Page 1 of Are laptops too soft?

I`ve been having problems with a relatively new (under 12 months) old Toshiba Satellite pro.
The first one was some sort of completely bloody meltdown (blue screen of death) that needed a complete reload of everything.
The second is failure of some letters on the keyboard.
At the moment, I`m using a 6 year old HP compaq laptop, which also has a knackered keyboard (USB keyboard plugged in)

Simple question, really.
Are laptops too soft for everyday use (8 hours a day/40 hour week)??

Simple answer - generally yes.

For the keyboard...it all depends on where your hands rest on the laptop when typing...and also how heavy you hit the keys. I used to know one guy who would go through one keyboard every few weeks because he hammered them with his fingers. He never got a laptop thankfully.

If you are to use a laptop all day for work then I`d recommend a laptop stand and plug a mouse & keyboard into it for the main use.

"Build a man a fire, and he`ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he`ll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Terry Pratchett.

Quote:
plug a mouse & keyboard into it for the main use.

I do use an external mouse, as I don`t like touchpads.
If I have to constantly plug-in an external keyboard though, that kind of defeats the purpose and I`m as well going back to a desktop.
Ta for the info. 8)

(PS, I do tend to batter keyboards....) :/

I use a laptop at work all day every day, but it`s used as a desktop i.e. with a mouse, keyboard and monitor plugged in. It`s a Dell D610, getting on for 3 years, and no probs. I occasionally use it as a laptop, i.e. unplug it to take offsite, but not v often, so the keyboard on it hasn`t been used much.

i would imagine as you suspect, if you hammer away at the inbuilt keyboard, you`re messing up the motherboard sat underneath it.

Al

Quote:
If I have to constantly plug-in an external keyboard though, that kind of defeats the purpose and I`m as well going back to a desktop.

You could always get a little mini-USB hub where you can plug a mouse & keyboard etc. into...then you can just plug in one USB into the laptop each time.

"Build a man a fire, and he`ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he`ll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Terry Pratchett.

Quote:
You could always get a little mini-USB hub where you can plug a mouse & keyboard etc. into...then you can just plug in one USB into the laptop each time.

I`ve no shortage of USB`s, it has 4.
That isn`t the problem.
I could have mouse+keyboard+phone+ipod plugged in at once.

It`s the physical logistics of it.
If I plug in a USB keyboard, I then have the width of the laptop keyboard+another keyboard.
Takes up loads more desk space than a simple screen+keyboard.

Laptop with wireless keyboard and mouse here.

Can`t use the thing any other way. And I still have trouble if a fly lands on the mousepad. :o

===========================
Jitendar Canth

Quote:
"I thought what I`d do was, I`d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."

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In terms of space - you could always use something like this:
www.ebuyer.com/product/95944

"Build a man a fire, and he`ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he`ll be warm for the rest of his life."
-Terry Pratchett.

I use a laptop riser- brings the screen to eye level, & folds flat so I keep it in my laptop bag under the machine.
This is the type I have
It made a difference with the heat it generated as well

This is probably a kiss of death but my lad has a 2 year old Dell laptop which he hammers the keys on and so far no problem.