Did you try removing the heatsink/fans and cleaning them out. I was close to replacing my laptop because it was constantly overheating and it turned out the problem was a copper heatsink grid thing which was densely packed with dust, insulating the entire computer. Since cleaning that out my laptop is good as new.
Yes, that was my first thought on experiencing the problem. It's often quite hard to do (that's why I mentioned "How well is the essential issue of fan and heatsink maintenance considered in the design of the laptop?" above). One of my laptops requires taking the whole thing apart from the keyboard side in order to get at the heatsinks below, so I gave up.
And of course there are laptops on sale which are glued shut.
Air duster works reasonably well but can force dust further into cracks.
> And of course there are laptops on sale which are glued shut.
Are there? Even Macbook Airs can be opened with nothing more than the appropriate pentalobe screwdriver. I had to do it a while ago to clean out the fan which had developed an annoying clicking noise.
Microsoft Surface. I suppose you could call it a tablet, but it has a keyboard and an i7 processor and runs Real Windows including games. The tablet/laptop distinction is being eroded, and "tablets" are much more commonly held together with glue.
