If you’re using the laptop as intended (i.e., on your lap), wouldn’t those be almost entirely blocked?
The gaming laptops that I am familiar with don’t fit the traditional laptop role. Their battery life sucks and they are heavy due to the powerful hardware which really hinders their portability. They are more for people who need a portable desktop. I would almost never recommend a gaming laptop but they do fit specific needs.
I’m a long-time PC gamer but first time gaming laptop (“notebook?”) owner. I’m traveling at the moment, so I had to ditch my desktop for the laptop. Mine is still fairly portable so I’m often tempted to use it on my lap… but I’m always afraid to cover those vents so I’m left scrambling looking for something in my hotel room or AirBNB that would approximate a lap desk. 😅
I’ve been baffled by this design decision. Thanks for the context. It makes a bit more sense now.
What laptop is it? I have an MSI GS66 and there’s a “cooler boost” button to throw the fans into overdrive which keeps it cool even on my lap. Does yours have something similar?
This. I got a gaming laptop because gpus were very expensive back then and this was a good one comparable with a desktop equiv. I go to Europe for 2 months a year so this is super convenient. I have never used it on battery beyond moving from one plug in location to another. While gaming battery life is like 45 minutes.
Because it’s the only place they can evacuate heat. The sides are covered by I/O and are limited size.
Gaming laptops really aren’t made for using in your lap. They’re more a portable desktop that you connect things to.
No laptops are meant to be used on your lap. A better name for them would be portable PC, but that isn’t as catchy.
You can also vent heat between the keyboard and the screen. I have an HP laptop that does that.
Ahh yes, the ol’ finger toaster. Great in the winter, terrible in the summer.
The Sides are mostly “reserved” for I/O or the inner space ist already used by the battery. The Back IS possible and often used but mostly blocked by the display too. Front also blocked by the battery.
So what remains ist the bottom and the manufacurers try to minimize the problem with lifted feets which is mostly useless ob the lap.
But I consider gaming laptops not as mobility foccussed. They’re more foccussed on the ability to carry around but using on a desk.
Having used my gaming laptop on my lap, honestly it doesn’t really block the vents. Like 50% of the bottom is vent, so either I have my legs together and there are gaps at the side, or I have my legs apart and there is a gap in the middle.
But also yes, it’s about packing it up and setting it up significantly easier and faster, as opposed to actually doing things on the go. If I let my laptop use full performance on its battery, I would expect sub-30 minute battery life, as opposed to the ~2 hours I get when the GPU is turned off.
Not to mention imaging using a laptop that vents hot air out the front.
Yes, farting noises from hot air squeezed through the muffin top are the worst.
It’s not intended for you to use a laptop on your lap actually
Because despite their name, laptops are meant to be placed on a hard flat surface when in use - NOT on your lap, a pillow, etc. They have little rubber feet that allow just enough room for the hot air to escape, and when placed on your lap the air gets trapped. Manufacturers warn about the effects of the hot air on your lap for extended periods of time.
Actually you will block those vents if you use on your lap, and overheat the system (and burn your leg perhaps!)
You know those boards with a beanbag cushion underneath - you can use that, or some kind of laptop table.
It’s by necessity. The hardware in a gaming laptop gets a lot hotter, so you need wider openings that are closer to the heat generating parts. If you were to do this on the sides, you’d need to build the case bigger and put a much stronger heat transfer system to account for the smaller and further opening.
How does it help though when the user inevitably uses it on their lap and covers those vents?
I had the same thought as you before and one of my friends said “many people don’t call them ‘laptops’ anymore but instead call them notebooks”.
I found that name very fitting. Barely anyone uses their (gaming) laptop on their lap anymore. Usually on a desk in a thing that holds the laptop up to ventilate.
Note: I don’t know the exact name of it in English.
The industry actually tried to get people to stop calling them laptops because people kept burning themselves badly in the early days of portable computers when they would get hot af
