overheating

the CPU looks fine, the hard-drive might be a little warm, but they vary a lot. 

My students and I have gotten a  laptop cooler plate and noticed that our Inspirons are running at least 10 to 15 degrees cooler than before. Some students' laptops have gotten to 162 degrees and the HDDs have froze but we remedied the situation with 18fangui and metal grills that elevate the notebooks slightly to give better air circulation around the hot spots.  The cooler plate was the best suggestion that we saw on the forum. We still check the fan vents for dust, but the USB cooling device really helps. MP.

Since we have started using the cooler plate, our laptop has been running 95degrees F for the CPU and 118degrees for our 7k60. Before the temperatures were 110 and 135 degrees respectively.

We were quite surprised with the results as you can see. (We changed the temp settings as you can see because F is easier to read than C. MP.

Just to post my own experiance -- I have an antec cooler plate and it only lowers temps by around 2C.  The main benefit is that it keeps the intake vent clear if people are putting the notebooks on their laps or other soft surfaces and blocking air flow.