Max has a 13" Sony Vaio V series that has been freezing intermittently. He's isolated the application to Google Chrome. Leo says that Chrome is notorious for taking a lot of system resources, and Leo thinks the system could be overheating. Leo recommends trying Firefox until Chrome goes "on a diet", which Google is currently working on with their "Blink" project.
Xavier's son has a problem with his computer shutting down after gaming on it for 10 minutes. Then, when he turns it back on, it never shuts down after that. Leo says that a PC usually shuts down when it's overheating. It's a really big deal when a computer shuts off. It won't be a driver or a crashed program, those things can crash the computer, but not shut it down. A shut down is designed to prevent overheating from causing damage. Could there be something running in the background that's doing it?
Penny just put her home theater Mac Mini into a cabinet to childproof it and now it's overheating. Leo says that needs better airflow. Raising it off the cabinet shelf is a good idea, or take it out and put it higher up so it can stay cooler.
David's laptop shuts down while he's playing Call of Duty. Leo says that's a protective measure. If the laptop gets too hot, it will shut down by design. The best thing he can do is make sure the laptop has free flowing air all around it so it can cool itself. Make sure that dust isn't blocking the airflow slots. Look to see if the laptop's fans are working properly. It could also be the thermal paste has been misapplied to the processor. It may be worth bringing in to get looked at.
Chris is a gamer and his laptop computer is shutting down after awhile. Leo says that's likely an overheating problem, which is causing the computer to shut down to protect it. The best thing to do is to make sure the laptop has proper airflow, or maybe have a fan underneath it. He could send it to a technician to clean it out as well.
Alley charges his HTC EVO 3D phone in the car, but it gets really hot. Leo says that as long as it’s not too hot to touch, then that’s normal. But if it’s really hot, that isn’t normal. Leo advises to take it back to the store and request a replacement. Tell them you’re worried it’ll explode. They’ll probably give you a new one as it sounds like the battery is overcharging and that could cause an explosion. Also, use a UL listed charger only. (thanks chatroom!)
Most modern computers have sensors on them to monitor all of that stuff, but they all do it differently. There are a couple that will do this though.
Leo and the chatroom both suggest this one, because it's been around for a long time.
Leo's used this one in the past, but it will have to work with his hardware.
