Ladies, is your laptop giving you hot flashes?
You think I jest?
Simple fact: Your laptop is hotter than Penlope Cruz.
Proof? Turn yours on. Put it on a table. Go away for an hour. Now lift it. The bottom can easily be a scorching 120 degrees -- and some laptops, I've read, can top out at 200 degrees.
Not pretty if you're one of those who sets the laptop on your ... lap.
There have been reports that just touching the bottom of an active laptop can cause skin to be burned. And a study of two dozen men -- granted, a small sampling -- found that heat from a computer resting on a lap can raise the temperature of the scrotum by 0.7 C. (For well-done, cook longer.)
Then there's the possible damage to the computer. Laptops don't have the powerful fans you find in desktop computers -- these babies are hotboxes. And what they roast is your laptop battery. Or the brains. Which raises the possibility of a shortened life or unwelcome repair bills.
For some, the solution is a Chill Pad. Portable, light, low-tech. And simple: It raises and ventilates.
I prefer a laptop stand, with or without a fan that's powered by a USB port on your laptop. For one thing, it's easier to type on an angled keyboard. For another, it just feels better to look straight ahead than eternally down.
