Some Laptop Hazards to Watch Out For

I love computers especially laptops. I have always had pretty good luck with laptops and with a little care they last just as long as a desktop and sometimes they surpass the desktops life. Some people have not been so lucky because of defective parts or just accidents. In this article I discuss some possible laptop hazards. Some you can control and some you can't. It pays to know what you are buying so you get a good buy for your money.

Overheating

This is probably the biggest complaint of laptop owners over the years. Some laptops have overheated to the point of damaging the the laptop itself. I have seen laptops that have melted from overheating. Either the fans have quit working or the laptop overheating was a known issue for that particular laptop. One company has seemed to solve this issue and developed a laptop with laptop lid cooling. You can read the story here.

Bad Batteries

Another issue that has presented itself with laptops is bad batteries. Defective batteries have exploded or caught fire. Dell has recalled some batteries that were catching fire and destroying laptops. Some batteries have been known to explode. The normal warranty on a laptop battery is 1 year. Even if the laptop was to have a longer warranty the laptop warranty does not go beyond 1 year. Another thing to remember if you use your laptop plugged in most of the time your battery will not charge and drain properly. Laptop batteries that are not allowed to drain and charge normally will decrease the batteries life.

Cracked LCD screens

Some laptops have cracked even under normal use. If the laptop were in warranty than the LCD could be replaced with no cost to the owner. However, they have been known to crack at any time and if you owned one that was out of warranty this would cause you some frustration and cost you some money to replace it. Cold and warm weather can affect a screen but if you take precautions under normal use this should not happen but sometimes it does. To the laptop owner that ends up with a defective screen this can be disheartening. Never leave your laptop in a hot or cold car cause this can surly damage the screen.

Broken or missing keys

For some unknown reason laptop keys will fall off a keyboard from time to time. Although keyboards can be replaced easy enough now it can still lead to some frustration. It always seems to happen at unfortunate times. Unlike standard desktop keyboards laptop keys are not easy to pop back in place. Most of the time when they come loose they won't go back on. Some laptop owners will put up with a few missing keys rather than go through the hassle of taking it to a technician.

Broken latches and hinges

Some laptops the hinges and latches break and the laptop no longer closes properly. I have seen hinges break to the point the LCD will come off or not close. These cosmetic problems usually are only fixed by replacing the laptop chassis. When a laptop is out of warranty that chassis can become pretty pricey. Usually at that point you will end up buying a new computer. The replacement can be as much as a new one if not sometimes more.

When your thinking about purchasing a laptop read the reviews to find out if there are any problems that you should be concerned with. If others are having issues you may want to shy away from that particular model.