Idea On How To Leave Laptop in Car - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: bostonman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 02:10:13 pm
content: Does anyone have experience with how to keep their laptop (work laptop in my case) safe from extreme temperatures while leaving it in the car?Until now the temperature has been mild, but we (Boston area) will begin seeing some cold weather. Typically I take my work laptop home, however, I usually go to the gym or wherever and it ends up sitting for a bit.I've seen some thermal cases online but not sure how well they work. Also, I assume these cases would need to be first carried inside where they can acclimate, but still, using a worst case scenario: typical temps in my area could be in the 20s with sitting a good two-hours.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 02:30:12 pm
content: Don't the crackheads take care of it for you

author: bostonman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 02:36:26 pm
content: Don't get the joke..... they take care of what, and where are these "crackheads"?

author: voltsandjolts
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 03:13:36 pm
content: He's refering to drug addicts who break into homes/cars to steal things to pay for said drug habit.

author: Terry Bites
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 03:39:12 pm
content: www.amazon.com/s?k=laptop+cooler&crid=2VM5EC622ZC1W&sprefix=laptop+cooler%2Caps%2C219&ref=nb_sb_noss_1Add a chilled 6 pack and a large battery then put everything into your picnic cooler. Job done I'd say.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 03:42:15 pm
content: Let me give you my trade secret.. if you get it, then you get it.. only the gifted will get it.. if you cant take it, you are not the one. i have small car, just mainly because its easy to navigate and parking, gas is cheap.. but apart from that, i dont really care about external appearance, mud from rain last year still stuck on it. But i really take care of rotating and vibrating mechanical part under the hood. If i have precious inside or anything i want to protect from heat, i just cover with some clothing i keep in the car that looks like an old rag. open window glass a bit to let the hot air out. But on cold or rainy day, i close them fully shut, to avoid water, frost,humid from damaging electronics and steels. So from outside or if they look inside, my car is like a mobile garbage collecting center, nobody will get interested even crackpots.. they probably see me as a lazy lunatics, but for me it is just a stealth technology in social engineering to get rid of prying and envy eyes. you buy shiny thermal proof cases, you give crackpots more to sniff.. when an old rag can simply do the job nearly equally Ymmv.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 04:14:08 pm
content: Quote from: bostonman on December 10, 2022, 02:36:26 pmI once parked my car in Rotterdam center with nothing in it, but when I got back late in the evening there was a road-sign sticking out of the window. Some asshole on dope broke in to my car to see if there was something worth nicking. Broke not just the window, but also the driver seat was deformed by the pole of the sign.So the taking care is that they steal your laptop and you don't have to worry about it getting cold any moreAnd surely you have crackheads, dope heads, weed smokers or whatever kind of junkies in or around Boston

author: bostonman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 05:04:19 pm
content: Have you been to Boston?

author: ejeffrey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 05:12:38 pm
content: If you put the laptop in a bag and then let it warm up to room temperature before you take it out of the bag and use it you are probably fine. Cold weather isn't bad for most electronics, but condensation is. The screen and battery won't work well cold but storage is fine.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 05:18:51 pm
content: Quote from: bostonman on December 10, 2022, 05:04:19 pmNope. Closest I have been is Rochester, New York. Flew to Toronto and then drove to Rochester for a introduction in to some printing protocol for very big printers. A lot further away was Dayton, Ohio. Also for some printing protocol (IJPDS) Was over 20 years ago.

author: iJoseph2
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 05:34:55 pm
content: What would the lowest temperature be inside the car during that two hour window.. it might not get as cold as the outside temp if you just used the car.What's the environment spec of your laptop?

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 06:02:32 pm
content: Typical ambient temperature rating of Dell laptops:Operating: 0 to +35oC, RH 10 to 80% non-condensing, maximum dew point 26oC.Storage: -40 to +65oC, RH 0 to 95% non-condensing, maximum dew point 33oC.Note the "non-condensing" requirement, often violated by users.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 06:07:20 pm
content: Leave it inside a beer cooler box. The polystyrene/foil shell will keep the extreme cold on the outside. Any insulated bag will work, even ones for shipping frozen peas.Anyone for English warm beer?

author: calzap
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 07:03:01 pm
content: Get some disposable, chemical hand warmers. Can get 40 pairs on Amazon for about US$25. Put your laptop in an insulated bag with an activated hand warmer. They last 8-10 hours.Mike in California

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 07:37:22 pm
content: Quote from: bostonman on December 10, 2022, 05:04:19 pmSometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 08:07:54 pm
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on December 10, 2022, 07:37:22 pmCheers

