Editing Laptop (section)

===Cooling===
[[Waste heat]] from the operation is difficult to remove in the compact internal space of a laptop. The earliest laptops used passive cooling, but since the mid-1990s nearly all laptops have used fans to use forced air cooling.  Earlier laptops used [[heat sink]]s, but since the 2000s, virtually all laptops instead rely on [[heat pipe]]s or move waste heat towards the edges of the device, to allow for a much smaller and compact fan and heat sink cooling system. Waste heat is usually exhausted away from the device operator towards the rear or sides of the device. Multiple air intake paths are used since some intakes can be blocked, such as when the device is placed on a soft conforming surface like a chair cushion. Secondary device temperature monitoring may reduce performance or trigger an emergency shutdown if it is unable to dissipate heat, such as if the laptop were to be left running and placed inside a carrying case. Aftermarket cooling pads with external fans can be used with laptops to reduce operating temperatures.