Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Keeping your laptop alive w/ cover closed

This is topic Keeping your laptop alive w/ cover closed in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 02-27-2003, 11:43 PM:

Is there a way to prevent my laptop from shutting down when I close the cover? (Dell 2650 w/XP) When I'm on a airplane, I want to listen to music with headphones, but there's very little room for everything. I was hoping I could, say, close the laptop and stuff it in the seat pocket in front of me, so the tray is clear for my 7&7, book, etc.

BTW, a friend had those Bose noise canceling headphones, and they are really cool. If you put them on without any signal, then power them on, you'ed think you just went deaf... it's the weirdest feeling. Very much suggested for noisy airplanes.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-27-2003, 11:52 PM:

Check the power management settings under the control panel (or in the video properties). Most models will not let you run in the 'awake' state with the display closed due to heat build up.

Even on some models (from all manufacturers) that don't automatically suspend / hibernate / shutdown, not suspending / hibernating / shutting down the system can cause damage to the processor or severely shorten the total lifespan, not just the current charge, of the battery.

BTW, where can you buy these noise cancelling head-phones, and can they filter out annoying people or the public in general. [Wink]

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 02-28-2003, 12:05 AM:

Thanks, Daryl, I'll check... I don't think any cooling goes through the exposed area when the cover's open... there's a big fan in the back...

For the headphones, look at : www.bose.com

They really work. Quieted a crying baby; this kid would not shut up the whole flight. Thank god, or I'd have to kill myself or something. It needs two AA batteries. They're not cheap: $300. Bose won't let anyone discount them, so that's the real price. They come with an adapter kit which allows you to plug into most airline headphone sockets, and the usual 1/4", 1/8", 1/16" plugs.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-28-2003, 12:44 AM:

Even if there are no visable 'spots' for heat radiation, heat does escape through the actual keyboard itself (even with a rear system fan).

The Compaq Armada series had the biggest problem with this due to the 'friction contact' they used for the keyboard. The connector just 'rubbed' up against the motherboard instead of locking into a connector. With the display closed the keyboard heated up and flexed enough to move the 'connector' enough that the keyboard would stop functioning.

I know that many of the Dell laptops are designed to cool through the keyboard as well. Most notably the Latitude X200 -- you could cook on its keyboard if you cover the keyboard for more than a few minutes.

AND thanks for the Bose link. I was wondering who manufactured these since they were first brough up in the 'loud booth' thread. I think I'll buy an Aviation Headset. A 350 horsepower full-time supercharged 6-cylinder Lycoming on individual straight pipes is one loud beast to be flying behind, even with a top of the line David Clark headset.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-28-2003, 12:49 AM:

Although I do drive and own a car, I have been using Honolulu's excellent transit system a lot when I need to go to the city to visit my photo lab or see a movie at the Ward 16 or the Waikiki IMAX. Although our transportation system has excellent late model buses in their fleet, it is just as noisy as airplanes. Since I travel by bus to the city at least two or three times a week and fly frequently to the neighbor islands and a occasional trip to the mainland, I invested $300.00 and bought a Bose noise cancelling headset last May and I just love it! If you have a Bose store in your area, you can buy one there because they keep a lot in stock due to their popularity. If not, you can order one online. Bose is very good about their customer service. After a very generous period of time, you decide you do not want the headset anymore, they will give you a full refund with no question asked. When they made the offer, I told them that the only way I will part with my headset is if they try to pry it off my cold dead hand. [Smile]

If you fly or ride the bus as often as I do, the Bose headsets is what you need!

-Claude

[ 02-28-2003, 03:15 AM: Message edited by: Claude S. Ayakawa ]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-28-2003, 01:15 AM:

Bose needs to design that headset into an acoustical car system to block out road noise and more importantly, that wanna be phiggidy 17 year old kid with his 50,000 watt car stereo playing rap music.

(Stupid Bose site doesn't work with Opera. Oh well, their loss.)

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-28-2003, 01:19 AM:

I think you should buy this one Brad. You could wear it while shootin' stupid customers and non-phiggidy 17 year-olds with 80,000 watt sound systems that roll off before 8Hz (at least they could do it right). [Smile]

(Stupid Bose site doesn't work without Java (not Opera). Stupid Bose -- damn Java, stupid SUN...)

Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 02-28-2003, 04:19 AM:

I have a Dell 2600 w/XP.

Is there away that I can close the lid but not enter StandBye but still turn the monitor off? I want to close the lid, but I dont want the modem to turn off every time!

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-28-2003, 04:30 AM:

You could check the power management settings, but I think the only two options it'll give you are Standby and Shutdown... maybe hibernate.

Assuming your only using the internet in one location, you need to get yourself highspeed access and a 'home' Cable/DSL router, so that you could suspend the system and stay connected.

Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 02-28-2003, 04:39 AM:

What's the difference between Hibernation & Stand Bye?

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 02-28-2003, 04:52 AM:

Standby powers down components capable of re-starting without a total system reboot. Which in a laptop, and most modern systems, is nearly everything. The system ram still runs at full power and the processor runs at a reduced clock speed to consume less power.

Hibernatation saves the contents of the ram to the hard drive in a file (hiberfil.sys) reserved by the operating system. No compression is used since you could never compress the data to the same amount of space each time. Thus the file is the same size as the amount of ram in the system. So if you have 1GB of ram, 1024MB's (1GB) will be 'taken up' on your hard drive, even if you never use hibernate but have it enabled. Not to mention the 7% of your drive already taken up by the NTFS allocation table.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-28-2003, 10:28 AM:

This is all confusing to me...

I close my computer's lid and it goes to sleep. I open it again and it works again. The transition takes, literally 5 seconds. I know this because, just this second, I closed the lid and counted how long it took to wake up again.

When the lid on my computer closes, the sleep mode is activated by a small magnet embedded inside the frame around the screen. There's a reed switch in the bottom, near the keyboard. I don't know if there's a way to prevent the computer from sleeping when the lid's closed. Maybe slipping a piece of Mu metal in there?

I don't think I'd want to trick the computer that way. Like other's said, the computer dissipates heat through the keyboard. Mine, doesn't have a fan. It's cooled 100% by convection. It gets warm but not too hot unless you block the air vents on the side/back of the computer. Then it gets a bit uncomfortable but still not burning hot. I just make it a point to use the computer on a good solid surface so the vents don't get blocked. If I'm on a sofa or a bed I'll place a book underneath to keep the computer on a solid surface. It's easier to type on a surface like that when there's something solid underneath, anyway.

If your machine has a fan, then maybe it'd be okay. I dunno' but I imagine the fan would blow out some of the heat. The only other thing is that the heat may affect the LCD screen. I have heard tales of that happening but I don't know if they are just Urban Legends.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-28-2003, 11:00 AM:

AFAIK, John Walsh originally wanted to use his laptop to play CDs while traveling on an airplane. He'd like to close the lid for protection, yet still have it play the CD's. It looks like the cooling issues and battery drain make a portable CD player look like a better option.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-28-2003, 03:33 PM:

Actually, the all-time BEST thing for music when travelling is an iPod!

With a 10 GB hard drive inside you can store enough songs on there to listen for almost a WEEK and STILL have room to store your address book, appointment calendar and some data files!

They also work great for when you have to go to the dentist!

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-02-2003, 12:04 PM:

Yes, but can you pirate movies with an iPod? If not, they are worthless. They need to come out with a iPirateMoviesPod.

[Smile]

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 03-02-2003, 01:16 PM:

Pirating movies with ipod:

Go to a computer store with your ipod. Chances are they have a dvd playing on one of the macs. Connect your ipod to the computer, and copy the contants of the dvd to the ipod. Go home, connect the ipod, and fire up DVD player on your mac.

From the file menu chose "Open Video_TS Folder"
Open "Video_TS" on your ipod.

Then sit back with some popcorn, relax, and wait for the FBI.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-03-2003, 08:40 AM:

Translation:

iPods have a 5, 10 or 20 Gig hard drive inside that can be used as if it was a FireWire external drive. Anything you can store on a HD can be stored on the iPod.

I have used mine as a method to "sneakernet" files from one computer to another. AirPort only has a maximum transfer rate of 11 Mbps. (Slower than USB, actually) Using ethernet will get me 10 or 100 Mbps, depending on the speed of the interface in the target computer. Using the iPod as an external HD can get me up to 400 Mbps.

That's all about to go out the window, now that FireWire 800 is available. USB is going up to 400, AirPort is going up to 54 (?) Hell, if "Millipede" ever makes it to the market, storage capacities will go through the roof! We're talking (the potential for) 10 GB or more on a device the size of a flash memory card!

PS:

Joe,

Piracy, Schmiracy!

You have the right to "manage" the use of any CD or DVD (or other media) on any device you have that is capable of playing it back... PROVIDED you maintain control of said copy.

If you want to copy music that you BOUGHT onto your iPod and listen to it while you go out for a walk that's fine. If you have a DVD that you like but want to watch it on computer, go ahead and use your iPod. Just don't give/sell that copy to anybody else or your ass is grass! (As it SHOULD be!)

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-03-2003, 10:28 AM:

Ummmm Randy? I was joking, dude.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-03-2003, 12:46 PM:

[Smile]

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 03-03-2003, 07:04 PM:

100 megabit ethernet? Gigabit dude! It's all about the gigabit. [Smile]

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-04-2003, 08:49 AM:

Gigabit Millipede!

Fast as lightning! Big as the ocean!