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    how to take care of my laptop

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by yaganon, Sep 6, 2010.

  1. yaganon

    yaganon Notebook Geek

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    I want my thinkpad edge to last me at least 5 years. What can I do to increase the longevity of my laptop and make sure it's processor and hard drive last longer?

    Also, am I correct to say that a low voltage processor will last longer than a performance oriented processor?
     
    yaganon, Sep 6, 2010
    #1
  2. Jeguar

    Jeguar Newbie

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    replace the thermal paste with at 50
     
    Jeguar, Sep 6, 2010
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  3. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    Use it at all times on a notebook cooler like a Zalman (even if it doesn't seem 'warm' to you).

    Make sure you do not bump, jar or otherwise move (at all) your computer while it is on. This can cause the HD heads to touch/scratch the platters and destroy your drive prematurely.

    Buy PerfectDisk 11 and use it once a month. The algorithms used in PD will ensure that used consistently, the HD heads will need to move as little and as smoothly as possible during normal use - prolonging their life and the life of the HD.

    Any CPU run within specs will easily last 5 years and (much) more. Doesn't matter if it is a LV version or not.

    The notebook cooler will help in this department for both the HD and the CPU.

    It is generally stated that every 5 degrees higher that an electronic component runs, the shorter its lifespan by a year or so. Another side to this is how many on/off cycles the components are subject to. For example, a computer that is on all the time is subjected to much less power cycling fatigue than one that is rebooted several times a day.

    In the end, if you turn on your computer only once a day - even if you use it over the day several times, hours apart - and while it is on, use it with an effective notebook cooler, this will give the physical components the best chance they have of being reliable for you for the next 5 years.

    In addition, at least a few times a year, clean out the chassis with compressed air and even consider to repaste the cpu/gpu chips once every year or so.

    Other than the above, you are at the mercy of the luck of the draw: you can do all of the above concientiously and still wake up tomorrow with a non-working system.

    A religiously followed backup schedule is the recommended action for protection against HD failures. With HD's it is not a matter of if they die, rather it is a question of when.

    Good luck.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Sep 6, 2010
    #3