My old Dell Latitude D600 notebook was too hot to work on the keyboard all day long. I bought a USB keyboard to use with the D600 to avoid touching it during the day. As you can see, the hottest area on the keyboard side of the D600 got up to 109 degrees F. The more recent D620 (the D630 is the current model) runs a much cooler 84 degrees F. after a few hours of use. The even older Dell L400 (a 4 pound sub-notebook) was in the 114 degree range near the touchpad and a scorching 124 degrees on the bottom (don’t put this thing on your lap!).
Not all newer notebook models run cooler though. My first generation Apple Macbook runs considerably hotter than the older G4 iBook which runs cool after many hours of use and has great battery life.
JG: FYI. I use a passive (unpowered) Targus plastic notebook pad when I want to use a notebook as a “laptop”. Reducing the CPU performance can also help keep it cool. But, even with “protection”, laptop usage time of an hour or more is if-fy. I use a powered Targus chill unit to keep notebooks cool when using them for long periods on a desk.
todd: you raise a good point. somehow dell has deflected a lot of heat from the keyboard. I suppose I would rather have a hot lap than sweaty hands.
JG: You can call whatever you want. There’s a reason why notebook PCs are rarely referred to as “laptops” these days. Most, if not all, of them are just to hot to actually place comfortably on a lap. The last notebook I could place comfortably on my lap was the Apple iBook G4. The temperature reported for the D620 is the keyboard side of the chassis as indicated by the comparison of the hotter D600 keyboard palm rest area.
I call BS, I have a Core Duo d620 and it is like a space heater. When running just Firefox and AIM after doing a clean reinstall it scorches my lap. Oftentimes the bottom is so hot that it mildly burns my hands if I touch it. This completely defeats the purpose of it and so it has spent +/- 90% of its life in the docking station because it’s so unpleasant to work with as a LAPtop.