Oy! I'll definitely be keeping mine off my bed from now on. Thanks for this.

Yikes! Perhaps I should start shutting down my laptop at night. I usually leave it on a pillow on the living room couch!

OMG! Mine gets warm sometimes on my lap too. That's so scary!

Wow... that is seriously scary!!

my best friends nokia phone just blew up on her bed out of nowhere. It burnt a hole through her sheets and her mattress,luckily her baby didnt get hurt because he was on the bed at the time.But dont worry guys shes taking it to court with the manufacturer. be careful guys you never know.!

I firmly believe a lot of laptops break down early for this reason too. You can't leave it on a mattress or couch (or anything like that without a flat surface) for long periods of time where it won't get any ventilation.

if you put the laptop on cloth (like i use my macbook pro on it's case) it actually increases the risk of it overheating and things like this happening. so if you leave your computer on, put it on a table like greegraceform said, and cooling fans are a god investment.
if you have a macbook or macbook pro these is a program called smcfan control that turns the fans inside our computer on earlier. what this does is makes it not get hot so easily because it kicks on the fans earlier than the settings the computer came with. this program has saved my life! or rather my computers.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/23049

that is the link for that program, or you can just search it in google.

and my boyfriend burned his legs with his macbookpro. he was playing a game on it and it was late, and he felt his legs getting really hot.... he still has burn marks from it!

that's so scary!

BTW, thanks for that tip kitkatherine! I'm definitely going to check it out.

That's scary. I use a lap desk under mine. It helps.

I used to work for Apple. The main thing is there are no longer called Laptops. The reason being its much easier to ventilate a machine through the bottom of the case.

So any irregular surface such as a bed or soft skirt can block things up. This combined with a bit of age on the machine will result in a higher temperature.

It still requires a very dry and warm room to happen.

Despite its moniker, you should not use your laptop directly on your lap. They can get hot enough to burn, and many companies warn against using it that way.

Kimau: Portables.

New lappys have better heat sinks for sure...my old one used to burn my legs! You can still warm yourself with one in Winter with the newer models tho...

Anyone who owns a laptop/notebook should own one of these.

http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=AWE11US

Hurray for nannychica! Thanks!

holy cow!

I can believe a fire starting!! My puter is hardly EVER off and I have tried every cooling pad that is out there. Ya gotta be careful with the usb fan jobs as they will aid in burning out your processor earlier. I finally found this thermaltake pad that is insanely comfortable and works likes a charm. My legs AND mattress are all the better for it.

So scary! I think about that all the time because I either have the laptop on my lap or on my bed and I bend over to type. I heard about a Dell fire maybe 2 years ago? because of the battery and so I was hesitant to get a Dell, but I ended up getting one. I really like it, but the overheating thing scares me. My friend who is a computer expert said that those cooling pads are just a waste of money. If it starts to burn your legs, turn it off. The end.

Question.

Why would you go to sleep with your computer on your bed?

Yay for Dell inspirons that have built in fans!

That's so scary! I use mine on my bed all the time...but I put it away before I go to sleep.

@ Blue- *coughporncough*

Holy...

I Believe It!

Mine get's so so so so hot. sometimes when it's on my lap it makes me so hot that I sweat!!!!

I'm shutting mine down at night from now on.

That's crazy!
But I am not suprised...sometimes those things can really get hot if you don't have them on a desk.

I can't believe people put their laptops on their bed!!!

Your laptop needs room to BREATHE. If you block the fan, you can't get rid of heat. And when you put it on a porous surface like a bed, the area right around the fan gets hotter and hotter as it absorbs the heat from the computer. Thus - bursting into flames!!

Be smart people!

I'm always telling my daughter to keep my ibook off the bed, and for good reason. scary!

You know, it's not a LAPTOP, it's a notebook.

In the manuals for most notebooks, it specifically tells you that you aren't supposed to use/leave your machine on fabric or your lap or any kind of a soft surface, because it will overheat and burn.

I'm not surprised.

He left it on his bed, and the sheets were probably covering up the area where the fans are, and it overheated. Plain and simple.

What an idiot.

I use my laptop all the time on my lap, if I wanted to sit at a desk or table I'd use my desktop computer. However, I always make sure that the fan is never covered up by my lap or a pillow. I also use it in bed, the same way but I never leave it on, ever, during the night. It only makes sense that if you cover the whole bottom of it, it will overheat. I figured there were a fair amount of incidents like this and that's why they changed the name from laptop to notebook.

COOL NEW FIND! While at Target about a week ago, I came across a laptop "lap pad" it's an angled rectangular shape with a horizontal cut out through the middle. The angle keeps the laptop level while you slouch in a chair. the cut out is designed to pass the cord through, so it's not dangling by your feet if the electrical outlet is on the "wrong" side of the chair. The entire gizmo is made out of breathable material to keep the air flowing through the back of the laptop (the cut out also helps with this) so the laptop won't overheat. Plus, your legs no longer get burned!! My daughter loves it and now that I know the overheating of a laptop caused a fire, I VERY GLAD I purchased this. (plus, it has some cool color choices! The one I picked up has a brown exterior, with baby blue in the cut out... very pretty!)

Sometimes I use my laptop on my bed and it gets really warm... Poor guy, but still he should of been more careful..

I use my very old IBM Thinkpad on my bed, supported by a "lap desk" I've had forever-$10, plus elevated a bit under the lid of a sturdy rectangular tupperware lid (don't laugh-works really well and no cost. I don't even have a chair in my tiny apartment, so it's the bed or couch if I want to sit. An adjustable tray table-$15, works for the living room and I use it for other things, plus the bottom slides under the couch. Someday I will buy a new notebook. Conserve electricity and unplug it when you're done too.

SO SCARY!!!!

That's a scary and possible situation if you're not careful. I've been considering getting Snapball laptop stand plugs, which can be easily removed. You can find them here: http://www.pwx.cc/