Unlike desktop computers, laptops have been designed to be portable and therefore they have a more compact size in order to suit this purpose. Because of their compact size laptop tend to get, by default, hotter than their stationary counterparts, the desktop computers. Desktop computers have a big casing of with plenty of space inside to fit all the hardware components it needs to operate within safe parameters. This means that they are usually equipped with one fan by default and are capable of having more depending on the number of computer hardware components that emit high levels of heat. Every electrical part of the computer emits heat. This is known as the Joule effect, the physics process of transforming electric energy into heat.

Heat has been a part of computers from their early conception. Laptops have become a part of our life only recently yet they have become an essential part of them. Therefore it is only logical that they need to be kept in working condition. For laptops heat is known to cause major problems starting from a decrease in its performance to frequent reboots or even complete shutdowns in order to protect them selves from damage due to abnormal high temperatures. If to a desktop computer you can always add an extra fan or two so that it runs in optimal conditions, for a laptop computer you can't do that. The flow of air to the major hardware components inside a laptop computer that get hotter than others, meaning the processor and hard disk drive, is restricted. So when you have a laptop computer you need to become its caretaker and monitor, measure and maintain its temperature.

So how can you find out the temperature of your laptop? Well it's easy since manufactures have made it so. They installed temperature sensors where your processor and hard disk are. To find out and monitor the temperature of your laptop computer you need an application the reads the data from the temperature sensors and reports it back to you. You can easily get a small, handy and easy to use application like MobileMeter, which, other than the fact that they are free, also have different options to help you like setting a thermal zone, record the temperatures inside a log, and specify update timings. You can also select the unit of measurement for the laptop computer's temperatures and specify the frequency at which you wish the application to perform a new reading of the temperature sensors in your laptop.

If your one of those users who prefers to build electronic stuff you can build your very own measuring device which you can connect to your laptop computer and find its temperature. You only need a temperature sensor and a robe. You connect the terminals of the sensor to that of the probe and apply and insulation tape over each of the connected terminals. You then connect it by plugging it into the USB port or jack and your temperature measuring instrument is ready for use.

After you choose one of the above methods to be able to read your laptop's temperature you need to start monitoring what factors lead to a rise in the laptop's temperature. Remember not to block your laptop's fan and to always use your laptop on surfaces that, like wood, dissipates the heat from under the laptop. Keeping it away from the sun, as well as hot cars and heated rooms will also help yoyr laptop function properly.

When it comes to the maximum temperature your laptop should have you need to consult the manual that came with it. They usually provide the maximum temperature it can function without damage. Although it is hard to provide an exact figure about the safest maximum temperature of laptops, I can only say that it ranges from 58 degrees Celsius up to 75 degrees Celsius. This is based on the maximum temperature of different laptops from different manufacturers. Knowing your laptop inside out is the best way to ensure it will always work the way it should.