There are many ways in which you can destroy a perfectly good laptop, and to varying degrees. I am going to focus on the most common.
1) Structural Damage
With laptops generally being a plastic shell with metal internals, the structural damage tends to be on the weaker, plastic aspect. These can be avoided but they are all to commonly ignored.
Lifting Obscurely
If a laptop is lifted in an obscure fashion, such as a corner or one side, this causes stress in that area.
Lifting by the screen
The screen is not a handle, and lifting by the fragile screen manifests in two different ways.
Firstly, the pressure becomes applied at the hinges, where the hinges themselves are sturdy enough for this, the plastic mould holding the hinges isn’t. When this eventually breaks, no amount of repairs will keep you screen on, and will need a new laptop shell.
Secondly, and possibly more costly, is that the screen itself becomes damaged through scratching, cracking or the crystals becoming unstable and leaving a nice black portion on the screen.
2) Thermal Damage
Laptops have an operating temperature range, this is different per laptop but can usually be found in the manual or the manufacturers specifications.
Allowing it to get too hot causes the internals to become damaged. Heat causes them to burn out where as cold can make them brittle.
To avoid these, here are some tips.
– Never block the vent. Always use somewhere that the vent is not blocked such as a table. Never use it on the bed, the quilt will block the vent and turn that laptop into a nice space heater.
– Don’t leave in exposed sunlight even when off. This can fade the casing of the laptop and damage the screen.
3) Electrical Damage
You will always be using Electricity when using any form of computing device, but if left unchecked it can fry the innards and possibly cause harm to yourself.
To Avoid is simple:
– Always use an Approved Charger and Battery
– Do not leave on charge over the charging period
– Do not use chargers where the cables are damages
– When charging, preferably do so over a surge protected socket / outlet