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Thread ID: 44058 2004-04-05 11:35:00 Leaving a laptop on overnight Ashley Matthews (550) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
227411 2004-04-05 11:35:00 Hey,

I recently bought a laptop as a desktop replacement.
With my old desktop i used to leave it on overnight.... downloading etc.
Is it safe to do this with a laptop or should i do it with one of the desktops in my household

Thanks
Ashley
Ashley Matthews (550)
227412 2004-04-05 11:48:00 I leave mine on, its fine.

Just be careful it doesnt get too hot :-)

Cheers


Chill.
Chilling_Silence (9)
227413 2004-04-05 12:01:00 it is ok to have in turned on for 24/7 just dont have the battery in it or it will over charge it and thats bad. robsonde (120)
227414 2004-04-05 21:10:00 as my modem has recently been struck by a lightening charge (which isn't covered by the warrenty), I suggest getting a telephone spike guard... Trev O (452)
227415 2004-04-05 22:07:00 Here's my view:

You should be fine leaving it on overnight. At my work (a base of 3000 pcs+) laptops are left on 24/7 with no problems.

I disagree with taking the battery out, you could potentially do more damage to it out of the laptop - with moisture and discharging etc...
Marlboro (4607)
227416 2004-04-05 23:09:00 Read somewhere that if you leave a laptop on overnight connected to the AC and it is not being used you shorten the battery replacement time by about a third as it is heated to about 45 deg C. With battery replacement costs it would be a factor to consider. FrankS (257)
227417 2004-04-05 23:25:00 Heat emanating from within the battery due to charge is one thing, and in my experience is or should be minimal. The battery in my laptop is charging 24/7 and runs very cool as I would expect from any well designed charging system.

Heat induced by inadequate cooling and by laptops running desktop chips (= hot) is another thing, and this should be the only source of heat worry.
godfather (25)
227418 2004-04-06 01:31:00 We had a Toshiba laptop here at work that ran 24/7. Stuffed that battery big time.. paulw (1826)
227419 2004-04-06 02:02:00 It's certainly possible to shorten the life of a Ni-Cd or Ni-MH battery by over-trickling.

Most laptops use Li-Ion batteries these days. Because of the extreme consequences (including "venting flame" aka "exploding") of bad charging habits, they are invariably "smart batteries" with multiple protection sensors. The chargers are also intelligent so as not to cook the batteries.

My only concern is the only-just-enough cooling of many laptops. If it runs warm normally, I'd sit it on a couple of books overnioght, so there's a very clear way for air to get to the cooling fan intake if it's underneath the case.
Graham L (2)
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