I have no idea why the heat shouldn't be blowing out the back or sides of these things instead of going downward. Forcing heat down and out of anything has to be harder and require more energy as heat naturally rises.

The vents on most laptops are to the back and sides, but a processor throws so much heat, that some still radiates through the shell of the laptop.

as heat naturally rises.

Time to go back and visit physics class Dan ... Heat radiates ... hot air rises.

These are LAP top computers. If you use a pillow underneath it becomes a pillowtop pc. I use a pillowtop on my mattress. A desk?..it is a desktop pc.

The whole idea was to be able to hold it on your lap.

Technology. With all this technology we have .....people have forgot how to use their brains. how long before we make a bathtub-top computer. Just float it in the tub....and don't forget to plug it in to charge it.

I would also offer that in addition to a possible heat link, there may be a radiation link from the electric fields generated by the computer being in such close proximity to skin. Although many of the big companies don't want to admit to such things, look at all the controversy surrounding cell phone use. Many laptops have wireless built in as well.

I find that when I start using my laptop or notebook, that you dont notice the heat at first, it takes a bit before you do, it does not get hot enought to the point that it is uncomfortable, you notice the heat after a while. After time I decided to use a lap pad and place the netbook on top of it. pillows can block vents and over heat the unit.

Peed-off Peon... you have just been demoted to "Pissed on Minion"... that was about the dumbest argument/excuse/ or display of knowledge that I have ever witnessed out here on the "Vine"... really.

You all have hit on the subject of the intelligence, or lack thereof, for those who have been burned by their laptops.......but as far as I can tell everyone missed the flipside of this.

Yes they radiate heat. Yes this heat can be detrimental to the user......and some of you even pointed out that they generate heat and must disperse it or it is detrimental to the device itself. To me this equals a known and wanton act of poor craftsmanship. Even when you take the human issue out of it......all the manufacturers realize that the thing that typically kills the laptop is their own heat. They should be using better heat sinks and heat dispersal systems. I'm taking it for granted that they do have the technology......my kid owns a video game store and they repair consoles. The biggest killer of 360's also happens to be heat and shoddy manufacturing. I'm not 100% sure what he does, but when he is done it produces significantly less heat, and operates significantly better.

Do I see a lawsuit in the future for laptop manufacturers? Quite possibly. I find it sad that it will require a lawsuit to force them to manufacture a machine with a better heat dispersal system......but all at the same time it may be a blessing to all of us shelling out our hard earned money on a product that's life is reduced greatly by their own construction. If it forces them to make a better machine......it may just be a good thing in the end. I just wish they would have done that all along even if it would have slightly raised the retail price.....but they are counting on their machines dying prematurely so we all have to replace them. No future revenues if you build a long living quality machine though.......even if it might generate ALOT more revenue in front end sales of a quality machine. As consumers we buy these machines knowing they will eventually die but hoping it takes a LONG TIME to do it. The manufacturers sell them alot like a tool company sells drill bits to a machine shop. They know they are going to die in short order and count on you placing orders for replacements.

I'm all for capitalism.....but I am not fond of poor business practices, foreign or domestic. Sell a quality product and let your recognition of that quality drive your sales. Volume for volumes sake is not good for the consumer at all.....and almost always eventually bites that company in the @ss.

What's the big deal here? I noticed that my laptop puts out enough heat to make it uncomfortable to have on my lap for any length of time, so I went out and bought a cooling pad for it for about 15 bucks. The pad has a cooling fan that blows air up from the bottom for additional cooling for the laptop (and my legs) and is comfortable enough to put on my lap.

Can't wait to see how many dumbasses start filing lawsuits because they think their laptop made them sterile.

There could be something to this. I've noticed a hot sensation sometimes when I run my hand over the range top. Maybe not during the day but around dinner time.

Yea I noticed when I step behind a jet turbine it seems really hot when it's running!! DUH!!!!

The main reason additional fans are not used in laptops is because fans draw a lot of current to run, especially dc fans, which drain the batteries at an alarming rate. So it's either a cooler operating laptop or shorter battery life.

