can I leave my laptop in my car in subzero temperatures?

Ford Prefect

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I figure there?s plenty of people on this forum who know more about computers than I do, so here?s my situation:

About every other friday or so I drive to work in the morning (new job, it?s great, thank you very much), and then drive to see my girlfriend for the weekend directly from there. Since I like taking my laptop this means it spends all day in the car. Taking it inside the office would involve filling out forms every single time and having the webcam sealed, and having it checked again on the way out, this would be pretty annoying. On the other hand the level of security means that I?m not worried about anyone stealing my stuff from my car. But will the laptop suffer if I leave it in the car for a whole day in the South German winter?
 
not really a problem, my girlfriend has electricity in her appartment :mrgreen:
 
That would be an idea... The battery is also the easiest part to replace though, I?m more worried about all the other electrical bits inside...
 
The temperature itself won't harm the device. The quick temperature change when taking it into your girlfriends apartement may does. So make sure to give the notebook some time to acclimatize to the higher temperature in the apartement before turning it on.

(The warm air may be cooled when contacting with the electronic board inside the notebook and leading to water condensation which then could lead to short circuits and damage to the mainboard)
 
You can but bad things can happen. Condensation, LCD freezing and cracking, etc... depends on how cold it is.
 
Yeah, condensation from going from cold to warm is going to be the biggest issue probably. Water is bad.
 
Yeah, basically leave it alone for a few hours at room temp after its been in the car.
 
Well it takes me about 3 hours to drive there, so it won?t really be cold anymore by the time I turn it back on... I?m mainly worried about what happens when it just sits there in the cold and all the bits inside are contracting due to the cold. Car electronics are required to be fine up to at least -40?C, is there a similar rating for computer parts? I?m not really expecting temperatures much lower than -10?, and if it?s ever really really cold, I can always just go through the hassle of taking it inside I guess...
 
I had trial by fire on this one the other day. It dropped below 0 degrees (fahrenheit) here last week and I left my Lappy in the car overnight by accident and was kind of worried, but it fired right up and no issues. It is pretty dry here though, so that might change if there is more humidity where you live.

The temperature rating for electronics is down to the manufacturer and most of them post what temps its tested to still function. Many have a storage temperature and an operating temperature too. The information is most likely in the manual or on their website.
 
Just curious and its definitely a bit obvious... but why couldn't you just take it into your Girlfriends apartment when you get there (the whole thing)? If you are that worried, and 2 minute trip inside when you pick her up to leave it somewhere safe seems logical.
 
Just curious and its definitely a bit obvious... but why couldn't you just take it into your Girlfriends apartment when you get there (the whole thing)? If you are that worried, and 2 minute trip inside when you pick her up to leave it somewhere safe seems logical.

He said he's leaving it in his car while at work, since he can't take it in without a lot of hassle.
 
Well it takes me about 3 hours to drive there, so it won?t really be cold anymore by the time I turn it back on... I?m mainly worried about what happens when it just sits there in the cold and all the bits inside are contracting due to the cold. Car electronics are required to be fine up to at least -40?C, is there a similar rating for computer parts? I?m not really expecting temperatures much lower than -10?, and if it?s ever really really cold, I can always just go through the hassle of taking it inside I guess...

This is actually perfect and it'll warm up slowly (as your car cabin warms up).

The laptop will probably be fine.
 
On the other hand the level of security means that I?m not worried about anyone stealing my stuff from my car.
If you leave your laptop in the car, it will be nicked. Mark my words.
 
If you leave your laptop in the car, it will be nicked. Mark my words.

He says it's a secure parking lot at work (a workplace that requires sealing the camera if he brings it in).
 
If you leave your laptop in the car, it will be nicked. Mark my words.

Well there is always a very tiny possibility, but with all the cameras and the mean-looking security people, I?m willing to take my chances over the annoyance of actually bringing it inside...
 
I leave my work laptop into my car every now and then and the temperatures here go well into the freezing side of things. NOthing has ever happened to it..

I've always figured that the computers aren't transported into the stores and warehouses in heated trucks and shouldn't be affected by the temperature as such... + the computer gets to warm up when my car does (much like in your case).
 
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