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Canuck2112 · Joined: 13 Jun 2003 Posts: 239

Where I'm living now is extremely cold. I have the toyou on for maybe 6 hours per day...the rest of the time I'm sleeping, working, or out somewhere. I'm a bit concerned...I bought a new laptop and I'm not sure it's safe to leave it in a 7 degree apartment. I also have an MP3 player.

For people who have lived in the colder parts of Japan, have you had any temperature-related computer problems? Is it better to leave the computer running all day or to turn it off?

Shonai Ben · Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 617

I live in Sendai which is also a cold place and never have any problems.I only use my heater at night so the house is cold all day.

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

Electronics typically have a longer life in cold conditions. I'm sorry I can't back up that statement with scientific facts. It's something I learned from an electronic musician friend of mine. Since at the time he had over $40,000 in equipment to protect I tend to believe him.

Give your computer a break. Laptops aren't designed for all day use.

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

our school is basically a prefab. It can drop to near freezing point in there at night some years. This seriously affected not only our main computer but also our photocopier. It got to the stage where teh computer would not boot until it had been warmed up to room temperature again. This was Win 98 though and XP seems fine so far though it's early days and not very cold this year here in Nagoya.

If I were you, I would keep it warm somehow by keeping the laptop (shutdown and unplugged) in a case or bag or something to insulate it if you have to leave it that cold.

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

I've only ever had problems with overheating my laptop and the school printer.

In September, our school's laser printers overheated, resulting in eaten and burned paper. Very inconvenient.

My old IBM Thinkpad used to overheat in the unairconditioned staff room at my old school. Even propped up in front of a fan it still shut down on me.

I haven't had any problems with my latest computer, a Compaq laptop. It has a powerful fan for the benefit of the CD ROM drive built into it. It still runs really hot to the touch on warm days.

About getting cold, well, I leave my laptop out of the draft, locked in my desk most of the time. In my icebox apartment, it runs ok. I think that it's probably easier on the components to be colder than hotter, as Guest of Japan has said.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Guest of Japan,

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

I mean, as Tokyoliz noted, the fan on a laptop is insufficient to cool your computer for extended use. Desktop computers are designed to be on all day in a school or business environment. The cooling system is much more powerful than on a laptop. I too use my laptop far too much. As it gets heated up it also runs much more slowly. Newer laptops are better suited to run for longer periods since they disperse the heat more efficiently.

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Gordon

try http://www.deacondirect.com/top.html

They are based in Nagoya.

lajzar · Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Posts: 647 Location: Saitama-ken, Japan

Older laptops were deliberatly underpowered to ensure they didnt generate so much heat that teh fan couldnt cope. Newer laptops generally include some dynbamic speed-adjusting hardware to slow the thing down if it reaches a certain temperature, providing much the same effect.

If it helps, I've run my laptop all day without problems.

Things I wouldn't do:

Run it for more than half an hour or so in teh height of summer without an air conditioner.

In winter though, you aren't going to have any problems with overheating from any laptop purchased as new this century.