My March Break has been over for a looooong time now... My summer vacation starts tomorrow!

It's interesting the note about raising up the laptop. I've seen so many laptop stands that have built in fans that just do absolutely nothing. The fans are there, whirring away, and my temperatures stay the exact same.

On the other hand, I have an aluminum stand that simply raises the laptop away from the table surface. Voila! Hard drive goes from 40-50 C to 30-40 C. Yes, it's that much of a change.

I was hoping to make a slightly better version myself in the machine shop... something that's tailor made to my laptop.

ya it was definatly nice when i figured to raise it up. even on a wooden table if i use the laptop for an hour, the table would be insanely hot. but since this is like a 5yr old laptop, i guess it would make sense.

but since this is like a 5yr old laptop, i guess it would make sense.

It happens even with new laptops. My work laptop (HP nc6400 widescreen, Core Duo) does it too. The problem is that most laptop manufacturers point the cooling fan down. They do this because people want more and more USB ports, ethernet, wireless, etc, etc so they run out of room to run the cooling system out a side or the back like they used to do.

but older cpus also run alot hotter. my grandma has a dell laptop, about a year old, core duo, and the fan barely ever goes on. and its so cool.

mine i cant even keep on my lap without it burning me.

but ya your right about the fans

I'd underclock that whereever possible. GPU too.

Excessive heat kills hardware real fast. I'd also put it in a very well ventilated place for extra 'insurance' that it won't crap out on you.

BTW. Nice one with the cheap-o-surveillance. Great idea!

What software are you using for it?

BTW. Nice one with the cheap-o-surveillance. Great idea!

What software are you using for it?

Timershot PowerToy from Microsoft. It did exactly what I needed it to do!

It's interesting the note about raising up the laptop. I've seen so many laptop stands that have built in fans that just do absolutely nothing. The fans are there, whirring away, and my temperatures stay the exact same.

what kind of laptop? i've got quite a few users on dell d600's. the cpu sits right under the left wrist pad. ive got 7 or 8 users that were crying about the heat that are now using targus chill mats, and no more complaints (other than their dells dying )

as for laptop longevity, good to hear yours made it through gamehead. i've got a dell inspiron 4100 that runs my card reader (xp w/ SQL 2k) at work thats been up since i started there 2.5 years ago. power profile set to always on for the hdd, only the lcd powers down.