This is something about laptop design that I don't understand: Laptops typically put intake vents at the bottom and exhaust vents at the sides or back. Putting the intake vents at the bottom has always struck me as inefficient for cooling.
Since the vents are at the bottom, wouldn't the surface the laptop is on block off those intake vents? I understand that laptops usually have small "legs" or stands at the corners that slightly raise the laptop if it is on a flat, hard surface like a table, but they only do so by a millimeter or so at best, so that the space between laptop and table for air to flow in is still minimal.
It seems to me like it would make more sense to put both intake and exhaust vents at the sides or back.
31 Answer
Read most manuals coming with most laptops and they'll say you ought to use them on a flat, hard surface, or your lap, both of which offer ample space for airflow to the average laptop computer.
They'll also say you should NOT under and circumstances use the laptop on a flat soft surface such as a bed or cushion as that will stop the vents.
Some laptops have undersized cooling arrangements that, even with careful use, are insufficient to deal with the system under load.
But most modern CPUs scale their load very effectively based on how the cooling solution is working.
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