[mrki444]

Summer is coming which means higher temperatures. Higher temperatures also mean more warming of the computer, which can cause damage if it overheats. The cooling paste on the processor should change every couple of years, but sometimes it still needs fan help. Fans should be cleaned once a year. Some laptops get very hot even though they are maintained, so extra external fans are added. The laptop is placed on a stand below which has fans that cool the computer further. Fans get power from the laptop's USB port. Individuals find that such fans do not pay off while most find them useful.

What do you think about external fans on computers?

[OldGuy]

I switched from a large desktop computer to a laptop version around the year 2000.

I still use the laptop as my desktop, and it is on nearly all the time. The first time I took it to a meeting, I noticed how hot it got in my lap. I asked about a fix and learned about the cooling fan way back then.

Even with it on nearly all the time, that first laptop lasted about 11 years. The second lasted about 7 years. It still runs, but the last automated windows update erased all data and would not allow it to accept data from the backup. That was just a couple of months ago.

I believe the external fan extends the life of the laptop and would not run it without a cooling fan except when I go to meetings and take it with me. I rarely run it longer than even a few minutes at those meetings. I never had to clean the fans in all that time. New computer? New fan.

[ptrikha21]

I got a USB operated fan in a session organized by a global major Hardware vendor, which is also our company partner. They were giving it as a gift to every participant(obviously for publicity, or may be as a set practice).
I started using it recently only.
My office laptop gets heated up much more rapidly, and the fan is good for it.
There could be some issues in the longer term, but well, I am not yet aware.

[mrki444]

My office laptop gets heated up much more rapidly, and the fan is good for it.
There could be some issues in the longer term, but well, I am not yet aware.

If it gets heated up more rapidly it could damage processor unit or even hard drive. Losing hard drive, means losing all data and that can cost you a lot.

[Netherrealmer]

If you guys are currently broke and can't afford to instal more fans ....

learn to clean pc's and remove the case of your cpu. Just clean the dust off once in a while.

Put a deskfan near it too.

[mrki444]

learn to clean pc's and remove the case of your cpu. Just clean the dust off once in a while.

This is much easier to do on PCs but in case of laptop is not that simple. Some models are very complicated to disasemble or asemble. In best case you need to remove wirelles card, hard drive, external shell, keyboard and then you can access to CPU.