How to take care of your laptop

I get asked this too often. I guess many people know how to take care of their cars, wash and wax, rotate tires, change oil, etc. Well, with laptops it’s remotely similar. There is not much to change, more so there are few preventative tips.

What not to do

By now, if you have a laptop you know not to spill stuff on it, right? Well, same goes for eating above it. It wont hurt the laptop, but typing with crumbs underneath the keys is no fun.

Performance and longevity tips

First of all, do not bump, shake or rapidly move your laptop. Why? Most of you have a regular HDD in your laptop. HDD spins and uses an arm, imagine vinyl players, that arm can get damaged, knock the sensors out so the geometry is wrong (had a case like that), or just plain corrupt data.

Heat

Meaning, do not put your laptop in your lap or on covers of your bed!!!! This is the easiest way how to say goodbye to your laptop in a matter of few months, if that.

What’s the solution for this?

Actually, it is easy and cheap! Laptop cooler is the answer. Refer to the picture bellow. What it is is a piece of plastic with 1 or up to 3 fans in it. Blows cool air into your laptop’s air intake, so the CPU gets cooler faster, also blows air onto other parts, which helps tremendously.

Screen cleaning.

How to clean the screen? Buy one of the kits for LCD screens, or just get distilled water and really good microfiber towel. Do not use paper towels or swiffer! You should not spray or use any chemicals on the screen because they have the glossy film on it, which is very sensitive to chemicals.

General Cleaning

Track pad, what do I use? Diluted rubbing alcohol or some degreaser, which is also diluted, gently apply with microfiber cloth and wipe off. You will see a huge difference with your track pad. For tight spots use toothpicks and Q-Tips, they work great.

Protection

How do I make my laptop protected and shiny? Try keyboard covers, some can get used to it, some can’t. Just google it or check out ebay. I use car wax or sealant on my laptop, makes it shiny, deep gloss, and bit more protected. I also have neoprene case, which except for the seams is water proof, I put that in my bag when I travel. The case is also squishy, so it kind of protects the little bumps from damaging the laptop.

Other tips:

1. If you use laptop once a week or so, take out the battery, it will last longer.
2. Try to completely discharge your battery as often as you can, somewhere around once every few days, even once a week.
3. Get a spare charging cable/cord if you use laptop frequently or it is your only computer. Why? Majority of cords get damaged within a year, either they suck or you damage them. Ebay has plenty of cheap ones for around 12 to 20 bucks. Imagine no power cord, or paying $80 for a new one. Besides, if you like to be in more than one place around the house, it’s nice not to drag the cord around.
4. Don’t be in/near/around dusty areas as the heatsink will get clogged, and your laptop will bake itself.
5. If you have more, post comments

There you have it, follow these suggestions and your laptop will last lot longer.