5 Things To Avoid If You Want To Preserve Your Laptop

Laptops are considered travel-friendly devices that you probably take with you on holidays and business trips. Many people also use laptops at the office, as it allows them to continue their work at home. What many do not realize is that laptops are not as portable as most people think they are. Sure, you can easily take the device with you on travels, but this mobile device tends to be more susceptible to damage and disaster than the desktop.

AViiQ Portable Laptop Stand 1

Your goal is most likely to ensure your laptop lasts for a long time. With this in mind, there are a few things that you should avoid. Sometimes, the disaster of your laptop is linked to luck. Still, there are some strategies that can help to reduce the risk of a broken laptop. We consider five common mistakes people make with laptops – consider these and try to avoid them as much as possible.

1. Avoid Overheating Your Laptop

We start with one of the most common ways that people tend to damage their laptop – overheating. A laptop produces heat when the internal components are hard at work – allowing you to browse the internet, compile documents, or maybe design a logo for a client. When there is an accumulation of too much heat, the internal temperature of your laptop may increase too significantly. In turn, this may cause serious damage to the internal components.

You should note that laptops are more likely to overheat when compared to desktop computers. This is primarily due to the closer proximity of the internal components that help your laptop run. This leaves a smaller amount of space for air to move effectively. Thus, overheating can occur.

Overheating is much more likely when there is a restriction in airflow around the laptop. Avoid placing your laptop directly on your bed. The material from your sheets can restrict airflow further. This makes it more likely for your laptop to overheat.

When your laptop overheats, there is a number of problems that may occur. In some cases, the CPU may be damaged in the process. This means you may simply need to replace the CPU with a new one. In other cases, however, you may find that the overheating caused significant damage to the motherboard. This can lead to a higher cost to fix the laptop – sometimes rendering your laptop useless.

You can also consider buying a laptop cooling pad. These devices help to promote improved airflow on your laptop while it is in use.

2. Avoid Picking Your Laptop Up With Just One Hand

Too few people realize just how easy a laptop’s screen can break. Sure, it is possible to learn how to replace a broken laptop screen yourself, but this process requires skill and a new screen, which can cost a lot of money.

One major factor that contributes to such problems would be picking up your laptop with just one hand. The problem that comes into play here is how you pick the laptop up. Many people will pick the laptop up at the corner of the screen. This can cause damage to your screen. It also reduces your grip on the screen. With this in mind, you are increasing the likeliness for your laptop to fall.

Problems can occur when you use one hand to pick your laptop up at the area where its optical drive is located.

Other concerns related to picking up the laptop with a single hand include bending the laptop. This cannot only cause damage to your screen but may also damage other parts of your laptop.

Always use both hands to pick your laptop up. Never pick your laptop up from just the screen area. Rather, use both hands on the bottom side of the laptop and keep it steady and level when you pick it up – especially if the screen is opened.

3. Avoid Damaging The Power Cord Of Your Laptop

Damage dealt with the power cord of a laptop can be just as harmful. Laptop chargers can be quite costly. This is something that many people do not realize – until they are in need of a new laptop charger.

A common reason for laptop charges to become faulty is due to damage dealt with the cord. This is often a problem when people fails to be cautious about how they handle the power cord of their laptop.

Many people tend to wrap the power cord around an object. In fact, some people wrap the cord around the power brick. The brick gathers heat while it powers your laptop. This can already cause damage to the cord when it is wrapped around the brick.

Wrapping the cord around something else can be just as disastrous. A simple plastic object with sharp edges can easily cause damage to the power cord.

Instead, use the velcro that comes with the power cord to wrap it up – away from the power brick, of course.

You should also make sure the power brick does not hang in the air. This can cause strain on the socket that plugs into your laptop’s power port. In turn, it can cause damage to your laptop directly – which means you might find it difficult to charge your laptop’s battery.

4. Avoid Causing Damage To Your Laptop’s Hard Drive

The hard drive is where all data is stored on your laptop. If your laptop still has a standard HDD drive, then it means there are moving parts in the hard drive. These moving parts can become damaged if you are not careful with how you manage your laptop.

Carefully consider when you move your laptop. If you constantly move the laptop while its hard drive is being used by software, you can cause damage to the moving parts on the inside of the hard drive. Rather choose to move your laptop when it is not being used.

You can also consider upgrading to an SSD drive. These drives do not use any moving parts. This helps to reduce the risk of losing your data due to a damaged hard drive.

5. Avoid Causing Damage During Travels

Another common mistake is a failure to be careful when travelling with a laptop. This is where laptop bags come into the picture – but we are not referring to the cheap laptop bags that only cost a few dollars. The problem with this is the fact that they lack adequate padding to protect your laptop. When your laptop falls, a bag without padding will likely still cause damage to your laptop.

Make sure you have a laptop bag with appropriate padding. The padding should not only be provided at the sides but also at the top and bottom of the laptop.

Conclusion

A laptop might be made for travelling purposes, but these devices break more easily than some people think. Many faults that occur with a laptop can be traced to mistakes made by the owner. Thus, learning about common mistakes could help you reduce the risk of breaking your own laptop. We looked at five of the most common mistakes that people tend to make. Avoiding these can already greatly reduce the risks of causing the breakage of your own laptop.