I’ve had this belief for a while that if you put something with batteries in it too near a thing with delicate microchips and magnetic storage inside you put those things at risk.
I don’t really know why I have this belief except that I sort of assume it’s to do with magnetic fields generated by electricity.
For this reason I’m afraid to put my cordless mouse on top of the laptop (where it would be out of the way when not being used)
I now have a wireless keyboard and if I didn’t have to be afraid of this, when I wasn’t using the keyboard and mouse I’d put both on top of the laptop out of the way.
As someoone who’s good at using and understanding technology you’d think I know better.
Am I being silly and this is a myth, a bit like the myth that mobile phones could interfere with aircraft systems? Or is this a legitimate concern?
And by saying “(and other strange quirks of belief)” I am inviting others to ask similar questions. (But I’d also like my own to be answered )
it’s safe. Hard drives are much less susceptible to being wiped by magnets these days, especially well-encased ones like those within laptops (they still ARE susceptible, as they’re magnetic storage) but even with older tech you’d be fine. Don’t go resting actual magnets on top of your machine, though
I guess this also answers something I was wondering after I posted: Is it ok to put an external hard drive on top of a laptop.
Looking at it now it might seem like a strange set of things to ask, but where my computer is, desk space is a premium. I have a second monitor which I have taken to plugging into my small (but powerful) laptop and so I decided to go all the way to externalising all the laptop’s human interface bits by buying wireless keyboard and putting the laptop itself somewhere less in the way. The relevance coming in when I decide to move the keyboard out of the way by putting it on top of the laptop.
Seriously, that won’t hurt anything at all Lobsang. The rare earth magnets actually INSIDE of your hard drive are far more powerful then anything you might rest on the case of your laptop!
I often see people’s laptop cords wrapped around the brick. The brick then often sits next to the computer, with floppies (when they still used them regularly) and all manner of media on the pile — all done to save space on the desk, counter, whatever. I have no idea whats in the brick, but to me it looks like they’ve made one of these.
I never did it myself, but being unsure of the risk I never tried to stop someone else from doing it.
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