Windows 7: My laptop heats up very quickly. Do I need a laptop cooler?

I bought a Dell Inspiron 15R laptop six months ago and it heats up quickly on the left side of the laptop (above the fan). I've been having this problem since I got my laptop. I thought this was normal, but some of my friends told me it only happens with Dell laptops.

I don't do gaming at all. I'm sure, it's jsut cos of HDD. What should I do? Do I need to buy a laptop cooler? If so, suggest me a good laptop cooler.

Thanks,
CC

Make sure all the ports and place where air goes gets blown out on a regular basis with laptops. As for the laptop cooler I would see what Newegg offers and go by user ratings on what would be the best price and rating ratio.

Hello CyberCriminal

I regularly give all the vents and exhausts a good blow out with a can of compressed air blowing in the intakes and a vacuum cleaner on the exhausts. A laptop cooler is a brilliant idea, it lowered the idle temp on my netbook by 3 or 4 degrees c and certainly helps when under excessive load.

Have a look HERE

Danny

I would recommend getting a cooler, i use one and it makes a huge difference. be sure to check what the noise levels are like. and get one that is about the same length as your laptop, small coolers are a nuisance as they dont feel stable.

Also, raise your laptop up a bit, particularly by the air vents. That helps tremendously in keeping it cooler. I frequently use my laptop right on my lap, and I try never to block the vents --- in fact I always try to sit in such a way, that there is nothing preventing the air from being blocked. When the fan goes on, I know that I have to shift position cause I'm obviously hampering air movement. And the result is, within a moment or two, the fan goes off, so this must be working. . .

Speccy or CoreTemp will allow you to keep an eye on your temps.

They will also, by showiing temps, allow you to see the effect of various actions.

Here's how to keep your temps down:
One use the Power Saver power plan. Since you are not a gamer, then this is a very practical approach. I'm not a gamer and I always use the Power Saver setting.

Now another wasy way to keep the temps down is turn the display brightness down to the lowest acceptable level. Both of theese things will also increase your battery operation time.

WIN + X keycombo will give yuo a chance to change the power setting and the display setting.

WIN is the key with the microsoft flag on top.

Which cooler should I buy? One fan or two fans cooler?

check out some reviews and buy to suit your pocket, the one im using at the moment has one , i guess two would be better but check it out.
Best Laptop Coolers – Honest Laptop Cooling Pad Reviews!

The more the merrier really but most important is the size and noise. Make sure it will fit you laptop properly otherwise it becomes unstable, no good having a 15" cooler on a 20" laptop, and look for how many decibels noise they make. Its ok feeling cool but if it gives you a headache its no use.

Danny