Whenever I get a new thing I throw the included silica bag away out of habit (I assume they are intended only for the item’s storage until purchase) I did so with the one that was inside my new laptop bag. Then a friend at work told me I should have kept it because it absorbs the moisture in the bag (this was after I had noticed worrying amounts of moisture on parts of my laptop on arrival at work)
Having already neglected my laptop after just a few days I am worried I may be neglecting it in other ways. So, laptop owning dopers, what tips can you give me for looking after my laptop?
(p.s. I have bid for, and won, on ebay, 30 silica bags)
Silica bags only help for a short period of time in a very small space when not exposed to open air. Unless your laptop bag is covered in airtight sealed Mylar, silica won’t help in the least.
Read, follow and understand all the manufacturers directions. AKA RTFM. Some points to note:
a. Placement of laptop. These things get hot, need air and dust is not good for them. So keep them off rugs, cloth, your lap, etc.
b. The screen. Don’t ever, as in not ever touch the screen. Fingerprints have never been good but finger pressure is even worse. Same with pencils, sticky notes, your ears, etc. Clean the screen as per the manufacturer’s directions. Some types can be harmed by Windex-type cleaners. Water is usually the best thing. Put a tiny amount on a lint-free soft cloth and wipe. Also the best thing for the keyboard and touchpad. Remember to keep the amount on the cloth to a bare minimum because…
Water is bad for them. Using laptops while having beverages and such in the vicinity is just plain stupid. I don’t even put beverages near a desktop. (But then again, I’ve bought some “non-working” laptops for cheap, cleaned out the soda, and got them working again. So maybe I do like The Idiots.) I know you see people on “Sex and The City” use them while drinking coffee. Those are also people who buy $400 shoes.
Batteries. For NiMH batteries, you should only be doing 1 of 3 things with them: charging them (but only up to full charge, not over), not using them at all, or running off of them when AC is not around. Running the laptop with the battery in (and trickle charging) on AC shortens the lifespan considerably. LiIons are different. They’ll wear out whether you use them or not. (I have heard that storing them in the fridge extends their lifespan, but I have not seen confirmation of this.) In the long run NiNHs are better deals than LiIons. Longer lifespan, cheaper, etc.
Laptops are highly desirable to thieves. A Targus bag yells “laptop”. If you get a Targus bag anyway, remove the label. A bag that doesn’t look like a laptop bag is even better. Assume that it takes 2 seconds for your laptop to disappear when you take your eyes off it. Assume that BIOS and login passwords can be defeated. The best way to protect the data on the disk is to use a whole disk encryption system. Some makers include such a facility. (But if there’s nothing on the disk you would worry about someone else having, don’t bother. There’s downsides of such systems.)
1: If it’s doing to be sitting on a desk, invest in a good wireless keyboard and mouse. Less wear on the unit and much easier typing.
2: Make sure nothing is blocking the side ventilation vents
3: Invest $20.00 in a notebook tilt/swivel support pad. It keeps it about 1 inch off the desk. This can be a huge lifesaver in case something spills and can improve vetilation.
4: When packing the unit in it’s carrying case try not to put the power supply brick on the same side as the screen. If something hits the brick it can push it into the screen.
Keep the vents clean. Mine tend to get slightly clogged with dust (and smoke residue) every few weeks. I use my vacuum to clean the vents periodically.
Mild hijack here, but I have a quick question. What are the effects of pressure on the screen, and why is touching the screen with anything other than a damp cloth so bad for it?
If you travel with your laptop through an airport, you should mark both your bag and computer. Tape a note with your name or something distinctive on it so that if your bag gets searched, nothing gets swapped with someone elses. The bag and computer can look very similar to other peoples bags and computers, so yours can get swiped by accident, or on purpose.
I’m concerned about your moisture problem, too. Silica has limited value for this, it is much better in a sealed environment, as the silica will run out of moisture storage capacity pretty quick. Are you going from a cool location to a warm, humid location when you transport your laptop? Maybe running the computer for 5 minutes before storing and shipping will warm it up enough to prevent condensation…
Don’t put it on top of your car and then drive away. I know from experience that the computer won’t survive. ::nod::
As for more serious tips:
Don’t run your laptop while it’s sitting on carpet, especially if it’s an HP. Laptops tend to run hot, and carpet can block air intake; carpet also doesn’t allow for much heat loss. This goes with astro’s advice about not blocking the vents.
Don’t eat at the computer. Laptop keyboards are often a pain and a half to clean out. Compressed air might do it, but it’s better just to not get into that situation in the first place.
LCDs are extremely sensitive to pressure. They fail easily and once failed, that’s it. The pixel’s either on or off all the time. The screen covering is just thin plastic and can be asily marred. Librarians here were horrified when they found out the new computers were going to have LCD screens. They already knew what patrons did to CRT screens! They aren’t going to last long.
Ammonia and some other cleaners can cause hazing and/or yellowing of the screen covering. It depends on what type of plastic it is. So RTFM.
And a *damp[/p] cloth has too much water on it. Use 1/50th of the water you’d use in a damp cloth. E.g., if you have a spray bottle, give one side of the cloth two light sprays from a distance.
