In the power settings, on most laptops and specifically in Win7, there is a setting to set the pc to do nothing when you close the lid. This will ensure the laptop continues crunching, or whatever it is doing when you close the lid. I do this on my laptops but you NEED to be SURE you have a GOOD backup program as laptop hard drives do not traditionally last as long as desktop ones. Over the years I have gone thru 1 laptop hard drives, using the opportunity to upgrade to upgrade to an SSD one the last time, I have been crunching with my laptops for over 10 years!! I have only replaced the hard drive once because of failure and I crunch using 1 core of the dual core laptop 24/7/365. I used to crunch using 2 cores but that is when the drive died, it is slower crunching but better for me using only 1 core. I also have a laptop cooler underneath it, it has fans built into it and runs off the usb with a pass thru cable. I got the cooler one sale for 5 bucks US and bought 3 of them at the same time, when 1 dies, or the fan starts squealing too bad I will replace it. I use an electronics spray in the motor when it does begin to squeal, but eventually even that won't stop it. I do that in my desktop fans too. I have been crunching since 1999 and have 15 pc's running right now so have gone thru a few problems over the years. It doesn't help that most of my hardware is recycled from pc's that were replaced by friends.

Everything you have said is VERY true and indeed SHOULD be heeded!!!

ps my laptop sits on a small table by my couch and never moves, in fact the battery is not even in it. Sometimes I forget about the real World uses!