The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Cold weather and my laptop

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by farbeyond, Jan 31, 2009.

  1. farbeyond

    farbeyond Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    30
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I'm going to be traveling throughout the next month in a van (going on tour) and I really need to bring my laptop. Mind you this is the dead of winter and were going through same very cold places. I may need to leave my laptop in the car in freezing cold weather for periods of up to 8 hours at a time. Will this cause any sort of harm to it?
     
    farbeyond, Jan 31, 2009
    #1
  2. RoGuE1230

    RoGuE1230 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I don't know if the cold itself will hurt it (check your owner's manual or the manufacturers website for operating temps) but when you have hot and cold it might result in condensation.
     
    RoGuE1230, Jan 31, 2009
    #2
  3. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

    Reputations:
    4,412
    Messages:
    8,077
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Cold humid weather is not good for the plastics and such. Also having a very cold environment and hot circuitry doesnt mix well.
    When your not using your system, it would be a good idea to get a zipped laptop sleeve. It will keep your laptop warm.
    Trust me, I need one for my laptop. Cold weather is not good for high performance paint jobs either, so I have mine in a heavy liner whenever I need to walk around in the cold weather.

    Tom Binh makes alot of nice sleeves, you may want to check them out.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Jan 31, 2009
    #3
  4. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    4,843
    Messages:
    8,389
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Freezing cold is very subjective.

    -8°C in dry air can feel like 10-15°C (experiecend it in Olso) and
    +2°C in humid weather can feel like -5°C

    Basically -give an idea with the temperature range.

    Else:
    I'd say condesation will be your greatest risk - i.e. warm car, humid air, everything cools down and condensation may form in your laptop.

    I believe clothing is packefd with some stuff called "silica gel" or something like that - if you can get something (in a satchel) that you could lock into a laptop sleave to absorb humidity then it would be possibly a good idea.

    About cooling:
    If you know these "cooling packs" or what you want to call them - for portable coolign boxes - one of these froze my Acer PDA - left it to warm up an it worked perfectly.
    (Broke a few months later on a different issue...)
     
    DetlevCM, Jan 31, 2009
    #4
  5. obsolete

    obsolete Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    104
    Messages:
    458
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Just let it warm up before turning it on. I had mine in the car in -20F for several days and it didn't have any problems. I let it warm up for a day before turning it on.
     
    obsolete, Jan 31, 2009
    #5
  6. SpeedyMods

    SpeedyMods Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    167
    Messages:
    1,336
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Perhaps keeping it in a sealed plastic bag would keep the condensation away.

    Your worry isn't the cold, it's the condensation once you bring it back to temperature.

    Greg
     
    SpeedyMods, Jan 31, 2009
    #6