Laptop+Care

Laptop Care with notes in italics and bold for really important information by Ken Myers, Dublin Elementary, September 2001
 * //Rx Computer//**

Index I. Care- General II. Made of plastic- Remember III. Accidents- Avoidable IV. Extreme temperatures- Beware V. Dirt- Not a computer’s friend VI. Electricity- Too much or too little VII. Security- Keep your eye on your unit

I. Care- General Handle with care. I can’t even begin to tell you all the things that have been spilled into these units. Coffee is expensive if you spill a cup of it into the unit. Don’t turn the unit on if it gets wet. If you do, then the unit will be fried. ALL liquid drinks spilled onto a unit are pretty bad on the working internals of a computer: laptop or PC. (//and many times fatal. Keep ALL food and drinks away from ALL computers. Work at your computer, rest in a relaxing place. KM//)

II. Made of plastic- Remember Most units are made of hi-impact plastic but the fact still remains that plastic breaks. In 50% of the units we service, we notice some sort of plastic breakage. The number one place where plastic seems to break is at the hinges where the LCD screen is flipped up and down. (//This is really critical. Be extremely careful in opening and closing your unit.//) In several cases the plastic doors and door buttons are broken off. (//This will probably happen to yours sooner or later. Also, plastic becomes brittle when exposed to the environment. This doesn’t help. I’ve had plastic parts just disintegrate in my hand.//) Some laptops have plastic breaks at stress points, for example where plastic is used as covering strips to house the unit around the palm rest (inside top plastic face of the keyboard). We also noticed several unit bases that were cracked, as a result of being dropped. Cracks are usually located on the corners or stress points. The tops of LCD housings are also usually cracked because of dropping the unit. When the laptop is dropped, all too often the LCD screen, made of glass, breaks and ruptures. **Many LCD (TFT and Dual) screens can be ruined by dropping them from a height of only a couple of inches; this should be avoided.** A good rule of thumb is to take extra care when handling your unit and try not to bump or drop your laptop.

III. Accidents- Avoidable Carry the unit in a carrying case designed to transport a laptop computer. This really protects the unit and saves on big repair costs to the unit. These cases are designed to hold the laptop and provide a safe place to house the unit while traveling. Countless units have been damaged because they were not in a proper carrying case, for example: put in a bag – just for a little while, on a car seat - for just a moment - and forgot until it falls on the floor while stopping. (//NEVER set your laptop on your hood, trunk or roof of your car for even a moment!//) The list can go on, with as many unique reasons, but the ending usually being the same – “crack” goes the unit. Several damaged units were the result of being placed in a box in the trunk of a car. During transit, the unit falls out of the box and “plunk” - onto the trunk floor causing damage to the unit. The unit then slides from side to side, forward and back, all the while striking the sides of the trunk. This mobile wrestling cage causes cracks in the LCD display screens and plastics of the unit.

IV. **Extreme temperatures- Beware** Extreme temperatures are very damaging to any unit. We have seen system boards that were literally cooked in a car when the unit was forgotten and left behind. We have also had units brought in after being left in the car for a refreshing night in the cold. Remember extreme temperatures affect CD disks and adapters. Too many days of work are lost, because disks were left in the car. We even had to recover data from a frozen removable hard drive that was left out, on the top of a car, overnight. These extreme temperatures are also bad for the LCD display screens. Never leave a unit outside in the car. Remember that LCD display screens need to be at room temperature to function properly. Very expensive lessons to learn or save the money and heed our advice!

V. Dirt- not a computer’s friend Keep the unit clean. LCD display screens need to be cleaned frequently and only with a soft lint-free cloth. **Don’t ever use harsh detergents, such as alcohol, or ammonia products.** (//That means **NO Windex** or the like.//) Several units have come in and the screen is barely visible because the unit was cleaned with a harsh detergent. We however generally see the opposite - about 2 to 3 year old units coming in that are ruined or damaged by having too much dust and dirt in the unit.

VI. Electricity- Too much or too little
 * Always** unplug your modem from the wall jack when unit is not in use or **when a storm is coming**. Power surges are the number one reason why so many modems are fried. Lightning, electricity spikes and brown-outs in the electrical power lines can take out a modem as well as several of the other cards (i.e. sound, FL filter, and video). Never run a unit unless you use a UPS (uninterruptible power source) device or at least a power outlet strip with modem capabilities. Using an UPS saves modems, sound cards, video boards, etc. which pays for itself in short order. (//If you must use your laptop computer during a thunderstorm, unplug the modem or network connection and the wall plug and adapter. Use it only on battery power.//)

VII. **Security- Keep your eye on your unit** The biggest thing I can recommend for laptop security is to not leave the unit unattended or visible to theft. The unit is small and expensive and because of that, it is prone to grow legs and “walk off”. My suggestion is to carry the unit at all times or place it in a secure place. Units have been nabbed in unlocked vehicles, unattended on planes, restaurants, offices, or left on a table in the open for just a moment. Never leave your unit unattended. Never check the unit in luggage when traveling by air. Always take it as carry-on baggage. Insure your data’s safety as well. We recommend to Zip your work onto Zip disks and not on the hard drive. That way, if and when the unit is stolen, your data is on Zip disks and not just given totally to the people that took your unit – a real benefit in security. Many people are getting some kind of backup device to insure that the data stored is secure and not so accessible if your unit is stolen. Also do not use an auto-logon program on a laptop. Using an auto-logon program exposes your host system if your laptop is stolen. (//Always save your important data to disk and to your online storage at school. Remember that this unit can disappear in a moment, either through accident or theft. You need your data. Safeguard it!//)