Maintaining a laptop for as long a life possible

mikehurley

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Jul 31, 2012
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Hey guys,

I'm about to receive my NP9150 from www.reflexnotebook.ca.

I was wondering about some good and possibly innovative ways to prolong, extend and otherwise maintain my new laptop as best I can. This would be things other than defrag, virus scan every 2 weeks, disk cleanup.

Any and all useful suggestions are welcomed!
 

geofelt

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With a SSD, do not defrag. It does no good, and reduces longevity.
Windows should have turned it off.

Don't drop it:)

Occasionally give it a stress test and monitor temperatures. If the temperatures start to get hot, clean dust out of the cooler.
 

mikehurley

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Jul 31, 2012
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I am thinking of obtaining a laptop cooler tray, any suggestions as to the most effective ones? I am thinking of getting a slanted one, would this effect anything in a negative way? thanks
 

geofelt

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I doubt that such a tray would hurt or help.
 

djscribbles

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Apr 6, 2012
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+1 to dextermat and geofelt. Heat can destroy your laptop, it doesn't always have to be under much stress, make sure you use it someplace where the vent is actively venting heat.

A cooling pad (lapdesk that has fans and elevates the laptop for more airflow underneath) isn't a bad idea, especially when gaming.

Don't drink stuff around your laptop, and keep it closed when not in use. An external keyboard and mouse can reduce the wear and tear on it if/when you're at a desk (monitor doesn't hurt either).
Always keep it a few inches from ledges, and keep the rubber feet in good condition (replace them if needed).

Mostly semi-common sense stuff. Just never forget that you are using a fragile 1200$ piece of equipment, that's when bad things can happen.

edit: Imo, a cooler tray that lifts the bottom of the laptop a bit to improve incoming airflow would help, fans wouldn't hurt either and may help if they are in the right spot. It doesn't need to be a drastic slant/lift, unless you plan on working on soft surfaces, a 1/4" at the back is enough to open up airflow a lot. (Though I'm not really an expert on laptop cooling, this is just my rationale)
 

pacioli

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Nov 22, 2010
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Never defrag an SSD!
The theory is that SSDs have no moving parts and are therefore more reliable... The reality is the reliability is about the same, with the chance of failure for both SSDs and HDDs increasing over time.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-reliability-failure-rate,2923-9.html
The study also shows an increase in HDD reliabilty over past years.
Basically, as you have been told, keep the temperatures of your laptop as low as possible.
 

mikehurley

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Jul 31, 2012
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holy ***... did not know this. thanks for the heads up.

 

bliq

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Jun 29, 2006
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Don't defrag an SSD- it will shorten its life...

Also, this is a pain in the butt, but if possible, try to drain the battery all the way before charging it. It keeps the battery working better longer. consider buying a spare battery now and socking it away if you think it'll be hard to find a battery in a couple years. this isn't a dell or an hp after all. Either that or get familiar with how to open a battery pack and replace cells by hand.
 

spat55

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Jun 4, 2012
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I need a windows vista disk so I can re-install windows. My laptop is 3 years old, and I do have a gaming PC but this is excellent for just browsing online awhile I don't have a monitor, (4 months later).
 

kittle

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Dec 8, 2005
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Buy yourself a quality case for it. The biggest issue over time is the daily bumps and bangs while moving around.

A GOOD case is not some $20 cloth bag, or rubber sleeve you can find in the dollar store, but something that will protect your laptop from people running into you, weather, coffee spills while on the bus, and kids sitting on it. It also provides a great place to keep your power adapter so you dont lose it.

If you plan to use your laptop both on the road and at home - get a second power adapter. Leave one at home, and keep the 2nd one in your case. This way you have a backup, and your less likely to forget your adapter.
 

punahou1

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Dec 26, 2010
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My advice would be to purchase the most powerful machine you can afford then just take great care to ensure that it does not get physically abused - dropped, banged, liquid and food spills, ect.. I'm not sure if this matters any more but I also fully drain the battery every few weeks before re-charging. I also don't leave the machine on 24 x 7 - only when I need it which is for a few hours each week. I have followed this practice for many years and my Toshiba from 1993 still runs Windows 95. My current laptop is a Dell from 1999 that is running XP. Maybe I'm just lucky but I have only had to replace the battery on my Dell once...
 

division_9

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Apr 5, 2011
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1) Apply the best thermal paste you can(i.e. IC diamond or Arctic MX-4 etc)

2) Don't leave the battery plugged in while running off a wall outlet as it'll wear your battery to half capacity in no time(unless you need to use the battery as a UIPS/power outage protection).

3) If your laptop has a glossy screen I'd suggest a "Screen protector" so your nice shiny screen doesn't become a fingerprint magnet.
 

shellls45

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Sep 17, 2012
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This only applies to Ni-Cad batteries. With a Li-ion battery in a laptop you want to only fully drain the battery once or twice when you first get it to condition the battery, and after that you want to keep it fully charged as much as possible. In fact cycling Li-ons will dramatically decrease their life.
 

mad1316

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Oct 10, 2012
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Mostly recaps, but:

1) be careful not to bump it while it is running (not as much of an issue if you swap to an SSD)

2) clean install windows as needed (for most users, at least once every 2 years, depending on how much you tweak, how much junkware comes installed, etc.)

3) watch your temps. You will likely need to clean your heatsinks periodically (shine a flashlight through to see how blocked it is). Periodically, cleaning off old and applying new thermal paste can help alot.

4) since it is a newer laptop, battery will likely be Li-ion. Do NOT ever let it run fully dead, as this will permanently degrade the battery. If you run on battery, don't plug in until you're ready to fully charge. The lifespan of Li-ion batteries is based on charge cycles, so keep in mind that you'll probably just need to get a replacement somewhere down the line.

5) Keep a backup of the system once you get the settings how you want them. That way, you can always recover with minimal loss of data.