My Laptop is so hot!!

T4i

I'm hot and burning, can I buy a fan that will fit round my head?

homersimpson_3

lap tops get very hot because the components are so packed together- it's one of the sacrifices that has to be made for portability. you know when it's getting really hot by feeling the underneath; because the fan will usually kick in or things start slowing down. create as much space around it as possible so the air is circulating as much as it can and don't take it out into direct sunlight without adequate protection- all laptops are extremely sensitive to direct sunlight. classic mistake. the time i've seen people in the park on a very hot day with laptops on their laps is just beyond belief- they then wonder why the thing breaks. the recommended time it should be on should be contained in manufacturers instructions. let it fully cool down.

T4i

....and if you have to sit in the garden with little shade get a floor-standing fan or desk fan and point it on you and the laptop.

Its all about circulation.

Basil_Fawlty

I'm not going to contact Dell again they are a bunch of c**** - last time it took them 42 mins to agree to send me a new modem cable :mad: I could probably have bought a new one with the cost of the call :mad: I'll look into that fan - looks quite interesting actually.

Hey Crabman! :rotfl:

Sheel

T4i wrote:

I'm hot and burning, can I buy a fan that will fit round my head?

How about THIS!

I used to have a problem with my lappy overheating , but bought a cooling pad and it has helped a great deal. Can't show you the pad I have as I bought it from Lakeland and they don't sell it any more.

T4i

Sheel wrote:

How about THIS!

Will it make me run quicker too?

Kraken_2

For Dell laptops ONLY then you could try this:

http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/index.html

It's FREE (which fits nicely into the MSE mindset) and I've used it successfully on 2 Dell C640 Latitudes - but it IS compatible with Inspirons as well, see the BIG list of compatible machines at the link provided above - scroll down a bit!

The only downside is the fans can get noisy when they go to higher speeds , *but* it does cool the laptop down alot. If you go in to the configuration settings you can manually set the temperatures that will trigger the increased fan speed when they are reached. I found the Latitudes struggle to get below 42C when the CPU is idle, so going for silly low temperatures won't work.
Fan speed maximum is level 63 (??) and setting fan speed at level 40 for 42C plus, level 50 for 48C plus, level 60 for 58C plus and level 63 (ie Max) for 63C plus seems to work well for me.
If you check the box for 2nd Fan on the configuration tabs you may find your machine has one - some do, the Latitude C640s do for instance. 2 x fans = faster quicker.

Just set the temperature control ranges on the CPU and leave the rest of the settings tabs for temperature alone (GPU,HDD etc) having ticked the 2nd fan. If there isn't a second fan it wont use it (duh!).
My 2.4Ghz Centrino Latitude with 1GB RAM runs around 42/43C at idle and 54-56C when I'm actively running several programs - it does gets hotter if the disk is getting a lot of use.

You can also opt to have a "handy" Tooltray temperature readout too!

One Dell supplied fix that works for SOME laptops is a BIOS upgrade, but that **can be very risky** (read: kill your machine) if you muck it up while doing it.

I M P O R T A N T
The author of the program, Dell (AND ME) *do not* warrant the I8kfan software on YOUR machine - it's entirely at your risk if you decide to try it.
I have not heard of anyone having issues (and the software has been around several years) but obviously this is not a guarantee in your case if you try it.