A way I can take better care of my laptop?

[NeroFerk]

What kind of products do I need to get and use to keep my laptop clean and shiny? I have siblings who are slobs that use them and they get dirty really fast.

 

[NeroFerk]

I guess nobody has any good answers to answer this. D:

 

[Jazma96]

I would guess you would have to not let them use it anymore if the cant take care of it.

 

[TheCleric12]

I would say get a screen protector for it if you can, and get a key cover, if you can find one that you like. But otherwise, there isn't much you can do I think. Most of the time, laptops are just disposable devices that people buy for it's portability. They're not really designed to last as long as a PC, so keep that in mind. Also, if you want, you can buy a cooling pad of some sort. The cooler your hardware is, the longer it will last(in theory).

 

[natsinicky]

I would recommend using a screen protector designed for your specific laptop, and perhaps a keyboard cover as well. I'm not sure what those are called. Your best bet is probably not letting the slobs use the darned thing in the first place haha. But one last recommendation, I would get a carrying case/ sleeve for it, so that when you are not using it, you can put it somewhere safe, to prevent someone spilling coffee or something all over it (that happened to me once). I use amcase per this last suggestion, and it has saved me from a couple small accidents. But a laptop is a laptop, and you DO need to take care of it. No matter what you buy to make it safer, those will always fail if careless people are afoot.

 

[KimmyMarkks]

What kind of products do I need to get and use to keep my laptop clean and shiny? I have siblings who are slobs that use them and they get dirty really fast.

You should get the can of air to help clean your keyboard and other small areas. I'd always leave it in a case. You can also purchase a screen cover and plastic key board cover. This will help slow down the wear and tear. Other then that get an otterbox type case, in the event they drop it.

 

[IcyBC]

@KimmyMarkks gave a great advice! I always have a can of spray to blow off the dirt on my keyboard, and pretty soon I will look for a keyboard cover since I don't want my letters to disappear on me. It happened with my last two laptops.

 

[KimmyMarkks]

Good! I am thinking of also getting a hard case for my computer. I carry it around a lot and I feel like it gets banged up. I currently have a soft case but I don't feel like that protects it much.

 

[KimmyMarkks]

Another way to take care of your laptop is to always power it off and store it away in a case. That way if someone knocks it over or spills on it the damages won't be as great. Try wiping down your keyboard with a moist towel (not wet other wise it will ruin it), but damp enough to get any sticky stuff or dirt off the keyboard.

 

[typist88]

Ya I was wondering about cleaning mine also (I'm not so clean!). Other than the high pressure air sprays, there's also this goo-like substance that is sold on ebay for a few dollars. And if you type in: keyboard cleaner, they have little tiny vacuums specifically for the keyboard. I'm not sure if they're any good though.

 

[nytegeek]

Don't ever use any type of vacuum cleaner with your computer or other electronics. They can create a static charge and ruin your equipment.

 

[typist88]

Oh really? I didn't know that. Even these tiny little things? Can I post a link to them? I was going to get one because they're so cheap. I might opt for the slime stuff then, that just absorbs the dust in a silly-putty type way.

 

[shadejb]

Okay, please DON'T use hairspray on your computer to clean the dust. What people are talking about when they mention using air is compressed air and not just any spray. Normal hairspray can product electrostatic charge which could damage your internal. To keep your laptop in good condition, clean it out once every few months, take good care of your battery (install some apps like Battery Stats to check wear level) and prevent damage to the hard drive: check for fragmentation and if you are using a spinning hard drive then don't turn your laptop off then on again immediately. Instead, wait 10-15 seconds for the hard drive to stop spinning, then turn it back on.

 

[nytegeek]

Okay, please DON'T use hairspray on your computer to clean the dust. What people are talking about when they mention using air is compressed air and not just any spray. Normal hairspray can product electrostatic charge which could damage your internal. To keep your laptop in good condition, clean it out once every few months, take good care of your battery (install some apps like Battery Stats to check wear level) and prevent damage to the hard drive: check for fragmentation and if you are using a spinning hard drive then don't turn your laptop off then on again immediately. Instead, wait 10-15 seconds for the hard drive to stop spinning, then turn it back on.

Okay, reading through the whole thread I didn't find any other mention of hairspray so I'm not sure why you brought it up.

 

[baldyhead]

Condensed air is your friend. Either a can of air or a air compressor used properly will work really good. They also sell a gel that you can rub onto the keyboard and it will pull all the gunk out of it. I've used it at work before and it really does a good job. I don't remember which brand we used but you can find plenty of options by searching for it. For the display I like to use eyeglass cleaner. It does a really good job and it's safe.

 

[Rezonate]

I'd recommend getting a laptop sleeve for it one that is padded that way it will protect it from dust and as well as drops. Other than that i don't really like to add anything else on the laptop just as long as you're careful with your laptop you should be fine.

 

[IBMPC8088]

If you live in a tropical climate or an area where it frequently gets hot, you'll want to keep your laptop cool in addition to keeping it as clean and dust-free as possible. The GPU can get hot on the more compact ones (especially Intel models where the graphics chip is integrated), and over time it can start to overheat which leads to problems like shutting down on you.

Dust is a culprit for trapping heat and stopping the system fan if it's not cleaned out, so keeping it dust free, keeping it as cool as you can (air conditioning is your friend with computer electronics), that will help you to keep it running for as long as it can.

Another reason to keep it cool is because if you're using magnetic drives instead of an SSD still, the direction of the magnetic filings on the drive platter that determine the 1's and 0's for your data can become warped over time if the temperature is too high. You can still recover the data in some cases, but it's best not to let that happen.