laptop dangers

excellent demo.
no laptops on your lap...
or even while sitting at a desk.
i used to use my laptop with a
keyboard, so the computer was
far from my body.  he also talks
about wifi.  lloyd is a great
resource.  such a good guy.  
a tri-field meter is good to have
around.  

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Do Laptop Radiation Shields Offer Effective EMF Protection?

Posted by Lloyd Burrell on September 28, 2013 under Computer radiation, Electromagnetic protection, Protection devices |
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Laptop computers emit electromagnetic fields (EMFs).

Typically they emit magnetic fields, electric fields and radio frequency radiation.

Is this dangerous?

That depends.

Depends on what?

It depends on what laptop you’re using.

I’ve found radiation emission levels to vary enormously between different brands of laptop.

Even laptops of the same brand but different models, can emit significantly different levels of radiation.

But more than anything it depends on how you use your laptop.

This is what I want to share with you, how you can safely use your laptop computer.

So watch this video: http://youtu.be/knp4b9oa-6I


and read more at: http://www.electricsense.com/6947/laptop-computer-radiation-shields-effective-emf-protection/

My electromagnetic sensitivity didn't seem to begin in earnest until I started using a laptop.  All of those years I used a desktop extensively - and I had few to no problems (though I've learned some things in recent years that make me believe that I may have been sensitive to the 60 Hz refresh-rate of the CRT screen).  

If I had a bigger bedroom or an extra room in my house - I think I would have tried going back to a desktop.  Maybe I'm wrong (other factors can come into play) - but there just may be something about the much roomier desktop casing that effectively reduces/eliminates radiation - and/or shields us from it better.  

There could be something about compressing these components into the much tighter casing of a laptop that produces more bothersome radiation, or increases our exposure to it.  Did I read at one point that higher temperatures (which occur in a tight laptop case which restricts air circulation) can effectively "amplify" certain types of radiation?

Anyway - it seems that I have found that "propping up" the bottom of the laptop in some way (raising it so that more air is able to circulate underneath it) can noticeably reduce the discomfort that I feel.  

Seriously - if companies built laptops so that there is 1 to 2 inches of space between the bottom of it and the table....it may help tremendously.  Because whenever I simply pick up my laptop so that its bottom is suspended in the air - I feel some relief.  The heat is better able to dissipate - and not as much heat "bottlenecks" and comes up through the keyboard/trackpad areas.  

It seems that many companies focus too much on portability (not to mention economy) - therefore scrimping on features that may make us safer.  Many users rarely - if ever - carry their laptops outside of their homes.  I certainly don't.  Therefore, I wouldn't mind a laptop that has "stilts" or is 3.5 inches thick - if these things would reduce the radiation/heat that I feel.

I also should have been using an external (USB) keyboard/mouse so that I don't directly touch the laptop - I'm afraid that I haven't been doing this.  

~Svetaswan

On September 28, "Svetaswan [via ES]" <[hidden email]> wrote:
> There could be something about compressing these components into the much
> tighter casing of a laptop that produces more bothersome radiation, or
> increases our exposure to it.  

I think there is a lot of variability between laptops, so one cannot really
generalize about laptops being good or bad.  I know that I've used laptops
that were just terrible (for me), while I've also used laptops that weren't really
that bothersome at all (for me).  And this had nothing to do with wi-fi, just
the components in the laptop itself.

So a bad reaction to a particular laptop probably just means you were
unlucky in your choice of laptop.

Marc

take your EMF meter with you when you shop.  

Oh - I didn't mean to imply that all laptops were bad across the board; I know that is some variability between laptops.  But I certainly did have a hard time finding a laptop that seemed comfortable.  From my experience, it seems that most laptops out there are electromagnetically-bothersome at least to some degree - although the degree to which they are bothersome may vary.

Of course, things are changing/shifting all the time; my statement above is mostly based on my experiences in 2010 and early 2011 - when I did a fairly extensive shopping-around process in order to find a laptop that was minimally-bothersome.  From my limited experience in shopping around for a laptop in 2013 - some of the laptops that are being built today may be less-bothersome than many of the 2010/2011 models....though there is still plenty of room for improvement.  I haven't managed to find any other laptop that is as seemingly harmless as my eMachines laptop normally is (with emphasis on "normally").  

Conversely - there very well could be some desktops that would cause me to react.  I haven't been exposed to as many recently-manufactured desktops; my impressions of desktops are mostly based on my positive experience with a Gateway desktop that I used from 2001 through early-2008.  I haven't seemed to have any problems with the relatively-large desktop towers that are in the Kinkos (Fed-Ex Office) that I've visited in recent years, either.  But since they are packing ever more powerful components into these desktops - plus enabling them with WiFi and Bluetooth functionality (and God knows whatever else)  - many of today's desktops may be considerably more bothersome than my ancient Gateway desktop.  Furthermore - there may not be as many "power-saving" options built into desktop systems, I don't know. (From my experience, enabling several of the power-saving features can reduce perceived emf.)

~Svetaswan

P.S. - Just wanted to add - that I've had the general impression that the larger size of desktops may be advantageous in some ways...I guess this is what I was trying to get at in my Sept. 29 post.  Perhaps if they built a computer with lower-power laptop components, and put them into a bigger, desktop-style body - it would present the best of both worlds.