Overheating & battery life problem

Hi, not sure if this is the right forum.. but here goes.

So just like most anyone, overheating has always been an issue for my laptop. I leave my laptop on literally 24/7. It's a desktop replacement in it's truest sense. I've had 2 Hard drives fry on me and it was not fun at all. I don't know if it's because I upgraded the original 256MB ram to 1GB by myself or it's just bad luck. I tend to leave my laptop running on my bed for hours too.. is that bad?

Also, I get very minimal battery life - 1 hr max, even way less when I try to watch a movie on it w/o being plugged onto the adapter. Besides getting a battery upgrade, is there a way to prolong your battery life? (i.e: Not leave it on plugged all the time, turn it off when not used, etc) And finally, if I do any sort of upgrade (the battery or ram for example), will it increase the heating problem?

Thanks for the help.


James

 

Your battery life has most likely diminished because you have left it plugged in all the time, which depletes the battery very quickly.....As for the hard drives, they can fry due to excessive heat.

If you want to leave it on the whole time, let the laptop charge the battery to 100%, and then remove the battery keeping it plugged into the AC adapter.



What kind of laptop do you have by the way?


A

 

Theres something called Undervolting that will solve your 2 problems. It will lower the voltages of your processor, making it run cooler (up to 15c less) and giving you an average of 20mins extra battery life.

No it will not affect your processors performance/speed at all. Clock speed is what affects that.

Heres the guide, i recommend reading more about it first:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=124420&page=16

 

What kind of desktop replacement is it?

If its a clevo based desktop replacement than you should just press fn+f2 to crank the fans up to full speed.

You should look up undervolting, it helps reduce the temperature which your processor runs by a few centigrate.

Also you should not use your laptop on your bed it is a bad idea. Once you block the vents, the system will get hotter.
Put your laptop on a desk, or put something flat on your bed like a sheet of plexiglas. Then put your system ontop of the plexiglas, so that your system can still get airflow, and you can enjoy your bed.

K-TRON

 

As far as on the bed I use a book (Monet) art books are sometimes large enough. On to the battery, this sight has a Battery Guide you should give it a read. The long and the short of it is Li-Ion batteries lose there ability to hold charge over time. It is inevitable it can not be stopped. It can however be slowed down. Li-Ion have limited number of charge/discharge cycles. Heat is detrimental to battery longevity. If you don't use your battery for extended periods of time discharging to 40% to 50% and refrigerating will help maximize life. Do not store for extended periods at full charge. I find this to be completely inconvenient so I do absolutely nothing to try and extend. I use it I enjoy it and accept I may have to replace it. While some people get more out of there batteries 2 to 3 years is a reasonable length of time to expect adequate charge ability. Anything more is gravy. Pulling out when plugged in might slightly improve longevity as temperature Batt is exposed to is maybe 10f to 15f cooler. How old is your Batt?

 

You might wanna put it in a air tight ziplock bag if your gonna put it in the fridge. Moisture will destroy the battery. I recommend just storing it in a cool, dark place away from sunlight.

My Li-Po batterys for my RC car died out quite quickly due to the way i stored it. Heat and overcharging(which causes heat) are a batterys worst nightmare. Also dont drain your battery 100% this can cause cell reversal

 

Thanks for all the advices. Will definitely do most of them when I get my new laptop.

To answer some questions, I am running a 5 year old notebook... Dell Inspiron 8600. Now I'm both a perfectionist and a cheapo, meaning I bought this when it was still considered top of the line half a decade ago, and has resisted to repair/upgrade until now. However it's given me so much problems lately that I think it's time to let go. Some problems: Can't watch DVD for more than 35mins unplugged, screen sometimes doesn't come on so I have to literally slap the monitor and slam on the keyboard to make it work, fried 2 HDD as I mentioned, broke the left alt button completely so I'm down to just the right one, etc etc. Now for the parts, nothing has been changed from when I first bought the laptop with the exception of the memory upgrade and the HDD.

Anyways, I'm in the market for a new laptop (thread can be found here if anyone cares)

Kinda off topic, but what is this Sager thing that everyone's been talking about? From what I've learned, they're a brand of laptop? If so, should I consider it? So far the suggestions I've got has been the tradition HP/Dell laptops.

Excuse my "noobiness". I've been out of the tech scene for years. Thanks.


James

 

I will post in your thread maybe I will remove the pictures also.

 

I have the Inspiron 8500, which was the non centrino version of the 8600. Mine had a faster more power consuming 2.6Ghz pentium 4m, so yours should run cool.
Have you tried installing I8KFANGUI?
It works on all Dell laptops.
It is a great program, I have the fans come on at around 100F, and they come on full at 118F.

You cannot undervolt pentium4 mobile processors, so do not waste your time.

Install I8KFANGUi, and you can monitor your temps and control the fans.

K-TRON

 

this is bad advice all around.

your battery life diminished because Li-Ion batteries HATE HEAT. it has pretty much nothing to do with leaving your machine plugged in all the time. also, taking the battery out on A/C isn't a great idea. you can do it, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

please do not continue to promote misinformation.

 

Excessive heat? What exactly would be considered excessive? Please refrain from making pointless statements.

Incorrect! For battery storage, it's actually best to store it when the battery is at 40% capacity.

Found this article some time ago and it has some pretty interesting information about batteries

 

Above 130F

My batts always last longer than 12 to 18 months with out ever removing BattU is useful but don't believe everything you read

 

Was a statement posed to the post talking about fried hard disks due to excessive heat, and not as a question...giving advice but without good reason or information.

Well I guess it depends on the battery cell manufacturer, which combination of Li-ion Polymer, and how well each of the cells are made to endure heat and charge deterioration.