Laptop Dying

[bookslover]

Well, my 3-year-old Lenovo laptop appears to be dying. It has begun randomly, unpredictably shutting itself off, so I have to completely boot-up again when I want to use it (I normally just leave it on 24/7).

A friend of mine told me that the exact same thing happened to her. She was told that Lenovos tend to run hot and that, after awhile, something starts to melt or overheat. The random shutting down thing is a sign that the machine is about to call it quits. Definition of "planned obsolescence," I suppose.

It's ridiculous to have to buy a new laptop every 2 or 3 years. And desktops are even *more* expensive.

Any ideas?

 

[ProtestantBankie]

Well, my 3-year-old Lenovo laptop appears to be dying. It has begun randomly, unpredictably shutting itself off, so I have to completely boot-up again when I want to use it (I normally just leave it on 24/7).

A friend of mine told me that the exact same thing happened to her. She was told that Lenovos tend to run hot and that, after awhile, something starts to melt or overheat. The random shutting down thing is a sign that the machine is about to call it quits. Definition of "planned obsolescence," I suppose.

It's ridiculous to have to buy a new laptop every 2 or 3 years. And desktops are even *more* expensive.

Any ideas?

If you buy a can of compressed air and spray it through the fan area, there is a good chance that clearing dust will help. The presence of a build up of dust internally means heat is retained easier and that the fan is unable to produce as much cool air. Leading to overheating.

Ideally you could take your laptop apart to do this...... But that can have risks if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[earl40]

I have a laptop that somehow HP was able to fix a fan click and over heating problem without blowing air into the machine. To this day I have no idea how they did this by simply having me click the appropriate keys on my laptop.

 

[2ndViolinist]

Despite what some might say, I like Dell and HP computing equipment for its longevity. My Dell laptop of 7 years just died a few days ago. My HP laptop is 4 years old and still going strong. My family's Dell desktop is in its 10th year of use.

It might be too late at this point, but it doesn't hurt to shut down your computer every now and then. See if your warranty has expired. If not, see if you can find some support:

http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/warrantylookup

 

[Dekybo]

My laptop battery was shot in a years time. The alleged problem was leaving my laptop plugged into the wall continuously. Just saying that it could pose a problem. It might have just been my laptop.

 

[Edward]

And desktops are even *more* expensive.

That hasn't been my experience for equivalent processing power and memory.

 

[Jake]

Maybe you did this, but business class laptops tend to have longer longevity and also be easier to upgrade/repair on your own. For example, business class Lenovo even have features like drain holes for spilled liquids, as well as being more durably designed. Even for developers, we have a 4 year turn around on laptops where I work and there are some much older Thinkpads in use.

It might be worth looking at getting one of these to help longevity, versus cheaper models. I made the mistake of thinking all Lenovo's were good a few years back and got an attractive, consumer-grade laptop which was very shoddily constructed and started coming apart on me, though the hardware is still fine. Whereas my wife has a 6 year old business-class Thinkpad that is still in great shape and works well (we got it used).

The same applies for HP EliteBook and other business-class laptops, just more familiar with Lenovo. Also, there are cheap models in the Thinkpad series too. I think the T, X, and W series are the ones to stick with. Edge/E, R, L, SL, and Z tend to be cheaper and shoddier build quality.

 

[Rom]

With computers, it does make sense to "pay more" up front, and get something that lasts longer. As Jake mentions, "consumer-grade" Lenovos are awful and to be avoided. Especially in light of the spyware they installed a while back. Their better Thinkpads don't suffer from these issues, typically.

Currently, based on hands-on experience, I would recommend the Thinkpads that Jake mentions (I own a W-class), the Microsoft Surface lineup (both Surface Pro, and Surface Book), and the MacBook Air / Pro line of laptops if you want to go the Apple route.

Not to say that other laptops like the HP EliteBook are not worthy of purchase, I just don't have hands-on experience with them. If you get a good computer, expect it to last seven years easily (though Apple does say they EOL their machines after about four years as far as official support is concerned, they usually last much longer). Either way, pay more upfront, and have a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in the years to come.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

I had to replace the fan assembly in my Lenovo W520 and all is well. Depending upon the model that might be the source of your troubles. There are utilities available that show you the fan speeds, processor temps and so forth that are worth getting to see what is going on when these shutdowns occur.

 

[suber03]

I know in Dell models, they can overheat and basically cook the motherboard. If if it caught early enough, you can sometimes save it by replacing the fan, but likely it has already damaged the motherboard. I would recommend you backing up your machine's data as soon as you can. In fact I would make that number one priority. That can be done either through cd's, flash drives, or a backup drive. I haven't worked on any Lenovo models before, but it may be something that you have to get a tech to work on for you.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

It's possible that the Hard Drive may be failing. SSD Drives are so inexpensive now and if you upgraded the HDD to SSD then you will give new life to an old laptop.

 

[bookslover]

Thanks for all the advice, folks. I've started shutting it down when I'm done for the day and, so far, no sudden shutdowns. Maybe it just needs to "rest" all night and not run 24/7. I'll continue to keep a sharp eye on the problem and remember what you guys have said here.

 

[Ed Walsh]

Despite what some might say, I like Dell and HP computing equipment for its longevity.

I agree. I have had dozens of both in my business. Now we have 7 identical Dells that are 3 years old. They all stay on all the time and are all working great.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

I have taken to always running a laptop cooler under all my laptops as much as possible. Heat is the enemy of all computing technology. I have been running a Lenovo W520 laptop for over a year 24/7 with a large cooler and it is doing just fine.

 

[Mr. Bultitude]

I've just bought a fancy new laptop from HP with the intent of keeping it for a long, long time. Lots of RAM, solid state drive, decent dual-core processor, high resolution, touch-screen... extremely pleased with it. And I don't anticipate needing a new one in 2-3 years. So for what it's worth, I agree with the poster who said paying more up-front for quality/longevity can be worth it.