Laptop problems

[The Lady Shael]

I've had my current laptop (HP pavilion dv4) for about 2 years now, and I admit I don't really take good care of it. In college I never turned it off and I always use it in my bed and stuff. So now it's overheating pretty bad (to the point where I was actually concerned it was a fire hazard) and being really slow...and it just starts failing when I unplug it from the charger.

I used a can of compressed air to try to clear some of the dust out of the vent, but I think the only way to really clean it is to take apart the whole laptop. I found a video and tutorials instructing how to take apart the laptop but I don't really feel comfortable doing that since I really can't afford to break something in the process and not have a working laptop.

This is mostly aimed at windy and Neo, but I'm interested to know if anyone else has some advice as well. I'm trying to decide if it's worth investing the time into fixing it, or if I should just get a new one (and if I do, which laptop should I get).


This is the laptop with everything RWL was, is, and will be, people. This decision affects you too. :p

[Neobaron]

Laptops aren't like desktops in that they're not really tinker friendly beyond ram and hard drive replacements...

Further than using the compressed air, you could try to remove some of the panels/parts and blow it out that way. Blow at an angle, etc.

Set it so that the back is elevated when it is on (i'm sure HP makes a thing for this but a book supporting the back feet works as well as any $50 super duper fan thing, to be honest.)

Use it on flat/hard surfaces.

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If you're in the market, Lenovo and Toshiba both make decent products, and I know toshiba at least has a pretty good warranty/rma program in case it dies all of the sudden.

[Etendue]

Uhhhh

messing with an old laptop might just finish it off. An easier way to take care of the heating is to get a laptop fan. It's an external fan system which you put your computer on, and it increases the airflow in the cooling system. It's pretty simple, and doesn't require tinkering/attachments. Probably isn't too expensive either. A lot of my gaming buddies use these things.

Like these things
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=380_136

You can probably find one that works for 20 bucks.

[windhound]

2 years is old now?  Well dang.
I used my IBM Thinkpad T-42 for 5 years

If it gets to the point where its unusable, sure.  Go ahead, take it apart, and clean it the best you can.  Keep track of screws and where they go, but its not really that big of a deal if you're careful.  Make sure the fans are clear and free.
There's been reports of the assembly people using over generous quantities of thermal cement on the cpu where only a very thin layer is required, or the stuff could have just failed.  If you feel adventurous you can redo it.  Again not a big deal, but can be intimidating if you're not used to going into computers. 
With the price of laptops as cheap as they are most won't bother.

Otherwise prop it up on some books or go for a laptop fan thing.  I've seen them as cheap as $5.

+1 Lenovo if you're going new laptop.  You can browse http://newegg.com and check reviews of other brands, I think Asus and Acer have done alright quality wise.  There's always Toshiba, Dell, and Sony as well.  No emachines or gateway though.
Oh, and Apple ofcourse.  They can run windows! (in a vm where it belongs)  And the Air is adorable.

I would goahead and backup to a usb stick or external drive if you haven't already.  Easier to get data off a live computer than a dead one.

[Neobaron]

(in a vm where it belongs)

Heh.

I say the same thing about Novell.

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Can you clarify "overheating really bad" and "failing when I unplug it from the charger" please?

Could be a battery or contact thing if its getting really, really hot. All laptops run warm no matter what you do (they don't put I7s in lappys anymore for this reason) so that is normal, but only to a point.

[Uiblis]

I say get a new one, mostly because mine went dead a while ago...cost 200 dollars to replace the bad parts  :P
Probably better to ditch it and get a new one altogether (which I did).

Toshiba and sony are good. But I don't like dell, I've had two dell computers before, and they both crashed on me in less than two years.

[Shadow]

I <3 my Dell Vostro. 3.5 years and counting. Dual boot Ubuntu 10.10 and XP. Had one hard drive partially fail on me, but that was my fault for hard shutting down at the wrong time.

My only complaint with Dell is that it heats up when doing anything graphics-intensive. No dedicated graphics card, you see.

[Neobaron]

Dell is terrible, but it isnt a hardware thing for the most part. All "computers for the masses" companies like dell and hp use low bid components. The issue with dell is proprietary drivers and terrible customer support. The irony is that its biggest problem today was its biggest upside in the past when everything wasnt so standardized and everyone went the proprietary route. Once you wipe the HDD clean and put your own stuff on there, and assuming you take care of it, a machine labelled dell will last as long as a machine labelled ibuypower or Falcon NorthWest.

Apple also low bids components, but they like to charge 1000% (or more, and yes I mean one thousand) per basic unit. Look at their prices for hard drives and then look at the manufacturers of said hard drives versus the same on a dell/hp/etc site.

Then, if you really want to drive that knife deeper in your own stomach, look at www.tigerdirect.com or www.newegg.com and check the closest-to-actual-cost prices on the same components.

[Uiblis]

My only complaint with Dell is that it heats up when doing anything graphics-intensive. No dedicated graphics card, you see.

That would probably be the explanation for me. You have no idea how many hours I put into games.
Also that I overclocked my desktop and it exploded. As in smoke was coming out of the computer case.

Not the laptop. That one just died. I still don't know why.

[Etendue]

Natty Ubuntu runs hotter than Windows 7 right now. My laptop can do 8 hours on Windows 7, and maybe 6 on ubuntu. In case you're wondering, it's an Lenovo ThinkPad x220.

And yes, newegg is great to get stuf from. Make sure to shop around/ask in tech forums!