How to Protect your Laptop and your Lap from Heat Build-up and Other Hazards
Or. . .
How to Prevent Groin Burns from Overheated Laptops
By José Calero, President, LapWorks, Inc.

If you had been this guy, you wouldn’t be laughing! The BBC News World Edition reported that “A Swedish scientist who rested his laptop computer on his lap for just an hour needed medical treatment for extensive blistering on his penis and scrotum. Unfortunately the blisters broke and developed into infected suppurating wounds.” The concerned doctor who treated the victim wrote in The Lancet, the UK’s best-known medical journal, warning the public of the potential dangers of using a laptop “in the literal sense.” (Is the good doctor implying that we need to use some sort of “protection” and practice “safe” computing when we use our laptops?) Read the whole story:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2503291.stm.

There you have it – proof positive that using a laptop computer unprotected can burn your lap and other delicate parts. So what are we to do? Stop using our laptops? I don’t think so! There are ways to have safe computing, you know. But for the 65 million or so laptop users in America, the heat hazard poses an even greater threat to their computers. Over time, the heat source that burns our lap can have an equally devastating effect on the internal components of our laptop.

So how does one have safe computing without losing intimacy with our laptop, while also protecting it from overheating? The answer is obvious – use protection. What kind? Try a Google search with the keywords “Laptop Desk” or “Lap Desk” or “Lap Tray.” There you will find all kinds of protection for both you and your laptop. We plowed through the many listings and narrowed the field to nine products that should help you practice safe computing.

But before we get to the product comparisons, let us be clear that groin burns aren’t the only hazard that laptop users are susceptible to. There are other hazards – both to the user and the laptop itself – that originate from two common laptop uses: Mobile use (on your lap) and stationary use (on your desktop).

Hazards When Using a Laptop on Your Lap:
Based on research conducted by LapWorks, Inc. (www.lapworksinc.com), two-thirds of all laptop owners reported using their laptops while mobile more often than stationary. Which means that laptop owners prefer 2 to 1 using their laptop in their easy chair watching TV, in airline terminals, in hotel lobbies, or in bed surfing the Internet, as opposed to desktop use. As we rove around using our laptops in different ways, lap (or groin) burns are possible unless we use some form of protection.

A pillow is not a good choice. Many mobile users will sandwich a pillow between themselves and the laptop to protect their laps from “Hot Leg.” This comforts the user, but unfortunately does no favors for the computer. The pillow acts as an insulator and contains the heat within the laptop, accelerating overheating. The laptop’s cooling fan then cycles on repeatedly ‘gasping for air’ until it shuts your computer down to protect itself from serious heat damage.

Finally, you could permanently damage your laptop with a fatal drop. A white paper study conducted by IDC (International Data Corp., a Framingham, Mass. research firm) concluded that 68% of all damage to laptops comes from being dropped. This includes sliding off the user’s lap and crashing to a hard and unforgiving floor. IDC further reported that in 2001, it cost businesses and industry over one billion dollars to repair broken laptops, and replace them in some cases, totaling approximately $1,400 per incident.

Solutions to the Hazards of Lap Use:
Find a product with non-slip surfaces that spans your lap completely, can hold even the largest portable, and shields your lap from its blistering heat. Road warriors will also want something that’s lightweight, thin, and folds so it can easily fit in the computer bag.

To protect the computer from its own heat, find something with built-in ventilation channels that can actually reduce heat. You can reduce heat in two ways: convection (exchanging warm air for cool air) and conduction (transferring heat by contact from a warm surface to a cool surface). Look for products that reduce heat through convection or conduction or both.

Hazards When Using a Laptop on your Desk:
Strange as it may sound, the greatest risk of injuring yourself personally will most likely come when you use your laptop on a desktop over long periods of time. It is here that we risk injuring our neck and shoulders from hazards such as:

• Lower than recommended viewing height of the laptop screen
• Flat typing angle, or lack of incline of the laptop’s keyboard

Since most laptop computers are set flat on the desktop, their screen heights are all below the recommended, “ergonomically correct” viewing level. This means you must strain your neck to find information at the bottom of the screen, which can lead to more serious back problems over time. The recommended height for a computer screen is positioning the top of the screen at, or slightly below, eye level. This lets your eyes do the searching, instead of having to bend and strain your neck.

Another hazard comes from the laptop’s flat keyboard. In this position, we are forced to move our elbows away from our body to get our hands in the right position to type. Supporting our arms away from our body for long periods of time eventually strains the shoulders and back so that typing becomes tiring and more stressful.

The immediate effects of neck and back strain are discomfort and reduced productivity, but medical experts agree they can lead to more permanent health problems over time.

Solutions to the Hazards of Desk Use:
Ideally, the answer is to raise the back of the laptop computer to such an angle that it will:

• Allow natural convection (and conduction if possible) to take place under the computer, reducing heat build-up and cooling your computer.
• Raise the viewing screen height closer to eye level, reducing neck strain.
• Put the keyboard in an incline, allowing elbows to remain by your side in a more ergonomically comfortable typing angle.

Heat is Your Laptop’s Worst Enemy:
Aside from the catastrophic crash to the floor, the greatest damage to laptops comes from poor ventilation that causes overheating. Eventually, this overheating causes permanent damage, shortening your laptop’s life.

Overheating is the result of the market’s competitive demand for the thinnest form factor and greater processing power. The solution? Find a product that can actually reduce the heat by as much as 15% to 20%, which means your laptop’s cooling fan won’t cycle on as often, and your laptop computer can live a longer, healthier life!

Conclusion:
There are products that address these hazards, each to a greater or lesser degree. Keep in mind that the hazards listed above are real and documented, not just sales hype. If you are a committed laptop user, you’ll want to create the safest computing environment whenever and wherever you choose to use your laptop.

Give serious consideration to the below list of nine products and select the one that best meets your specific needs. And be careful out there . . . now that groin burns have been documented, you’ll want to use protection from now on so you can always practice safe computing.

Note About Products:
In the interest of relevance and brevity, the universe of laptop computer desks was narrowed to those that can solve most or all of the hazards listed above.

Laptop computer desks that were excluded were those on the periphery or with specialized applications like wheelchair-mounted desks, automobile computer desks, clam-shell style computer bags, beanbag desks, tripod and pedestal computer desks, wheeled suitcases with flip-out desks, and the most voluminous category of all - furniture desks made of wood for home computing use.

VIEW THE PRODUCT COMPARISON CHART AT
http://laptopdesk.net/press-articlesf.html#chart
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About the Author
José Calero is the developer of the Laptop Desk and President of LapWorks, Inc. During his 2-year study of the mobile computing field, Mr. Calero has evaluated many lap desk products and developed an understanding of the market’s needs and the limitations of current lap desk offerings. The goals of this article are to make people aware of the hazards of improper laptop use, and to raise the flag on the damage caused by excessive heat build-up within the computer. José lives in Rancho Cucamonga, California with his wife, Leslie, of 33 years. They have three sons, two granddaughters, one dog and one cat. José can be reached by e-mail at jose@laptopdesk.net.

The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which CFCS is a member, brings this article to you.

Author: José Calero, President, LapWorks, Inc.

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Date: 04 / 2006

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