Working on your laptop in the sun- any dangers?

[makeitcount]

We've had our first real summer day here in Denmark. And it's around 25 degrees celsius (77 fahrenheit I think) and I would like to work on my Thinkpad T60P while sitting in the sun.

So my question is this: Is there any dangers involving sitting in direct sunlight at 25 degrees for an extended period of time to the computer? Nevermind the glare which is OK, but I'm worried if ill damage the computer itself (I noticed the lid getting very warm for example)

[dr_st]

25 degrees celsius, are you kidding me? That's what is defined to be room temperature. If it was 45, I'd say watch it, but 25?

Direct sunlight will naturally make it warm, cause it's black. But at that temperature I doubt it can make any damage.

[makeitcount]

sorry should've mentioned that that temperature is in the shade. No idea how much it is in direct sunlight on a black (light absobing) surface.

[jdhurst]

In non-direct light, ambient temperature is the important number, and 25 degrees causes my normally cucumber-cool T41 (38 as I write this) do go up into the low 40's and the fan to run faster.

Direct sunlight is another matter. Direct sunlight on the keyboard and palm rest does start to drive the temperature up. I try to shade the keyboard/palm rest area when outside.
... JDH

[RealBlackStuff]

You should enjoy the sun, rather than work!
Sunny days are rare enough, to 'waste' them hacking on a TP!

[jdhurst]

You should enjoy the sun, rather than work!
Sunny days are rare enough, to 'waste' them hacking on a TP!

Mostly true. I think sun over here is more common. In any event, Saturday morning on the patio in the summer with a pot of coffee, the Saturday Star (3 pounds of newsprint) and my ThinkPad is a decent way to put one's feet up. Cheers, ... JDH

[beeblebrox]

I regularly work on the patio of our cafeteria, in bright sunlight.

After I figured out that the 14" SXGA screens of the T40 series behave like a transflective screen in bright sunlight, I usually turn down the screen brightness all the way down and use Word with natural sun light. The brighter the sun, the better the contrast.

Never had a problem, however the screen gets quite warm after long working hours, without any harm so far.

Maybe Samsung would develop some similar notebook screens like the one in the OLPC notebook, which works just like that.