82AllAmericans:

1. You might want to be a bit more tolerant of others;

2. You might want to learn to spot a joke when you see one.

Peed-off Peon: "Bathtub-top computers"! LOL! Hilarious! But they would probably only be good for one use I think! LOL! :)

Same here. I bought a cooling pad for my laptop as well even though I rarely ever use it while placing it in my lap. It keeps the laptop much cooler and prolongs it's life.

I have mine in my lap in the car on trips. How about they design the thing with fans.

The pillow idea is really bad unless you want to burn through motherboards on a regular basis. They need airflow to keep them cool, and adding an insulator, like a pillow, will shorten the life of your laptop dramatically.

There is almost some way you can position it where the processor is not near your body.

there are special "lap desks" and cooling pads you can get. I have one that is like a TV tray. its like a pillow on the bottom but wooden on the top. works great. I have a cooling pad for my gaming laptop that helps to increase airflow with extra fans.

As a former Dell tech: The thing has a fan already. This is why Dell stopped calling their laptops "lap"-tops. Putting a pillow, blanket, or folder under will make it worse. It still risks burning them or blow up the notebook. Notebooks get the best ventilation when they are on a hard flat surface. Get a small table.

How about putting a pillow on your lap or invest in a desk?

You don't want to do that either. The fans for laptops are on the bottom and that's what pushes heat away from the chipset. By blocking the fan (or fans on some laptops), you stop the push of heat which can overheat and shut down the unit.

They should really be put on a flat surface that has enough space below the unit to provide airflow to the fans. The other option (and what I do when I end up curling up with my laptop), is identify where the fan is for that specific unit (as they are all different) and just make sure my leg isn't blocking that section. That might mean it is between the knees, of I sit with it shifted a bit to the left so that it blows hot air out to the left but that's the best want to handle it if you need to put it on your lap.

They also sell thin flat "tables" which actually help pull the hot air down and out the sides to cool the system off even more...but those cost money.

I think I'd rather burn my leg than melt my laptop. Plus the whole point of a "laptop" is to not use it on a desk, which is what "desktops" are for.

Plus the whole point of a "laptop" is to not use it on a desk, which is what "desktops" are for.

And the reason that many companies are veering away from the term "laptop", replacing it instead with "notebook", is because the processors are running so hot and require such cooling devices (my old Sony Vaio had three fans under it), that it's not "meant" to be rested on your legs in a "traditional" sense.

Again, I still put mine on my legs, but beforehand I flip it over to see where the cooling fans are (I have to use different ones for personal vs. my various clients that require me using their hardware), I shift how I'm sitting, or how they are resting so as not to block the fans.

Ahhh! The old baked testicle syndrome is raising its head!

As many people have already responded:

Most air intake fans on laptops are on the bottom. If you put a pillow under the laptop, you'll fry it. A REAL alternative, is to buy a platform for your laptop. They're nice and thin, and actually help cool the laptop.

I bought a sturdy cooling rack that I use with my laptop. It's one of those metal racks you use in the kitchen to put your fresh baked cookies on to cool. It raises the laptop up off the table and lets the air flow around it so the heat disperses. It works quite well I find and the cooling rack fits in a bag alongside the laptop without taking up much extra room.

I supposes I could use it on my lap as well as on a table or desk but I personally never felt comfortable using a laptop on my lap. Maybe it's my height or the quality of my eyesight but I find it sits to low to be used easily on the lap.

Hi David, duh thats my guess also. On the up side they may not be able to reproduce!

I'm going to disagree with David on this one. This is nothing like the fast food hot coffee cases. Coffee is supposed to be hot. Laptops, however, never should be. Why not? It has nothing to do with your personal safety, but rather, with the life of the machine. Machines that run too hot are much more likely to experience various hardware failures than better made machines. And if memory serves, most major laptop makers have guarantees about the temp the computer will operate at. If they are running at 125 degrees as this article stated, that is shoddy craftsmanship and the customer deserves a refund.

OK… this is just my own opinion, but if you keep anything hot enough against your body that will eventually cause a heat injury then you are a dumb ass and you should be burnt or at the very least ridiculed and made fun of… It’s not the computer makers fault that you allowed yourself to be burnt, because you can feel the heat… it is their fault if the equipment did not work as advertised.

