According to researchers at the University of Basel, repeated contact between a warm laptop and your thigh can result in the discoloration associated with a poor fake tan job. While the damage isn’t permanent, the immediate effect can be slightly alarming.

Keeping your laptop cool will ensure you don't end up with Oompa Loompa coloured thighs...

In the BBC article, 6 hours per day was quoted as being necessary to create the syndrome. We were interested to test out how long it would take for the discoloration to appear, but unfortunately we don’t have 6 hours to spare. Instead, we thought we’d give you some advice about how to reduce the heat of your laptop.

You might be asking yourself why overheating is such a big issue. The thing is, it’s not just your thighs that a hot laptop can damage; it’s also the motherboard, graphics chip and hard drive, to name but a few parts. When these components overheat, you could be faced with a hefty repair bill. For example, repairing a graphics chip on an HP motherboard could cost £125 +VAT. Because overheating can cause so many problems, regardless of the fault on your laptop we always give it a good clean to help protect it against overheating.

So what can you do to keep your laptop cool?

Because laptops are so compact, the space between the components is incredibly small. This isn’t a problem until your laptop fills up with dust, but your laptop can be a haven for pesky dust mites within weeks of purchase. The key to keeping it dust free is to follow these three simple steps:

1. Don’t use your laptop on a bed or sofa
Using your laptop flat on a surface such as a duvet means your laptop can’t breathe. The suction fans will take up all of the dirt and dust from the sofa or bed, filling your laptop with harmful fluff. Instead, place it on a hard surface such as a tray or even a purpose made laptop tray, which are available from places like Ikea for under £10.

2. Use a can of compressed air to get rid of any dust build up within your laptop

You’ll be amazed how much cooler your laptop will be once you give it a good clean. As soon as you get rid of the dust, your laptop will be able to breathe again, with adequate fresh air circulating around the hot parts such as the graphics processor and CPU.

3. Invest in a cooling pad

For gamers and other performance users, investing in a laptop cooler can keep your laptop working at optimum efficiency. These pads are normally USB powered and start from £10. We don’t stock any of these items, but places like Amazon are a great place to start.

For more information about maintaining your laptop, or if you need your laptop repaired, visit our website.

While repairing has become more popular, some potential customers have been put off by the lack of an effective warranty for repairs. Most workshops offer a 30 day or 90 day warranty service, meaning an investment of £100 is difficult to justify. However, we’re once again looking to lead the line by launching a new warranty service.

We believe that good customer service and fast turnaround can only go so far, so to truly set ourselves apart from competitor laptop repair shops, we now offer a 3 month warranty on motherboard repairs, 6 month warranty on new motherboards, and 12 month guarantee on all other parts.

Why CRM Laptop Repair offers different levels of warranty

That’s great, but why the tiered system?

Of course we’d like to offer a flat 12 month warranty on all repairs, but the challenge is that different parts of a laptop behave differently. While screens and hard drives stand the test of time, some motherboards are innately more fragile. Your motherboard can be like a dodgy knee, you can repair it, but sometimes the problem comes back a few months later. This is why if we repair your motherboard, we will guarantee it for 3 months. Alternatively, we can replace the motherboard, sourcing a new, high quality part from one of our suppliers. We’d always recommend this option over a repair, as the cost is sometimes only an extra £25, even though it offers you double the warranty length.

The reason we can offer a 12 month warranty service on all the other parts we replace is that quite simply, they are more durable. The amount of chips, solder and circuits on a motherboard mean they are 10 times more things that could go wrong. This isn’t the manufacturer’s fault, or ours for that matter. Because the technology behind motherboards is still developing, even high end machines can suffer from a common fault. Well known brands have encountered problems such as graphics chips separating from the boards en masse. Other models have overheated. You can often repair these issues by reconnecting the components, but unfortunately, lightening can strike twice, hence why we can only guarantee repairs for a certain amount of time.

If you’d like find out some more about CRM Laptop Repair and its services, visit our website.

So how can you make sure you’re covered for when things go wrong?

In truth, most laptops are built to a similar standard, so whether your laptop breaks down or ages gracefully is really a question of luck. I’m the proud owner of a Dell which has lasted 2 and half years without any problems, but when I purchased it I was warned that the build quality of Dell machines was often lacking. Conversely, the same engineer told me that Asus were the best built, whereas my current colleagues at CRM Laptop Repair would rate Asus among the lower end of quality.

With so many laptop brands around, make sure the one you choose offers flexibility for the future...

So, we’ve established that no matter what brand you choose you’re always going to need a little bit of luck, what next?

What really matters when your laptop breaks, is can the workshop you choose source the replacement part? Now this really does vary according to the brand of laptop. For HP, the system is almost flawless. The PN number on the bottom helps our technicians identify your laptop and source the parts that will fit it. We can even tell you the date your machine was brought into this world! Toshiba also have a good system in place, and parts are reasonably priced. For Dell and their ‘Service tag’, the story is the same, and Sony and their unique VGN numbers help us to purchase the correct part for your laptop (however the parts are extremely expensive). If you do need to look up for PN / VGN number, our website has some handy photos to help you locate it on your laptop.

The real problem brands include Advent and Asus. For other major brands, the laptops are built by one or perhaps two companies. These companies then brand the parts accordingly and because manufacturing is standardised, replacement parts are easy to source and fit. However, with Advent laptops, the units have been built by various different companies, meaning the specification and quality varies hugely. This also makes sourcing a replacement motherboard, for example, a nightmare as the motherboard for one machine may not fit the next one, even if it’s the same model. While the Asus system is better, the lack of spare parts available makes repairing difficult.

Sum it up for me…

If you’re in the market for a new laptop, go mainstream. Dell, Toshiba and HP will make sure that if things go wrong, your initial couple of hundred pounds hasn’t completely gone down the toilet.

If you want to risk it and go for a high end Sony or a budget Advent, be prepared for big repair bills or a long wait on replacement parts should the worst happen.