<p>I'm currently using a Dell Inspiron 6000 with a pentium M cpu and 6 cell lithium ion battery. I've heard that if you use your laptop a lot, your battery can wear out very quickly, and if you run powerful programs or games, the heat from your laptop can cause damage to your system. </p>
<p>What are some things that you guys do to help preserve your laptop? I've heard that if you get a docking station, it will help to keep your laptop cool, preventing heat damage.</p>
<p>My Macbook Pro's manual says that I should calibrate it every now and then. To do that, I have to fully charge it, let it die, something in that manner. </p>
<p>I'd look in the manual to see if there is any tips such as that.</p>
<p>Get a laptop base, which has fans in it, to protect it when at home. Also try and run the battery down to 0% every 30 days, and let it rec harge untouched. If you have a pentium m , which you do, dont worry about the heat. My laptop has a pentium 4 , 3.8ghz 2mbl2 cache, and its been doing fine for a year and a half. It gets hot as hell too! Just do what i said and youll be set, although you still dont need a laptop base.</p>
<p>That's good to hear!</p>
<p>So since I have centrino, I shouldn't worry about overworking my fan or any other device when I play games like age of empires 3, which uses a lot of resources?</p>
<p>Why would you play games on a laptop? It's easier and better to play games on a desktop, plus desktops offer more power.</p>
<p>Materus -- It's quite plausible to play games on a laptop. In my family, everyone has laptops and though we have a desktop, we've never even bothered to set it up since we moved a year and a half ago.</p>
<p>Phoenix -- I wouldn't worry about it too much. If I need to work with it on my lap, I usually set my computer on a hardcover binder to prevent it from overheating. The rubber feet on the bottom should keep it elevated enough. Also, the slant of the binder makes typing a little more comfortable. ^_^ And yes, you should probably let it die then recharge every once in a while.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Why would you play games on a laptop? It's easier and better to play games on a desktop, plus desktops offer more power.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not quite. Though they are expensive, there are some powerful laptops out there that are like gaming desktops, but portable :D .</p>
<p>Dell makes the cheapest, gaming laptops. I got an E1505 from them recently with this configuration:</p>
<p>-Core 2 Duo T7200 (4 MB Cache)
-2 GB DDR2 Ram
-ATI Radeon 256 MB X1400 Graphics Card</p>
<p>So yea, I don't have problems running games. The graphics card could be better, but I don't need to run games at high settings for them to be enjoyable.</p>
<p>Just don't play games on battery power, or else you'll run the battery down in no time.</p>
<p>I've heard that some people physically remove their laptop's battery when plugged in with AC power. They say that this minimizes any possible damage to the battery, but is this really possible? Can the laptop operate with the battery missing? Should I remove my battery when I'm plugged in? </p>
<p>Thanks for your advice</p>
<p>
[quote]
My Macbook Pro's manual says that I should calibrate it every now and then
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Wait, it does? I haven't read the entire manual yet, but I'll keep that in mind.</p>
<p>If plugged in, the computer will indeed function without the batteries. I don't know if taking them out while plugged in actually helps, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Just make sure that at some point you put them in so they can charge!</p>
<p>yea its a lithium ion battery so the more the charaging cycles the faster it dies....but realz its usually like two years untill its a problem. My old battery now holds only 30mins of charge from like 2.5 hrs before..
also i heard if ure a guy ure semen count drops coz of keeping the laptop in your lap(cant verfy though)</p>
<p>I don't put my laptop in my lap anyway :D . It gets too friggin' hot.</p>
<p>And I don't think it matters if you have the battery in while on AC power. It would be too much of a hassle to remove it everytime you switch from battery to AC and back to battery.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Wait, it does? I haven't read the entire manual yet, but I'll keep that in mind.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>It's bascially this:</p>
<p>you gotta watch out for the heat from the graphics card, but i dunno if the heat actually damages your system. I measured my laptop at over 120 degrees while running video games and its still alive (we'll see how long that lasts). Also, if you're running the laptop off a power cord, the battery isn't being used. Your battery should last you around two year's worth of use, or so i heard.</p>
<p>my laptop's motherboard (or something...not going to be a comp. major anytime soon) had to be replaced twice. We had to send it away and get it shipped back all reconfigured TWICE. Its insane. The battery only lasts about 3 minutes unplugged. No more Toshibas for me. </p>
<p>It used to shut itself off/overheat when it put it on anything other than a hard surface, so when I use it on my bed, I have a pillow with a board, its amazing. I recommend that.</p>