Should be laptops be cleaned/washed?

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Sly21C

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So a few days ago I came across a brochure advertising the washing of computers and laptops. The company's name is LaptopCity and according to their pamphlet they:
- Dust & clean air vents
- Perform foam wash
- Replace thermal paste on CPU
- Lost screw replacements & tightening

They also do hardware and software maintenance such as:
- Update software
- Virus scans
- General software updates
- etc

It makes sense to me to clean the internal part of laptops once in a while. Dust does accumulate over time so it does make sense. I can clean my laptop myself but I'm not comfortable opening it as I've never done it before. I used to open my previous computer's chassis and just blow dust away once in a while.

Do you guys I should clean my laptop myself or should I take it to professionals?

P.S. Apologies about my heading, saw it after posting the thread.
 
You can do it yourself, it's not that difficult.

If you're unsure, take it to these guys... but I don't guarantee that.

Have stripped a lot of laptops during my IT career, there's the nice ones which you can disassemble and re-assemble without having any spare screws left over... then you get the really horrible ones which is a pain to disassemble...

And yes, your laptop's vents do need to be cleaned up, dust puppies accumulate in the radiator's vents, causing your CPU to overheat.
 
Yes. My wife's laptop overheated and blew the main board and CPU. I learn't after that how to clean the vents. General rule is: if you are unsure, leave it to the experts. Sometimes you can cause more damage than good when stripping laptops.
 
The_Librarian said:
And yes, your laptop's vents do need to be cleaned up, dust puppies accumulate in the radiator's vents, causing your CPU to overheat.
Click to expand...

In your experience, after how long should one clean his/her laptop? I bought my laptop in July 2010.....
 
Sly21C said:
In your experience, after how long should one clean his/her laptop? I bought my laptop in July 2010.....
Click to expand...
Depends on where you work/live. Further outlying areas(small holdings etc..) are generally speak more dusty areas. Once(not so dusty) or twice(more dusty) a year should be fine.
 
One of my clients works at the mines somewhere & his gets cleaned every 3 months due to visible dust build up.
 
Its really not that hard to clean the dust out of a laptop generally there are pannels at the bottom just take them out one by one and have a look to see if it needs a cleaning!
 
Sly21C said:
In your experience, after how long should one clean his/her laptop? I bought my laptop in July 2010.....
Click to expand...

It should still be fine. Maybe clean it at the end of this year. 7 months is not enough to justify all that trouble me thinks.
 
Freaksta said:
Its really not that hard to clean the dust out of a laptop generally there are pannels at the bottom just take them out one by one and have a look to see if it needs a cleaning!
Click to expand...
You must remember that some people are hesitant...

Also some laptops are more complex to open so some people find it easier to get others to do it.

My guess is: the company mentioned above has set their target market as the people who are not familiar with PC/laptop insides.
 
Use a hardware monitor and check if your systems operating temperature is normal.

You could buy a can of compressed air and clean the vents without taking the machine apart.

I wouldn't want somebody to dissemble my laptop and knowing your machine has been opened and the parts have been violated by some unknown person unnecessarily.

If the dust is visible you can use clean paint brush and brush off visible dust on the grills/vents before you blow the machine.

July 2010 is still relatively new, so unless you are in a constantly dusty environment, compressed air/low powered blower should work fine.

A fine microfibre cloth also works wonders when cleaning a glossy laptop and screen.

My ol' 2006 Dell latitude needed re-greasing and cleaning so in that case it was necessary as the machine was overheating.
 
do it yourself, it is soo much easier.
just fill your sink with warm water, and then on your preference you can use either Sunlight liquid or Omo washing powder. (If using Omo, cold water is sometimetimes better).

fully submerge laptop for about 30 minutes and then brush all over with a soft brush and then sponge all over. do not use any brittle parts on the screen.
hang outside to dry for a couple of hours and then use a hair dryer for about 20 minutes to get inside all the nitty gritty areas.

your laptop should be spotless now. It probably won't be functional or switch on, but it will be crispy clean.:)
 
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