptops

But there was a lot of hype about the fires from notebooks, especially after the video hit the Internet.
In reality, I beleive the # was 7 worldwide caught fire or some # like that. A very, very low percentile, and several were traced back to batteries being inserted improperly or being of faulty make. These were mostly corrected last year with recalls from just about every manufacturer on batteries for certain model systems.

However, keeping it a little cooler will do nothing if the unit is defective. If it were to cause a fire, it would heat up very, very fast internally. Even extra fans would not prevent it.

But, heat in general on a notebook or any other computer is a bad thing. For around $20-$40 you can pick up a docking tray wich blows air onto the bottom of the unit. While many newer model notebooks have the vents on the side, not the bottom, I suspect that most of these are just a 'feel good' item.

If there is a vent on bottom that is not exhaust though, these can cool systems down pretty well.

Basically though, if there is an option in the BIOS to keep fans on while on AC power, this is a recommended option. Keeping it in a cooler place is also recommended.

Dan, maybe this show what a fink I am, but my first thought was, since you only recently bought the Lenovo, crunch away! If it fries, let the warranty cover it and act accordingly next time. Hehe--or not, it's up to you. // I had a laptop last year that ran so hot (an AMD 64 Turion) it was actually painful to touch, and I bought a Targus Coolpad ($25 @ Wal Mart), which kept it nice and cool. If you're holding the computer in your lap however, the CoolPad makes it cumbersome - a lot of sliding around, double thickness, more weight, etc., but I had to use it that way. // It seems to me that if you have the Lenovo on a flat, solid surface (a table, desk), then it should get plenty of air and should keep itself cool. I'd go for it.

Inky

Last night I was doing some research on lithium batteries. Heat destroys them. They are also the cause of concern regarding fires in you question. Based on the information I gathered, I would suggest that you first discharge the battery to about 40 percent and remove it from the computer.

Removing the battery during AC operation also helps the cooling of the NB.

And I rarely shut it down. I use a MacBook but have had both Dell and HP in the past.

Because the MacBook is UNIX, I leave it on and have some tasks that it manages when I am not using it. And then it goes back to sleep. I reboot every couple of weeks or so- but rarely turn it off.

I manage heat by using a bakers cooling rack. This is a wire device that raises the machine about an inch from the surface of the desk. Because it is a wide metal mesh, it allows air to circulate around the device completely with no hot spots.

You can find any number of fan based pads that will assist in cooling but so far, my low tech solution has been my favorite. I paid $5 for a pair of them and they easily accommodate a 17" laptop. Best of all, they require no power whatsoever and are easy to transport with the machine.

I use the rack as a preventative. The SO's Vaio began breaking down due to heat even though it wasn't physically too warm. The rack was an easy and inexpensive preventative measure.

Some old Dot Matrix Printer Stands work quite well at lifting the NB off a Table and placing it on an angle so that it's easier to use. This also prevents any covering of the Table/Desk getting sucked up and blocking the Air Intake though it does nothing to stop dust getting sucked in and eventually blocking the Air Passages up.

Cool Pads like the Antec one actually suck air under a NB and direct it down to the surface that it's sitting on so any dust and other airborne junk has a faster Kenetic Energy and fails to get sucked into the NB and this I've found is a necessity in keeping NB Clean & Cool. The Heat Sink Fins never get blocked up and things like the Battery & HDD remain much cooler that they otherwise would making the NB last longer.

Col

Actually the issue of heat kills battery life. If you keep the laptop plugged in 24/7 just pull out the battery and leave it out. It's usually best to drain down a battery to the point where the capacity is at about 40%. When you leave it in with the laptop plugged into the mains it will heat up and the heat affects the life of the battery. I don't know about Antec Cooling pads but I had one of their notebook coolers and that worked very well with the HP laptop I had.

But obviously, the heat will also affect the circuits and the hard drive so the cooler the laptop is while it's running, the better it will be.

When I started doing DVD writes the laptop
was a Pizza oven, so I found small 5VDC fans
(1x1x1/4 inch) and made a guide to suck out
the heat zone and ran them off the USB port?

Also I decided to have a monitor to view what
is going on when BIG CPU/Memory/D'Drive stuff
got loaded down.
Found a FREE solution that works great and has a Professional upgrade for more intense
enterprise monitoring.
Notebook Hardware Control at this URL:
http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc.htm#anchor_download