literal "freeze"

what's the guideline for having a laptop in the trunk? i see specs about the chips rated to 60 below or w/e, but does anyone actually GO by this?

temp here is right around freezing (0C/32F); am i pushing my luck leaving it in the car for 6-8 hours while i'm at an event? how about overnight?

i'm less worried about it when i'm driving around, since i figure the trunk gets heat "spillover" from the running car, and is never all THAT cold. but once i shut it down, is that a deathtrap for my stranded PC?

PC will be powered DOWN of course. no wait, per an earlier thread, if there's no downside to letting it run, it will be powered UP and mooching wifi the entire time i'm indoors.

and NO, i can't bring it with me. not this particular event.

 

Good morning...

Shouldn't be a problem, within reason. 0C/32F should be fine. The only issue I can see would be any quick transition from very cold to very warm which might cause some condensation (which equals moisture which equals bad). A gradual ambient warmup would, of course, be much more prudent.

If the machine is going to be in the trunk and running make sure it's got adequate ventilation, no fans blocked, etc. - but you knew that.

Overall, the electronics shouldn't suffer as much as the plastic. No idea what temperature extremes the plastic will handle.

 

oooh...i did, but...kinda escaped my mind....

i regularly point FANS etc at the machine where it sits here on my desk, but i was actually planning to have it zipped up and IN ITS BAG while running in the trunk.

i may rethink that.

bit paranoid, though, about the effects of EXHAUST on the machine if it's not in its bag. i know from my own experience in the trunk (don't ask) that the it fills up with smoke pretty fast when other cars in the lot come and go nearby. in that case, wouldn't it be better to have the vents FULLY BLOCKED?

hey, WAIT a min...isn't the whole point of having adequate ventilation so that things don't OVERHEAT? why do i need ventilation AT ALL in my 0C/32F trunk?!

 

Valid points...

I don't think blocking the vents/running the computer while in its bag is a good idea - just goes against my moral/technical fiber. Envision this: It's freezing, you cup your hands and blow into the opening - it gets hot in there, real quick. I'm just sayin'...

If it was my machine I'd store it in the trunk, turned off, no power. No worries.

 

You might find that the battery wont give you as much capacity when its really cold.
I agree with Caliban, be careful of condensation. Exhaust gasses are unlikely to do it harm as it doesn't need to take in oxygen like us.

 

ok, i'll bag the plan of trying to run it in the trunk, but now y'all have me paranoid about the transition back to human society. is the 20 mins of semi-heat during the RIDE HOME sufficient? or should i leave the thing in the trunk for an hour after i get home and put the car in the (attached; semi-heated) garage?

normally, i get home, i RUSH the thing indoors, already a'feared of how cold it's gotten just during the drive from another INDOORS usage.

i am perhaps a bit more paranoid with this model than with previous ones b/c it's chrome(?)-clad and feels extra-cold to the touch! never gave it that much thought when they were all black plastic.

 

I think so. Just do what you've normally been doing - if you've had no cold-to-hot problems in the past, then you shouldn't in the future.

We're talking about extreme conditions here, anyway - today's equipment (contrary to popular myth) is much stronger than yesterday's, so for normal use common sense precautions should suffice.

After all: it is a portable computer.