Man… we REALLY need to thin the heard.

U of C Student, the faster the CPU runs, the hotter they get, this has been true for a very long time, it is not shaddy craftsmanship, the vents are on the sides or back edge of most notebooks (laptops), this is the same for desktop units, heat is a killer for all computers, being towers or notebooks, to bash somthing, better know what you are talking about. Have you not learned this in college, or are you there to just PARTY.

University of Chicago Student,

125 degrees is actually absurdly low for a gaming laptop. My own laptop's CPU and Video Card have a maximum safe tolerance of 170 degrees. After tri-screening WoW on maximum graphics for 4 hours, the temperature of the CPU was at 166 degrees. That's high... but it was stable at that temperature. I'd actually like you to point out one computer (any computer) that can play a modern video game for a sustained period of time at 125 degrees. My guess is, they don't exist. (please don't quote one of those liquid coolant computers... that type of cooling absolutely destroys the circuits)

Asus UL80 series. Plays DO:A without breaking 115 most of the time. Uses an ULV core 2 processor, but there is no lag even at high settings. I think they stopped making that particular model a few months ago to come out with something newer that knows when to turn the GPU on /off (instead of the user doing it manually), which is too bad. Also, I've talked to several people who own them, and the upshot of all this is usually better than 12 hour battery life (obviously not when gaming).

After that, I should point out no one was talking about gaming. Generally, if you game on a laptop you don't really expect it to last more than 3 years anyway. It's not something I like to happen, at any rate. There was one kid in the story who was gaming, but the other sounded like it was all just work documents.

So would it kill Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, and the rest to make a laptop with a cooling system on the bottom that fanned all that heat out?

They already have a cooling fan. The problem is that a lap is not a smooth surface so the fan is often blocked. Moreover, the air coming out is warm too and part of the problem.

How about putting a pillow on your lap or invest in a desk?

Pillows block the fan, bad idea. Use a hard surface like another reader mentioned. I use a large book.

Here come the lawsuits now. These people must be idiots.

In all fairness by the time the notebook becomes unbearably hot the damage has been done.

If something hurts, don't do it!

I say we let Darwin hash this one out.

University of Chicago Student,

I miss-read the article a bit. The 125 degree's wasn't the processor temperature, but rather the temperature of the bottom of the laptop. I'm not sure how hot the bottom of my Toshiba Qosmio gets, but it certainly isn't burning. There are 2 intake fans on the bottom, and the entire backside of it is the outgoing air. I've never had overheating issues (i clean it out every month or so cuz of cats).

Generally, if you game on a laptop you don't really expect it to last more than 3 years anyway. It's not something I like to happen, at any rate.

This laptop has a lot of extra power in its power supply. I have the ability to double all of it's specs if/when i want to. Regardless, it can play any game on the market as it is at acceptable frame rates. I also have a 13 year old laptop i recently threw out (it wouldn't die... and i ran out of uses for it), a 2nd generation Dell XPS that is also able to play most of the games on the market today (9 years old if memory serves), and a 7 year old emachine that does just fine with world of warcraft. I also have a dell laptop, which sucks...

As a gamer, I never fell into that whole 'overclocking, best of the best graphics' fad. I make my computers last, and when the computer can no longer handle the games, I find another use for it, and buy a new one (or in my laptops case, clearance at half price cuz it was a year old model, with the same general specs as a current model).

University,

I actually looked up the Asus UL80 series you mentioned. It has a maximum of about 167 degree's. Looking on forums, that particular laptop has varied reported results as to it's ability to cool over long periods of time. The critical difference between many Asus laptops and other gaming laptops, is that they don't have enough air inside of the laptop to allow a proper flow.

No blankets or pillows under laptops! you will overheat and kill the fan on it and never be able to take it off a cooling thing again! best idea if your going to use it in your lap is to get ones of the computer coolers with the fans in it keeps your computer cool and your legs cool

AmadoC... you must be one of the REALLY REALLY smart people in your town... why would you put a FLAMMABLE object next to a source of heat? I sure hope that you live close to the fire department.

greg- I assume "here's your sign" refers to Bill from Blue Collar Comedy Tour's tag line that you are stupid. Reread your comment and check the grammar! It should read ..."you're burning your legs with your laptop and (are) too stupid to remove it."

