I just bought a laptop, which should be here in 1-3 days(hopefully). It's my first personal laptop(I always shared), and I don't want to burn it out. Any advice?

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.

Don't go swimming with it

"It is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."

Quote from mattai

Don't go swimming with it

Lol. I was hoping for something a tad more serious. I do tend to leave my laptop on for hours at a stretch, for downloads, conversions, or sometimes just like that.

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.

the fact that you have to carry it around a lot is indicative enough that something WILL happen. least worse case scenario is the parts failing on you for whatever reason, which is fairly common for many, if not all computers. before you take it to a shop for repairs, it helps to google a bit any problems you'll be facing. sometimes, these problems are extremely easy to fix (had a "corrupted" HDD several years ago on mine, based on the technicians examination. turns out it only got loose from the connector)

only thing you can do is save up cash over the years in prepare for the worse. oh, and charge the batteries to full before you turn it on for the first time, once it arrives. aside from that, there's the common electronics and PC care taking skills (keep away from water, Backups and all that)

Quote from Casey D. Geek

Quote from mattai

Don't go swimming with it

Lol. I was hoping for something a tad more serious. I do tend to leave my laptop on for hours at a stretch, for downloads, conversions, or sometimes just like that.

been leaving mine on for days, if not weeks regularly (letting my screen go to 'sleep', after a minute of no activity). not much aside from my battery not lasting as long as it used to (capacitor aging).

1. Keep laptop and battery as cool as you possibly can.
2. Make sure your room/workspace is well ventilated.
3. Don't smoke in front of laptop.
4. Wash your hands often (but dry them before typing, obviously)
5. Close lid whenever not in use/sleeping/hibernating (reduces dust gathering on LCD)
6. Try not to use low quality pirated dvd-r discs in the optical drive.
7. Uninstall factory/OEM installed bloatware that you'll never use.
8. Check for factory/OEM installed keyloggers.
9. Get rid of Windows (optional, but highly recommended)
10. Install Linux or BSD (only applies if you had the balls to perform step 09)

Point & Squirt

Buy one of these. It will make your laptop last longer, for sure.

If I need to keep it on, but still am not using it. should I put it to sleep or hibernate?Can that harm it?

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.

Don't overcharge...it'll kill your battery's lifespan.

Quote from blakraven66

Don't overcharge...it'll kill your battery's lifespan.

How do I take care of that? Not charge when in sleep, or not charge while using?

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.

Quote from Casey D. Geek

Quote from blakraven66

Don't overcharge...it'll kill your battery's lifespan.

How do I take care of that? Not charge when in sleep, or not charge while using?

Don't charge when the battery's full. Use the battery to run the laptop most of the time and plug in the charger/adapter only when the battery's low or when you need to keep it running when your asleep/away and unsure if it will last.

I got 3 laptops who's batteries are now useless and they constantly need to be plugged in like a PC since I overcharged them. This result is unavoidable but at least the batteries will last longer.

I'll keep that in mind

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.

I think the most important is keeping it cool. Put it in hibernate if you arent using it, and balance it one some books (to keep it away from any surfaces that might trap heat) when you are.

Overheating is a major problem, it seems. I think that's how I ruined this one 😛
Off topic, @Binturong - Nice avatar. Is that Yuri, or someone else?

There are times when you will miss what you never had. I wonder how you will find what you so desperately need.

Quote from Casey D. Geek

Overheating is a major problem, it seems. I think that's how I ruined this one 😛
Off topic, @Binturong - Nice avatar. Is that Yuri, or someone else?

Honestly I have no idea. Some Korean girl.

You're also not supposed to let the battery run flat.
Keep it sort of filled, but not all the way.