"Yow!" Part 2: Warming up your laptop for winter

Since there have been some questions on this topic after my first post about cold-weather laptop exposure...

Well, okay. There have been no questions. But I can only assume that's because people are feeling a little bashful about this stuff! It's okay, people. We're all friends here. There's no need to carry the pain all by yourself; let it out! (some would probably argue that's what gets you into these situations to begin with, but we're not going to dignify them with a response)

But I digress. We're here to discuss your laptop, and we need to stick to it! (which reminds me of another cold-weather laptop tip, but we'll have to save that for another post) In the meantime, there's some dangerous mis-information floating around out there, and I aim to put a stop to it!

In the event that your laptop is frozen ...and this is the absolute best advice you're going to get, I promise you... I suggest bringing it back to temperature *slowly*, starting with submersion in tepid water.

Now, I've googled around the web enough to know that a lot of so-called "expert" sites (including Dell and Microsoft) are STRONGLY advising AGAINST this kind of thing, making wild, alarmist claims that you will be in danger of "voiding the warranty" or "severe electric shock". Hooey!!

The nerve! They're obviously using scare tactics to try and drum up business. Anybody who's been through this before can tell you that the first rule is, "Do not use *boiling* water," and the second rule is "don't repeat the exposure"--in the way that boxing up the unit and putting it on a UPS truck to Tallahassee most certainly would! They don't garage those things on overnight trips, people! Use your head!

I'm pretty disappointed that these big companies are trying to take advantage of consumer tragedy by playing on fears and insecurities, but I guess I should have expected it. I'm just a moon-eyed optomist for thinking otherwise, I suppose. I've written letters to both Oprah and my congressman about the issue, but it seems to no positive effect. I haven't heard back from the congressman, and Oprah's people inform me that some kind of restraining order has been issued.

I think I've said enough about this for today. Until the next installment of "Laptop Tips," be safe out there!