Suppose you are working in the IT Support department of a computer store. A cust

Question

Suppose you are working in the IT Support department of a computer store. A customer calls you and says “My laptop gets extremely hot whenever it is in my bedroom. I am talking about the case on my laptop; the case is extremely hot when I touch it. I am not talking about the power supply; that gets only warm. Even if I am not using the laptop, after 30 minutes, it gets hot. When I take my laptop to school, I can use it all day long and it stays cool. When I use my laptop in the dining room or kitchen, it stays cool. The temperatures in the bedroom, dining room, and kitchen are all the same. My desktop, which is also in my bedroom, never gets hot.”

Please assume the customer has rebooted the machine and has scanned the computer for malware. Please assume the computer has all of the latest software updates installed and has all of the latest drivers installed.

question 1: What is causing the problem?

question 2: Telling the customer “Some computers get hot. Just keep using it.” is bad advice. Why? question 3: What would you tell the customer to resolve the problem?

Extra hint -- the computer was on a pillow in the bedroom. I know that's the problem. Just not how to explain it.

Explanation / Answer

Q.1) When the laptop is kept on the pillow it's not able to expel warm air from inside of the laptop. Chances are the area used to expel warm air is downward facing and when kept on the pillow there is no space remaining to expel warm air. As warm air is kept inside the laptop it's CPU becomes hotter and this heat is what the customer is feeling.

Q. 2) Telling the customer “Some computers get hot. Just keep using it .” will be a bad advice. The reason for it being a bad advice is that it will not resolve any problem and it's not true that "some computer get hot". There is always a reason for laptops to get hot.

Q. 3) As using the laptop in the dining room or kitchen don't cause any heating so, just use a flat surface to place the laptop even in the bedroom would solve the problem. If the customer is still facing heating issue a third party cooling pad can be recommended.

Thank you.

Please Rate if you like my efforts. If you have any doubt or face any problem I am available in comments.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse S
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.