5 Easily Overlooked Things That Can Damage Your Laptop

Laptops are among the most breakable things around. They aren’t breakable because they are fragile, though. If anything, laptop manufacturers make sure that laptop parts are encased in some of the hardiest computer chassis ever.

No; laptops are breakable because of their portable nature. After all, the more mobile something is, the more susceptible it is to outside forces. Often times, these outside forces even include user mishandling.

Below are five easily overlooked things that can surprisingly do a lot of damage to your laptop components. 

1.       Not providing adequate ventilation conditions

Laptop parts are housed in chassis that, if current trends continue, seem to be getting smaller and smaller. To counter this, said laptop parts are designed to be more efficient with their power-to-heat-generation ratio.

That said, heat is still generated. To that end, adequate ventilation has to be maintained, and this entails clearing the pathways for air to flow through, i.e. the laptops’ air vents.

 

The problem comes in when people place their laptops on collapsible “surfaces” (such as they are) like blankets. These tend to fold over and cover the vents, forcing the heat to accumulate inside the laptops and making them overheat.

2.       Too much shaking

While solid state drives are slowly but surely becoming the norm for laptops, many current ones are still equipped with hard drives. These HDs contain a lot of moving mechanical parts. When a laptop with an HD is shaken for prolonged periods, there is a very real danger of the HD’s parts moving too much, possibly leading to corrupted data; or worse, the HD itself being broken.

  

3.       Using the screen half of the laptop like a handle

Some people are just so irresponsible that they handle their stuff with less care than one would like them to. Some of them are just too filthy rich to care (although that doesn’t necessarily mean I condone their actions); but others are just unforgivably unaware.

And it doesn’t even stop at laptop screens. Some grab their laptops by one side of the chassis (increasing the chances for violent shaking, which leads to Item #2); while others shockingly dangle theirs via opened optical drives.

The only proper way to carry a laptop is with both hands, balancing the computer by carrying both its sides. Any other way is just asking for trouble.

  

4.       Cord-mangling

As many people whose “OC senses” tingle at the sight of tangled cords, there are probably just as many who couldn’t care less.

They should, though, because tangled cords do have a breaking point, after which they just become mangled. This is worse if the break occurs inside the wire and not out, since it could be a while before users can come to the conclusion that their laptops’ problems probably lie in severed connections.

  

5.       Foregoing a laptop bag

Finally, some people take laptop bags for granted, deeming them as mere accessories that most can do without. However, the fact of the matter is that laptops are meant to be taken outside; and when out, sufficient protection is an absolute necessity.