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 08:31:46 pm
content: Simply putHave some dockable laptop over an base, and remove it if not usedWhy, you will kill the battery UNLESS you have some means to always keep it warm / tidy but never cold when the vehicle is not in run

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 08:43:57 pm
content: The ambient temperature in Boston has never fallen to -40oC = -40oF, although Chester, MA did reach that in 1984.I was born and raised in northern Minnesota, where that is roughly the extreme cold encountered routinely.(We didn't need "wind-chill" temperatures there to know we were cold. Now, in Chicago, people think it hits -20oF often, due to happy weatherpeople quoting wind-chill, but the lowest actual temperature here was merely -27oF in January, 1985.)

author: bostonman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2022, 03:16:19 pm
content: QuoteThen why would you assume we have "crack heads". I think you can go to any major city and find crack heads. You're probably getting this assumption from the news and the plethora of reports about surrounding areas such as Dorchester.In any case, I appreciate the feedback. Normally, if I do leave the laptop in the car, it's in the trunk. As for ambient temperature, a typical late afternoon in the winter would be in the teens to low 30s, but I'm also preparing for the days of single digit temps.I'm uncertain how long it takes for the inside of the car to reach close to the external temperature. Obviously a good question and important factor. I've left bottled liquid (water, Gatorade, etc...) in cars for several hours, returned, and they were a chunk of ice' but that was four-six hours.The worst temperature I can remember in the last decade or so was negative teens I believe (without wind chill). I remember leaving the car off for just under an hour and the heat was ice cold when I returned.On a side note, I'm uncertain how the weather is reported across the country and/or other countries. Around here an inch of snow is a "snow storm" or "storm alert". It's quite pathetic to call every snow fall a storm.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2022, 03:42:12 pm
content: Quote from: bostonman on December 11, 2022, 03:16:19 pmYou are overthinking it. It was just a joke, but it still might be a real risk that your car gets broken into. Having lived and worked in some of the big Dutch cities instilled in me that I never leave valuables in my car.

author: bostonman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2022, 04:00:07 pm
content: I wasn't offended or taking it serious, I was going along with it.I've just heard stuff like this over the years and it cracks me up when I hear it because sometimes we get judged based on geographical location without any experience with the city. While I don't suggest this, I've walked many areas of Boston all hours of the night alone. You begin to learn where not to deviate towards and/or what to avoid when things don't look right.Sadly random acts of crime have increased in many areas. Thankfully I have less of a need to walk Boston late night alone, and, I do agree, any car can be a target for breaking in regardless if valuables are in sight or not.It's rare I keep anything of value in my car. A cheap plastic shovel in the trunk and a snow brush in the backseat. Anything of value such as a recent purchase is usually brought home. The laptop is due to sometimes needing to bring it home after work without the ability to go straight home.Boston is a nice city, and, like any major city, we have homelessness issues, drug issues, but we have historic areas, many nice restaurants, etc... We also have a highway that is the same thing 95/128, but yet, they are also different because then they separate. We have signs around Boston that are mis-marked which brings you to an out-of-the-way area you don't want go be in, and, to make it even more fun, a constant changing of detours to accommodate construction; therefore making each trip into Boston a wonderful experience.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2022, 05:44:24 pm
content: Visiting Boston from Chicago one winter, I was surprised to see the locals carrying umbrellas, until the snow started to fall, very wet.L L Bean Maine Hunting Boots were also everywhere in evidence, which were appropriate to the wet snowfall.Technically, snow falls during snowstorms, as does rain in rainstorms.Serious snow storms can be blizzards, which have an official definition:1. Sustained wind or frequent gusts of 35mph or greater.2. Considerable falling and/or blowing snow reducing visibility to under a quarter mile.3. These conditions have to continue for at least three consecutive hours.In Minnesota, I encountered several official blizzards.

author: bostonman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2022, 03:13:42 am
content: Thanks, but this wasn't about security issues, it was about thermal protection against (currently) the cold weather.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2022, 04:14:03 am
content: maybe you can learn how the car's electronic protected from it? how the ecu is sealed inside enclosure?

author: BrokenYugo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2022, 04:33:15 am
content: Just zipped up in it's carry bag would probably do for a couple hours at 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the whole bag in an empty cooler if you want to go all out.

author: bostonman
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2022, 02:45:44 pm
content: QuoteThis is more about the battery which isn't removable. The electronics should be fine in all temperatures.As for using a cooler. I thought of this and seems anything will need to be brought in first unless I go with the handwarmer idea someone mentioned.