Spellcheck does not correct everything!

Nevertheless, I agree with your observation!

Spellcheck doe not

Way to agree with someone and insult them at the same time. Are you a politician?

Paco, my dear sir. Your last phrase should read as follows:

"Spellcheck does not"

Hey Ray:

Try getting a job and doing some honest work for a change instead of insulting a system you obviously know zero about...

Have a good one...

Good point Ray. There are way too many sleazy lawyers out there. It is too easy and too profitable to become a lawyer in this country and the payouts are like winning the lotto. You really can't blame the lazy sleaze balls. On a utilitarian basis lawyers contribute nothing and leach off of the productive.

Not that I am overly fond lawyers myself, but I am sure that at some point in your life you just may need to use one. You know like when you kid gets hurt due to the negligence of someone else, or you get into a car accident and need to sue the insurance company, or even if you are accused of a crime, going through a divorce, trying to get custody of your kids...I mean we really do need lawyers, because most of us do not have the time or knowledge to fight any of these cases on our own. And on top of all of that you know those prosecutors who help put criminals in jail...yeah, those are lawyers too. So sleazy they may be but non-contributors, I dont think so...

And do ypu really think it is so easy to become a lawyer, after you try, let me know how you made out. Have you heard about law school, not cheap and not easy.

So the "Laptop" computer joins the ranks of the "Driveway" and the "Parkway"?

And while we're on the subject, why do we call them "Butterflys" when really what they do is flutter by?

Common sense is becoming an evermore rare commodity.

Don't know that it's about common sense, if it's hot enough to actually feel like it's burning you then these people are just dumb. I use mine on my lap all the time. And while it feels warm it's not like it's uncomfortable or I feel as though I'm burning. I don't use mine for long periods of time though, and using it on a desk isn't really an option since I have the laptop for when I don't want to sit at the desk with my desktop. Oh well, free birth control for me!(kidding)

Common sense is gone, kids leave school with no knowkedge, get jobs, dont work and expect to get paid, it is no wounder that America is becoming a forth world nation.

You assume facts not in evidence? Where does it say they are smart?

Agreed and amen!

Don't let Rush hear you saying that!

Rush who?

Actually most laptops now do side venting. however all laptops have vents in the bottom and through the keyboard to keep air moving.

If you believe that Jeff Foxworthy does "here's your sign" jokes....you may be a redneck!

Oh yeah I remember the coffee lady and I thought she was unbearably stupid as well. I also thought that she should have been embarrassed as hell to sue McDonald's for her own stupidity but this just proves that people are getting dumber every year.

And the worse part, she won the law suit.

While I agree we live in a ridiculously litigious society, the McDonald's case is a poor one to illustrate that. The woman was not driving, nor was she wearing shorts (cotton pants, not much better, but not shorts), and the car was not moving. She was stupid enough to hold it with her knees to try to steady it, I'll give you that, but she suffered third degree burns over her lap... including her genitals. She really WAS injured and had to have skin grafts, etc. The company had gotten over 700 complaints that their coffee was too hot, and at the temps they were serving it a person would receive third degree burns in seconds. (it was intentionally too hot to discourage free refills) So in my opinion, she was justified in suing.

After the appeals process, she settled out of court for less than $600,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants

I usually don't use wikipedia as a reference, but I've done other research and figure most people aren't going to read legal dockets.

Sorry, still not justified in my book as I was drinking coffee everyday on the way to work when this lawsuit was filed and I never burned myself because I was smart enough to know it was too hot to touch my skin. This was and still is a frivolous lawsuit even if McDonald's paid her a small sum just to get rid of her.

I'll let you in on a little secret, if you get rear ended go to your doctor and complain about neck and back pain and demand a referral to a chiropractor for at least eight weeks and then sue the insurance company and you will get paid anywhere from 5 to 10 thousand to go away because it is cheaper to pay you off than to drag the case thru the court system and that is why we pay so much for car insurance.

Great sarcasism!