I currently have an Acer travelmate 8200. I don’t know if there’s something wrong with it or it was just poorly engineered but is has MAJOR overheating problems. Idling it runs about 60-65C and with basic web browsing it will spike up to 70c+. It is SUPPOSED to be a gaming computer with a Duo processor, 2gb RAM, and an ati x1600 card but I can’t even play the sims on it or it overheats so bad that the laptop just shuts itself down. Any suggestions for keeping it cool? I have all the latest drivers and bios. I do have an extended warranty with Acer but I can't find the paperwork that goes with it no idea if they have it on file or I'm just totally screwed.

Since it is a laptop, it will be harder to do this but you would need to see if the heatsink (fan on the processor) is working. If you can, turn it on and look at the heatsink and see if it is spinning. If it is not, you need a new heatsink. Also check all of the other fans in the laptop.

Hi Callistra,

This sounds like the heatsink and fan aren't doing their job, possibly the fan isn't working or the heatsink is incorrectly installed, if the system is still in warranty I would get hold of the supplier or manufacturer and get them to sort it.
Laptops are notoriosly hard to work on and mistakes can end up being amazingly expensive (we had a laptop come in that would have cost £800 to fix with parts an labour, the owner tried to pop the keyboard off to get some crumbs out and damaged the motherboard in the process).

Thanks, I found my paper for the extended service plan and I'm going to send it off. Hopefully it comes back cooler. I'd rather not have to open it up. I know how to build a PC from the ground up but have next to no experience with laptops.. aside from ram upgrades lol

Beyond annoying.. Their website was just flat down for a while, when it came back up the "depot repair" function no no longer works. So I sent an e-mail off to normal tech support. Despite PAYING for an express service ID they took three days to get back to me and tell me to call a phone number (that they couldn't be bothered to put on the website in the first place???) and expect to wait an extreme ammount of time on hold because they're backed up. I sent a nasty e-mail off to the webmaster for their lack of upkeep and will be calling on Monday.


In the meantime.. I'm thinking about buying a cooling pad. What is the best pad do you think?

Newegg.com - VANTEC LapCool2 Notebook Cooler Model LPC-301 - Retail
Thats a pretty good one based on ratings.Does it need to be quiet?