Satellite X200: fan intake covered??

Hello,

I have a fairly new Satellite X200 notebook with occasional CPU overheating issues. I noticed that the left-hand (CPU?) fan intake on the bottom of the notebook is completely covered from the inside by a thin plastic sheet. The right-hand (GPU?) fan intake is open and the fan is visible. Now I don't pretend to know anything about notebook ventilation design, so this probably is a stupid question, but why is the intake covered?

As far as I can tell from googled pictures of otherwise identical systems, the fan seems to be visible (ie., no plastic covering). I find it hard to see how the covering wouldn't significantly reduce airflow, and indeed when felt by hand there seems to be no airflow at all. In contrast, at the right-hand GPU intake, a strong airflow can be felt at all times.

So I would like to know whether other X200 users also have this plastic covering, and if yes, whether anyone knows what the function is and if there is a reason not to have it removed? Thanks in advance.

 

There was a really long thread about this. It was discoverd that it is better to leave the cover on, than take it off. When taken off, temperatures rose even higher.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=188686

There is the link to the thread

 

Thank you very much! I should have been able to find the previous thread with the search, but failed for some reason So thank you for the link!

 

I had a part in the discussion on the previous thead regarding this, I had removed the sheet of my sli1 laptop and later ended up putting it back as removing it does cause the temps to increase quite a bit , so yes it is better to leave it on.