Pam,

I've not met anyone personally who's ever had the hinges crack as mine did. I use my laptop a lot... just as I wore out a word processing machine and flew through keyboards on my spiff'd up typewriters. (The county was using the same word processing machines, and no one had heard of anyone wearing one out .) I have read, online, about a few people that had the same happen to theirs, but it's not a "common" prob. that I know of.

I'd suggest looking at how hard drive is housed, and the casing. And, it leads me to also state this:

Wren,

There are several people here (at NT) who know a lot about computers. Please don't feel that you can't ask questions. Every Q. is a valid one, and it's very likely someone will be able to offer ideas, info., etc., that can potentially help in your search and beyond.


One thing to keep in mind with the cooling pads is: If one is purchased, and of course it's seated beneath the laptop when in use, be sure that laptop and the cooling pad have their respective fans working the same direction. Otherwise, they're in opposition and not nearly as effective.

Often, too, it's possible to discern when a pad needs replacing. An indicator is, i.e., a clicking sound. It could either need a good cleaning or possible replacement.

When looking at a computer, look at its configuration: How many and where the fans are located. If the fans are on the bottom of a laptop, it stands to reason that it is more prone to run "hotter" because it's running surface to surface - which blocks air-flow.

BTW: Desktops can also overheat, depending on a room's temp., proximity to a wall, etc. A Desktop and a laptop can also run "hot" based on the amt. of internal resources being used, such as the CPU.