Never, EVER put anything on the keyboard other than your fingers. Pens and pencils will easily destroy LCD panels if they’re not noticed when the laptop is closed.
Invest the $40 or so in a locking cable and use it.
Get and use a backup solution, even if it’s nothing more than emailing files to yourself and leaving them on the server at your ISP. It might be possible to recover data from a drive crash, but recovering data from a stolen drive is impossible.
It bugs me when people touch ordinary screens let alone lcd ones, so I won’t be doing that.
I’ve got my cordless mouse now so I can keep my sweaty fingers off the touchpad.
I carry the laptop on my walk to work which takes about 30 minutes so that’s how it goes from warm to cold, back to warm. Today I turned it on and got an error “unknown bios error, press F1 to continue” I pressed F1 and all seemed fine. I wonder if it had something to do with the newly plugged in wireless mouse reciever or if it is possible for moisture to mess with the bios.
I won the bid for 30 silica bags (paid about £1.30 with free shipping. poor sod) so I guess that quantity will make up for their short life and allow me to judge their effectiveness.
I am unlikely to have any very important data on it. It’s mainly for recreational use.
Being that it is my pride and joy, I would not dream of leaving a beverage of any on the same desk as it. (I have drank coffee near it but nervously put the coffee down somewhere else when finished).
I tend not to like running off the battery so I will plug it in wherever possible. (also the cd drive speed seems to be greatly reduced when running off battery)
Thanks for all the advice peeps. It’s much appreciated.
Yeah, tell me about it. One of my workmates pushed her thumbnail against the screen. Thanks. No, really, I like you poking at my computer’s sensitive bits.
Before I start asking a bunch of hopelessly basic questions, are there any sites which give not-too-technically-phrased details on laptops? What I’m particularly interested in is battery (LiIon), screen and touchpad care.
One last question because it’s relevant at this moment. My laptop is being used as a laptop because my desktop is hogging the desktop. Using a dinner tray or some other table-like surface is fine, yes?
The best things are laptop tables. You can get them for $35-40 on sale at OfficeMax type places. On wheels with height/tilt adjustment. Open on one side which is nice. The fancier ones also have a mousepad platform on one side. (With sep. height adj.) I never found a need for that. There’s a small ridge on the fronto and back edges to keep the laptop from sliding off (depending on handedness). Note that anytime the word “laptop” comes into use, cheap things triple in price.
As a “scrounger” of things, I have bought what were labelled “typing tables” at thrift stores for a couple bucks. Same thing.
I have tried TV tray table things. The lack of wheels and tilting is a problem.
The most important thing to watch for in any laptop support is that airflow is not impeded at all. So keep the laptop from any ridges under normal use. Only rely on them as backup safety devices. Also watch for stability, cord management, etc. Any of these should be better than your lap, magazines, laptop case* etc.
As mentioned, there are small lap supports systems for providing a smooth surface for the laptop and keeping it off your lap. Surprisingly, some of these are not very heat resistant and break down quickly! (SFGate had a review about these some months back.)
Never use a laptop inside a laptop case. Never use a laptop on top of a laptop case unless it is a hard surface designed for such usage.
As to people touching screens, it’s just freaking amazing. As an ex-CS prof, I have taught scads of students in computer labs. I tell them hundreds of times and they still do it. I tell them standing 1 foot away to not do it and they’ll do it again 3 seconds later.
I don’t reckon it’s worth me picking up a table because it’s purely temporary. I’m a university student with a limited amount of space in which to live, so I couldn’t bring my desktop with me when I moved out. Whenever I go home the laptop comes with me for file transfers (and the noble art of looking at two net pages at once. 56k sucks). What I don’t want to do is mess things up by using it away from its usual table.
I’ve tried looking for the relevant info on SFGate, but I don’t seem to be using the right searches. Can you point me in the right direction?
If you have homeowners or renters insurance, take a look at getting a rider added specifically for your laptop. It’s a small additional fee, but my laptop will now be replaced if it gets stolen, if I drop it, or if I pour a can of soda into it. Seeing as it’s a portable computer and meant to be carries around, the odds of the first 2 happening are higher then for a desktop unit.
When using the laptop at home, you might consider a docking station, stand-alone monitor and regular keyboard/mouse setup. The laptop never gets opened and sits on a bit of an angle, so it gets air circulation. That’s the setup for my office, and it seems to work well. When I travel, I just undock the thing and go.
I don’t think my brand of laptop provides docking stations.
The laptop has a monitor plug, and with the availability of wireless keyboard/mouse setups the need for a docking station is eliminated.
I don’t worry about using the laptop’s keyboard (my typing skills are quite good so my fingers are never on one key long enough to transfer much moisture). It was just the touchpad and my tendency to sweat (especially when playing computer games) but I now have a cordless mouse for that.
I found a smudge on the screen today. Being the overprotective person that I am I didn’t think for a second that I’d done it so I thought someone had been nosey.
Then I remembered having a stupid stupid idiotic theory that the “extra pointing device plugged into the system” was possibly a touch-sensetive screen (like PDAs have) so I touched it. (ten thousand :rolleyes:s for me)
