Let me be honest with you: I'm not exactly the epitome of graceful.
Even when I try my best, coffee still ends up on my newly washed and ironed shirt, and
if I'm carrying two and more things in my arms, I'm bound to drop at least one of them.
But the other day, I surpassed myself: I left my beloved laptop in a hot car.
I didn't know then that almost all laptops tend to work best when the temperature is
from 50 to 95°F. Any colder or hotter, and your gadget starts to wig out.
For one thing, laptop lithium-ion batteries are notorious for NOT being heat-friendly.
(I had to learn this the hard way, but I'll tell you about that later.)
Even if you leave your device in a hot place only a few times, you risk ruining it beyond
repair!
See for yourself: with every 15° rise in temperature, the battery’s lifespan gets
cut in half.
And once the heat damages it, there's no way you can restore it.
The disaster happens this way: when your laptop gets too hot, all chemical reactions inside
its battery speed up.
It all has to do with that fancy “lithium-ion” part of the labeling.
Under too high temperatures, the negatively and positively charged ions inside this type
of battery start to move faster than usual.
More movement usually means more heat.
And, well, that means a shorter lifespan for your poor battery!
Now, I’ll be honest (again) c– the newest laptops can easily deal with much harsher
conditions and temperatures (with some of them being able to take 140°F like a champ!
Though, I wouldn’t test that if I were you…).
But sadly, my computer wasn't one of them.
I also learned the hard way that the battery isn't the only thing that can get harmed when
you abandon your laptop in a hot car.
Any hard drive consists of delicate and fragile components; and when the materials they're
made of get heated, they tend to expand, which means permanent damage or even failure of
the hard drive.
Apparently, to avoid such dramatic consequences, I had to shut my laptop off all the way before
leaving it in the car.
Even if it had been in power-saving mode (and it wasn't), it would’ve still generated
heat.
And inside the hot closed vehicle, left in the sun, the laptop's motherboard and hard
drive are likely to burn out.
I should’ve made sure my laptop was and would stay out of direct sunlight as well.
A white or bright cloth placed over the computer would’ve protected it by creating a barrier
between my device and the heat of the car.
And yet another blunder I made: I was supposed to let my laptop cool down completely after
shutting it down (which I didn't).
Don’t judge me too harshly – I didn’t know any of this at that time!
So, imagine my horror as I come up to my car and discover that I've left my laptop inside!
Even worse, while I was away, the sun moved and is now shining directly on the glossy
surface of the lid!
When I touch it, my hand jerks back on its own - the laptop feels scorching hot.
With my heart rate rising in a panic, I try to switch it on, but all my attempts fail.
Well, I guess it's time to pay a visit to the service center…
The man who greets me there takes a look at my computer and then says to me in astonishment,
"I see you've tried to damage this thing in every way possible!"
Charming.
When he sees how puzzled I am, he explains how my bad habits have almost completely destroyed
my laptop.
Spoiler alert: leaving it in a hot car wasn't the worst of my mistakes!
- I often used my laptop until its battery was down to nearly 0%.
I thought it didn't matter at the time, but by doing that, I was degrading the battery
much faster than necessary.
If you want your computer to serve you longer, don't let it run out of juice completely - better
charge it more frequently.
- Also, I have a cat.
And you know what cats love?
Toasty warm surfaces, like a laptop!
My weakness for giving in to the little rascal’s every demand seriously let me down.
Every time my fluffy companion cuddled on my computer’s warm keyboard, a substantial
amount of his fur got into the system's fans.
By the way, that was another reason my laptop used to overheat.
- Once or twice, I accidentally closed my laptop with earbuds inside.
Hey, you can see by now, absentmindedness is my middle name…
Guess what that got me?
Scratches and dents on the screen!
Luckily, I didn't pull my earphones from the computer after I finished listening to something.
That's how I avoided the worst outcome: damaging my laptop's headphone plug.
- I've heard about a misconception lots of people still believe: if you leave magnets
next to your laptop, it’ll eventually ruin your device.
Just to be on the safe side, I asked the service center technician if I should be alarmed if
a fridge magnet accidentally (welcome to my life) falls on my laptop.
While looking quite disturbed, the man assured me that it wouldn't change anything about
how my computer worked.
On the other hand, if it was a powerful industrial magnet...
And you placed that powerful magnet next to an electronic device, magnetic disturbance
could result in data loss!
You see, a laptop’s hard drive has some magnets of its own.
They're used to save and store data.
Phew, it's a good thing I don't have an industrial magnet!
- What’s the most convenient and fastest way to clean the laptop screen?
I was sure that you can do it using wet wipes!
It turns out I was wrong yet again: cleaning the screen with liquids tends to damage it.
Any liquid, even the most natural cleaner, can lead to corrosion once it gets on the
screen.
As for soaps or chemicals, they can destroy the special screen coating.
The best way to clean the screen is by wiping it with a dry microfiber cloth (like the one
people use to clean their eyeglasses).
- I also used to think that since a laptop is a portable device, you can carry it anywhere
you want at any time.
Nope.
When your computer is on and running a program that needs access to the hard drive, you should
leave your gadget be.
Don't transport it, don't move it from one place to another – it’s best to not touch
it altogether.
Otherwise, your impatience may cost you some lost data.
By the way, laptops also don't take kindly to being shaken.
So, avoid using your computer while riding a motorcycle, running away from people (it
could happen), or traveling in the back of a car.
But back to my conversation with the expert on all things laptop-related...
"Have you ever spilled anything on it?"
When the man at the service center asks me this question, he looks at me pointedly and
arches one brow.
I can't make myself look him straight in the eye and start mumbling something along the
lines of "not really... maybe once or twice... it was coffee..."
Uh-oh, I thought he wouldn't notice since every time it happened, I dried the spill
almost immediately!
Well, looks like the liquid from one of those incidences managed to get to the insides of
my computer.
It caused some problems unnoticeable for me but obvious for an expert.
Also, I wasn't supposed to use my laptop as a coaster for a hot cup of coffee.
Apparently, this damages the screen matrix, whatever that is.
As you can see, I wasn't the most careful laptop owner, and now, I have to pay the price.
The man at the service center tells me I can leave my laptop with him, but he doesn't know
whether it’ll be possible to revive my computer.
Fingers crossed!
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