Most laptops have fans in them to circulate air and exhaust heat. Ideally, fan intakes are placed on the side, where they are less likely to be obstructed. However, these intakes may be too small, forcing the manufacturer to put additional ones underneath the laptop. On a hard surface, this isn't a problem, because such laptops have small rubberized feet that elevate them enough to create space.

However, you may use your laptop in bed or balance it on your lap while you're sitting on the couch. If doing so blocks your fan intakes, your laptop can quickly overheat, or it may revert to a low-power mode that makes it sluggish. Make sure air can circulate through your laptop.

Dust can and will get into your laptop, gradually reducing air intake and possibly fan speed. The air circulation system normally isn't user-accessible: A technician has to pry open the laptop to clean this area; opening it yourself customarily voids the warranty.In a pinch, you can blow short bursts from a can of compressed air into the intakes, but this may cause the fans to spin faster than they're rated for, potentially damaging them. If your warranty has expired and you're handy with a screwdriver, you can often find a YouTube video or a guide for your specific laptop model.

In Windows, there are software-based and hardware-based methods for toggling certain functions on and off. For example, laptops usually have a physical button at the top of the keyboard that can enable and disable your Wi-Fi adapter. This may override any software-based attempts to toggle it, so make sure that you've checked the button before you start troubleshooting. Most laptops also have a small indicator light to show when Wi-Fi is active.

The tiny radio tower icon at the top shows that wifi is enabled on this laptop.If there is no dedicated button, one of the the function keys should have a touchpad logo on it. If that's the case, hold down the keyboard's Fn key and tap the function key that has that logo on it. Touchpad activity is usually governed with Fn toggling.As much as we love the mobility of a laptop, sometimes you need a bigger display. And even if you have your video cables set up correctly, you can still have problems getting things to display correctly in Windows. In Windows 7, take a look at your display settings by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting Screen Resolution.

This will give you a visual guide to how Windows sees your displays. The display marked 1 will always be your laptop screen, while further numbers will be assigned to external displays. If Windows sees 2 on the right but you've placed it to the left of your laptop, that can create some confusion. Simply click and drag 1 to the other side. Click any of these graphics to see the resolution and orientation of each display.

The Multiple Display menu lets you choose whether you want to use 2 as an extension of 1, or to duplicate one to the other, or to shut one of them off. Click the Identify button to see the number on the desktop to which it's been assigned. You can also use Windows-P to quickly switch between extension, duplication, and disablement.

A few months ago, [Matt] realized he needed another battery for his Thinkpad X230T. The original battery would barely last 10 minutes, and he wanted a battery that would last an entire plane flight. When his new battery arrived, he installed it only to find a disturbing message displayed during startup: "The system does not support batteries that are not genuine Lenovo-made or authorized.” The battery was chipped, and now [Matt] had to figure out a way around this.

Most recent laptop batteries have an integrated controller that implements the Smart Battery Specification (SBS) over the SMBus, an I2C-like protocol with data and clock pins right on the battery connector. After connecting a USBee logic analyser to the relevant pins, [Matt] found the battery didn’t report itself correctly to the Thinkpad’s battery controller.

• Acer AS10D75 Battery
• Acer as10d5e Battery
• Acer AS10B31 Battery
• Acer AS07A31 Battery
• Acer AS07A75 Battery
• Acer AS09A61 Battery
• Acer AS07B41 Battery
• Acer GARDA31 Battery
• Acer BTP-AHD1 Battery
• Acer BTP-AID1 Battery
• Acer BATCL50L Battery
• Acer UM09E70 Battery
• Acer UM09E71 Battery
• Acer UM09E56 Battery
• ACER Aspire S7 Battery

With the problem clearly defined, [Matt] had a few options open to him. The first was opening both batteries, and replacing the cells in the old (genuine) battery with the cells in the newer (not genuine) battery. If you’ve ever taken apart a laptop battery, you’ll know this is the worst choice. There are fiddly bits of plastic and glue, and if you’re lucky enough to get the battery apart in a reasonably clean matter, you’re not going to get it back together again. The second option was modifying the firmware on the non-genuine battery. [Charlie Miller] has done a bit of research on this, but none of the standard SBS commands would work on the non-genuine battery, meaning [Matt] would need to take the battery apart to see what’s inside. The third option is an embedded controller that taps into the SMBus on the charger connector, but according to [Matt], adding extra electronics to a laptop isn’t ideal. The last option is modifying the Thinkpad’s embedded controller firmware. This last option is the one he went with.

There’s an exceptionally large community dedicated to Thinkpad firmware hacks, reverse engineering, and generally turning Thinkpads into the best machines they can be. With the schematics for his laptop in hand, [Matt] found the embedded controller responsible for battery charging, and after taking a few educated guesses had some success. He ran into problems, though, when he discovered some strangely encrypted code in the software image. A few Russian developers had run into the same problem, and by wiring up a JTAG to the embedded controller chip, this dev had a fully decrypted Flash image of whatever was on this chip.

[Matt]’s next steps are taking the encrypted image and building new firmware for the embedded controller that will allow him to charge is off-brand, and probably every other battery on the planet. As far as interesting mods go, this is right at the top, soon to be overshadowed by a few dozen comments complaining about DRM in batteries.

The Federal Aviation Administration wants airlines to think twice about carrying lithium batteries. But don't worry, you're still allowed to bring your laptop and phone with you on a flight.

