Re: Heat a problem with laptops?

Hula Baloo wrote:
I have my first new laptop since the days of the 286 chip (early 90s), and am curious about the potential for heat problems I've heard so much about with laptops. My new laptop is a Toshiba Satellite A215-S5825 with an AMD Athlon dual processor TK-55 1.8 GHz CPU, 120 GB Fujitsu 5400 RPM HD, 1.5 GB DDR2 PC5300 RAM. This machine is far from the top of the line ones, so I'd think heat would be less of a problem. On the other hand I know there's a lot of stuff cramed into a tiny space in this thing, and you're always seeing ads for laptop coolers. I'd really not bother with one of these coolers, and I do have a 4 year maintenance contract, but if the CPU, mobo, or other components are in jeopardy from heat, I might need one. My normal use of this machine is a couple of hrs. daily in my lap in my den, connected to my cable broadband via my Wi-Fi router and plugged into the house AC power. Sitting in my lap, I doubt if the air flow is optimal, but the power supply fan never seems to be running very fast nor its output all that hot (it's pretty warm air, but you can hold your hand next to it as long as you want without discomfort).
Any feedback about the need for a laptop cooler would be highly appreciated. TIA


The newer notebooks are, I believe, heat-proofed to some extent. There are generally CPU sensor(s) that will lead to an overheat shutdown, thus preserving the integrity of the CPU and mainboard in the event of a cooling system failure.

I note that most cooling fan inlets are screened to reject hair, fur, pizza, etc, that were the main culprits in plugging the inlet to the heat-pipe heat exchanger.

Also, total power consumption with the newer CPUs is down substantially compared to the previous single core 2.6Ghz Pentium chips (as an example), so cooling is somewhat less of an issue that say five years ago.

Notebook cooling pads are simply a waste of money and time. None do anything but cool the bottom case surface where little internal heat is rejected. I hope that those USB-powered cooler manufacturers are sued into oblivion when the notebook's USB is burned to the ground for no apparent benefit.

Q
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