Notebook cooler?

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
Please tell me I'm not wasting money. My notebook has been getting about twice the normal use lately, because DH has discovered that YouTube has lots of guitar and piano workshops. It's been crashing, and I'm pretty sure it's overheating because it's on for so long with both of us using it.

Anyway, I ordered a Titan cooling pad today, because that seemed to have the best reviews (adjustable, four fans, supposedly quiet). Does anybody have any experience with it, and do you think it'll help?
 

momofmany

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 15, 2003
Messages
16,249
Purraise
70
Location
There's no place like home
How hot does it actually get? My work laptop gets what I consider very hot and I've had the tech guys look at it and they claim that it's normal. By hot I mean that I could never put it on my lap to use, but not hot enough to actually leave a burn. And I've asked tech guys that I actually trust (a personal friend), and not one that would give me a runaround.

For crashing, keep an eye on the programs it is running. Some run in the background and are simple hogs, causing a PC to crash. Our home PC is like that and I often have to ctrl-alt-del and check the task manager to kill programs.
 

icklemiss21

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 14, 2005
Messages
16,465
Purraise
20
Location
in the land of poutine and ice
I have a (different) cooling pad for mine, more for the angle it has the laptop sit at which I find easier to type on as well as rising the laptop a little. It is similar to this one but has four fans instead of being open in the centre http://www.staples.ca/ENG/images/pro...5535_1_std.jpg

Not sure if the laptop works any better with it as I got it with the laptop but like Amy, I find the laptop is too warm to use for an extended time on my lap so it helps with that and I am used to typing on a raised keyboard so prefer the laptop at an angle too.

The only thing is that the cooling pad does slow down the computer (it runs by USB) so if it isn't just an overheating issue on your laptop it may make it slower
 

carolina

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2008
Messages
14,759
Purraise
215
Location
Corinth, TX
I would check it for viruses and spyware.... I would also check if there is a conflict with all the software you are running at the same time. I don't think the problem why it is crashing is the heat... It could be, but more often than not it is software related. A good way to find out is to hit control+alt+del, and quit one software. Than use your computer normally and see if you have the same problem. Do this with everything you have on your task manager - when the problem stops happening you found the software that was causing problem. You can go ahead and uninstall it.
Write down every step, so you know what the problem is.
You can also be running out of ram...
Good luck!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
It's not the software, as far as we can determine. Yesterday we raised the notebook using two small pieces of wood, and it hasn't crashed since then, so overheating probably is the problem, as the tech suspected.

I can't really say whether it gets too hot for a lap, because this notebook is always used at a desk.
 

coaster

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 28, 2005
Messages
5,174
Purraise
7
Location
Wisconsin
CPUs are designed to slow down when they get too hot, so they don't damage themselves. A CPU running at a slower clock than what the system is expecting could make it unstable, I suppose. Though there are so many other things that could slow down and crash a computer. Tricia, can you put any more memory in it? How about offloading some hard disk contents to external storage, then clean up and defrag the disk? Delete old restore points.....you'd be amazed at how much hard disk space they use up. And they don't show up in the file listing as they're invisible and can't be seen except by SYSTEM and NTAUTHORITY users. But when you use disk cleanup to get rid of them (second tab) there's an amazing amount of disk space recovered.

Please update with your conclusion on how the cooler works. Just curious.
 

icklemiss21

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 14, 2005
Messages
16,465
Purraise
20
Location
in the land of poutine and ice
I looked on mine (its supplied through work) and computer services have a note about not guaranteeing laptop service unless we guarantee they are being used properly including the cooling pads supplied
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
Originally Posted by coaster

Tricia, can you put any more memory in it? How about offloading some hard disk contents to external storage, then clean up and defrag the disk? Delete old restore points.....you'd be amazed at how much hard disk space they use up. And they don't show up in the file listing as they're invisible and can't be seen except by SYSTEM and NTAUTHORITY users. But when you use disk cleanup to get rid of them (second tab) there's an amazing amount of disk space recovered.

Please update with your conclusion on how the cooler works. Just curious.
All that's been done, as the electric company is installing a high-tech meter that has to be networked. The techie figures that overheating was causing the crashes - apparently that's regularly a problem for gamers or people who use their laptops hours on end without a cooler. We're also switching ISPs next week, and the cable company is sending somebody on Friday to set things up, and he said he'll check my notebook, too.

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

I looked on mine (its supplied through work) and computer services have a note about not guaranteeing laptop service unless we guarantee they are being used properly including the cooling pads supplied
Yeah, I have to admit that I really should have gotten a cooler a long time ago. Now that we've raised the notebook about two centimeters off the table, it hasn't crashed in three days. Go figure.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
Originally Posted by coaster

Please update with your conclusion on how the cooler works. Just curious.
The cooler is terrific, IMO. The notebook can be left on all day with it running, and there's no slowdown/crash after a few hours of use, as was the case before. It's very quiet in comparison to the notebook's own fan, and quite sturdily built.
 
Top