The FAA on Tuesday issued a safety alert urging airlines to examine the risks associated with transporting lithium batteries as cargo, including "the potential risk for a catastrophic hull loss." The alert covers batteries being transported as components and not those already inside devices such as laptops, tablets, phones or hoverboards.

The agency didn't mince words about the risks.

"FAA battery fire testing has highlighted the potential risk of a catastrophic aircraft loss due to damage resulting from a lithium battery fire or explosion," the FAA said in a press release. "Current cargo fire suppression systems cannot effectively control a lithium battery fire."

The potential dangers of lithium-ion batteries have been highlighted recently following a deluge of dramatic hoverboard fires, including some caught in videos. (Things heat up at the 1:53 mark.) But we've been living the risk of potentially deadly explosions in our pockets and laptop bags for years.

In 2004, there was a spike in the number of cell phone battery explosions, and a few years later Dell recalled millions of laptop batteries after six incidents of fire. In 2013, Boeing grounded the 787 Dreamliner airplane until it could find a way to keep its onboard lithium-ion batteries from overheating.

The FAA's recommendation shouldn't affect what airline passengers can and can't pack in their luggage, said Alison Duquette, a spokeswoman for the agency. Those rules are already in place.

Under existing FAA guidelines (PDF), airline passengers are allowed to bring lithium-ion batteries in their carry-on luggage as long as the batteries don't exceed 160 watt hours per battery. Spare lithium batteries are not allowed in checked luggage.

Airlines can enact further restrictions. In December, most major US airlines banned hoverboards from carry-on and checked baggage due to fire safety concerns.

Apple is recalling certain Macbook USB-C charge cables because of a design flaw. The affected Macbook charge cables were sold worldwide up to last summer.

In a note about the charge cable recall on its website Apple says a "limited number” of its USB-C charge cables for the Macbook, which were included with the laptop through June 2015 may fail "due to a design issue”. It’s not specifying the exact problem but says Macbooks using the affected cables may not charge or may only charge intermittently.

The new USB-C port was only introduced by Apple to its Macbooks in March 2015, in a classic Cupertino convergence move that saw it combine multiple port functions — power, data input/output, accessories and display connection — into just the one USB-C port. So not without the other C-word, controversy, too.

Apple is replacing affected USB-C charge cables free of charge with a new, redesigned version. It notes that affected cables may also have been sold as standalone accessories, as well as being bundled with Macbooks, and these purchases will also be covered by the replacement program.

Affected cables have "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China.” stamped on them. Whereas the new, redesigned cables include a serial number after that text — as per the below image:

Apple says MacBook owners who provided a valid mailing address during the product registration process or Apple Online Store purchase will automatically be sent a new cable by the end of February 2016. All other eligible cable owners can request a replacement via Apple’s online replacement process.

• Apple 13 inch MacBook Air Battery
• ACER Aspire V3 Battery
• Acer AP11B7H Battery
• Apple Macbook Air 13 inch Battery
• Apple MacBook Air 13.3-inch Battery
• Apple MacBook Pro 17inch Battery
• Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch Battery
• Apple MacBook 13 inch Battery
• Apple MacBook Pro 13 inch Battery
• Apple PowerBook G4 15inch Battery
• Apple PowerBook G4 15inch Titanium Battery
• Apple PowerBook G4 12inch Battery
• Apple iBook G4 14inch Battery
• Apple PowerBook G4 17inch Battery

It’s the second hardware accessory recall for Apple in less than a month. The company announced a recall for certain two-prong plugs at the end of January because of what it said was a "very rare” risk of the adaptors breaking and giving the user an electric shock.

Apple also offers a free battery replacement program for certain iPhone 5 devices, sold between September 2012 and January 2013, which are affected by a problem with the battery suddenly discharging or not holding charge adequately.

Portable Bluetooth speakers are available in abundance right now. Whether ones made by companies you've heard of, or ones that you haven't, the price and ability of such speakers hugely varies. With Beats now owned by Apple adding a sense of extra kudos to the brand, can the latest Pill+ achieve above and beyond its competition?
We've been using the Beats Pill+ for over a month, where it's been carted around with us to hotel rooms, used in a run-down car with a broken stereo, and to generally act as our desk-side radio during the day. Is it an exemplary audio experience?
Beats Pill+ review: Design
When the original Pill launched in 2012 it was, unsurprisingly given its name, a pill-shaped design. That iconic shape hasn't been lost in the Pill+, but the new model for 2016 is altogether more sophisticated looking.
Dressed in black for this particular review model (there's a white one too, but no bright colours this time around), the tighter mesh front doesn't so easily reveal the speakers beneath, while a single glowing b-symbol is up top (rather than front-facing like it was in the older design). Ports are kept out of sight around the back, while on/off and volume up/down buttons sit slightly raised from the hard plastic top. It's a neat and tidy design overall.
As Apple is now the company behind Beats, the Pill+ makes use of a Lightning port for charging, which is tucked away behind a rubberised flap to the rear. This flap unfolds in a two-part form, the second section revealing a 3.5mm microphone jack for wired input, and full-size USB for charging external devices using the Pill+'s built-in battery. Once it's pulled out it's a fiddle to get it back into place, though, as there's a rubber "stop" that fixes into the 3.5mm jack.

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