liveoak Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I just bought my first laptop, a refurbished Dell Latitude D620. Over time, not much time, the touch pad and the areas on either side of it get really hot, esp the part over the battery... is this normal? 1. What can I do to reduce the heat? Right now I have it hanging over the edge of the table. That helps a little bit. 2. Another question: Can I leave the recharger thing plugged in to the wall even when I'm not using it? It has a little green light that's on. 3. If I leave the recharger plugged into the laptop overnight, longer than it takes to charge up the battery, is that harmful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r2mnot Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 It shouldn't be that hot. I think you need to take it back. If it overheats, chances are good that it will fry itself. Oh, and I leave mine plugged in when I'm not using it, except when I forget to plug it in, which is fairly often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrea3821 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I just bought my first laptop, a refurbished Dell Latitude D620. Over time, not much time, the touch pad and the areas on either side of it get really hot, esp the part over the battery... is this normal? 1. What can I do to reduce the heat? Right now I have it hanging over the edge of the table. That helps a little bit. 2. Another question: Can I leave the recharger thing plugged in to the wall even when I'm not using it? It has a little green light that's on. 3. If I leave the recharger plugged into the laptop overnight, longer than it takes to charge up the battery, is that harmful? I'm not sure you can necessarily reduce the heat (I have a Dell, too) but maybe get something to block the heat from YOU, like one of those pillow thingies? I leave my charger plugged in 24/7 and leave the laptop plugged in unless I go somewhere and take it with me. I have heard the same thing about batteries in general, though, so maybe it is harmful. When mine heats up, it makes me sweat if it's on my lap. I've noticed, though, that the left side of it is what gets hottest (I think that's where the fan is) and my battery is on the right back side.... My touchpad doesn't usually get too hot but since I've been doing a lot of downloading lately, it's using more energy I guess and making it heat up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nalgas Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 It depends entirely on the particular model of laptop (what kind of processor, what kind of cooling (fans, etc.), and various other things) how hot is "normal". Some, generally low-powered ones, stay cool to the touch, and others, particularly ones intended as desktop replacements, are nearly always uncomfortably hot. That said, pillow bad! Putting your laptop on a pillow or a blanket or something else that's a great insulator may keep the hot bits from touching you, but since they're good insulators, they're also good at keeping the laptop warm, which only aggravates the problem. On top of that, if it's on top of something soft and squishy like a pillow or comforter and sinks in a bit because of its weight, you can end up blocking the air vents, which also makes it worse. As far as leaving it plugged in, the power/charging circuits these days are "smart" enough to turn on/off things and charge/not charge as needed. It's actually better to leave your laptop plugged in whenever it's convenient to do so (e.g. when you're not using it or you're sitting at your desk with it or something like that), because it'll extend the battery life. With the type of battery currently used, their life span is generally measured in "charge cycles", or the number of times you drain and then recharge the battery. If it's plugged in, it's not running down the battery's charge. If you're really concerned about how hot the laptop is and want to keep it cooler, a few things can help. The more crap you have running on your computer that you don't need, the more power it's using (for the CPU and various other things), and that turns into waste heat. Making sure the fans/vents aren't blocked is good. You can also get laptop stands/pads to put them on, which raise them up a bit so they can get air flow beneath them. Some even have built-in fans to move even more air. Usually stuff like that is overkill, though, except with very high-powered laptops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrea3821 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 That said, pillow bad! Putting your laptop on a pillow or a blanket or something else that's a great insulator may keep the hot bits from touching you, but since they're good insulators, they're also good at keeping the laptop warm, which only aggravates the problem. On top of that, if it's on top of something soft and squishy like a pillow or comforter and sinks in a bit because of its weight, you can end up blocking the air vents, which also makes it worse. Thanks for clarifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveoak Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 Iff I had a fan, would I hear it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tryp Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Fuck, my first laptop was so hot I couldn't hold it on my lap. Only reason to be careful is that it's not good for computers to run hot - they'll break down faster. My last only lasted a year and it ran SO hot. You almost certainly DO have a fan - all computers have fans. But your fan might be sucky or just not doing it. The only thing that can really help other than buying some sort of cooling unit is to always keep the thing on a hard, flat surface (as above, soft stuff blocks the vents sometimes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayteana Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I think all laptops have fans. The fan broke in my old laptop, and instead of fixing it - I got one of those chill pads. Raised it up and had fans of it's own to cool the machine down. I can't imagine having to do that with a laptop that had a working fan, but if the heat is really bothering you, the option is out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grousemouse Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 you should be able to hear a fan if one is running. it's possible that since it's a refurb they forgot to plug the fan in to the power supply. i would google for software that will show you the temps of various places in your pc (cpu, harddrive, etc.). you can also get software that will allow you to manually increase the fan speed above what the system wants to run it at. i have one on my laptop called 'speedfan'. it runs the fans and also shows temps. not knowing the quality of the refurbishment it's hard to know what they did or didn't do. you could certainly just take it back to where you got it and complain. that's probably what i'd do. grouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isis Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I have a macbook, and sometimes it gets hot... for these reasons: - not putting it on a flat surface - i mean, if you put it on the bed it sinks a little and this blocks the vents - running too many programs. like... 20, at once.. it overloads it a bit - running out of memory.. yours is new so probably not. but mine is lacking space. - general overuse. i use mine for hours and hours at a time. like 14 hours. - not ever turning it off, but letting it just 'sleep' all the time. occasionally it helps to turn it off. - resting your hands ON the laptop. generally you are not supposed to do that (bad for posture anyway). my best advice: - find a forum for your computer (if they have one) and ask other people with exactly the same one - see if you can finda program to download that monitors heat and fan usage. you can actually manually increase the fan sometimes which helps - put your laptop on a stand or something that allows airflow underneath it. then some of the heat can escape. - call Dell support? they are usually pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N&P Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I have a cooling pad for my Macbook for when I have to run it with the top down and when I use it at a table or for long periods of time. The cooling pad plugs right into the Macbook. It sometimes gets hot when it's on my lap on top of blankets but then I just elevate it above the blankets a bit and it cools down. Get your fan checked and a cooling pad if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveoak Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 thanks for the replies. Funny thing. It got hot yesterday, but today it is cool as a cucumber, and it's been on all day long. i still think i'll take it back and have them check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.