Monitor help

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Hi, I have just got a monitor to go with my laptop. How can I get it to work with my laptop closed? If I close my laptop it all shuts down.

TIA

My laptop is running Windows XP. If you are on XP as well, go to Control Panel and click on Power Options. Click on the tab Advanced. You should see a list of options that determines what your laptop will do when you shut the lid.

I have Windows 7 on my desktop. There its Control Panel > System and Security > Power Options. Since its not a laptop I don't get to see the lid options so if you have W7 then you need to fill in the blanks yourself :)

Thanks. Have managed to do that, but now have lost my wireless connection!

Is there a wireless setting under the power options too? Could be the wifi turns off when the lid closes, should be able to change that though.

I'd also watch out for problems with heat build up. I know laptops have fans, but some of the heat may exit through the keyboard area (and not be warm enough to feel). I'd hesitate about running laptops while completely closed - can you not just leave the opening at say 2mm ?

I have around 7 laptops here (not all on at present) but would never run any of them completely closed. Possible fire hazard (OK, highly unlikely but there is plenty of history of batteries having gone bang in other items).

Thanks. The wifi thing seems to have resolved itself. I am now worried about a fire. We have taken the battery out. Will that help?

I am out about a lot so when I do go into work I hot desk. These spare desks have docking stations to which the keyboard, monitor and network cables are permanently connected. We simply dock our closed laptops and away we go. These stations are designed for closed laptops so I'm a bit about the comment about laptops potentially over heating if left with the lid down.

As for batteries going bang, assuming that we are reading the same news stories, that happened because of defective batteries. In some cases it was defective chargers that didn't cutoff after the battery was fully charged.

I'm also a bit confused about the fire thing. We have closed laptops all over the office on docking stations.

Fan vents tend to be on the side or underneath so there's no reason why the laptop wouldn't ventilate properly when closed.

I've got several laptops, with quite a few over 5 years old. If your workplace has provided laptops that are expected to be used closed, then clearly designs have changed a little. News on batteries, not going from any specific laptop-related 'went bang' but battery-related 'caught fire' or 'went bang' items, such as the (big) battery on Boeing's plane.

My mobiles, tablet and laptops get warm when recharging and discharging. It's a chemical reaction and while I did the theory some 40 years ago (about lead-acid batteries) and the technology has moved on to Lithium, there are similar principles concerning energy causing heat in the components. All I'm saying is I wouldn't run any of my laptops closed.

YMMV, I just wouldn't risk it...

OP - if you're running your laptop without the battery, but closed, then yes, that should be fine. No doubt many will have seen (on phones or in instruction booklets for laptops) warnings about turning off the charger when battery fully charged.

Partly it is because of saving energy (and your utility bill) but also because the charging introduces heat and to excess could damage some (perhaps older!) batteries. Should be fine with no battery in.

We bought DS a really cheap gadget from a website that imported stuff directly from China. The instructions told us to disconnect the charger after three hours else the charger could get very hot indeed.

Laptops and phones that meet BS standards (ie those sold through regular UK outlets) on the other hand have a cutoff that prevents overcharging.

Thanks Networkguy

HabbaDabba - I doubt all laptops and phone chargers have a cutoff - else why would my (Samsung, and I have a few) tell me to unplug the charger ?

A charger/transformer is one of the cheapest devices (usually from China) and while they have moved to make most use mini-USB or micro-USB connectors (to go towards a 'universal' charger) and several phones come with no charger (on the basis a user already has one) so we're moving towards accidents waiting to happen as eventually some of those cheap chargers will go faulty. While a normal 'rogue' device might fail in the first few weeks, some items will become dangerous many months after their warranty has expired.

I can cite an example (from a client) where one of 4 identical devices (data over mains, in this case) got so hot that the glue holding the case together oozed and the case fell off, exposing live wiring. Fortunately it was on a mains power strip away from where their dog or cat would venture and was easy to turn off.

At least now that the price of goods from China is on the increase, there's more chance of some quality goods from S Korea, Singapore, or Taiwan, coming back onto the market. For quite a few years, China was able to undercut the rest of the Far East but it will be interesting to see when Japanese imports increase, too.

If you want to run your laptop while closed, buy a laptop docking station that has an inbuilt fan for extra protection against the albeit unlikely fires.
They're pretty cheap on Ebay :)