If you’ve got a laptop – don’t put it in the trunk of your car...

If you’ve got a laptop – there are a few things you can do to keep it in really good shape and extend its life...

Mashable.com has some laptop protocol to keep you both happy:

• Don’t put it in the trunk. Extreme temperature, hot or cold, not only sucks the life out of your battery – it can also damage internal components.  If it does get too hot or too cold, wait until it gets back to room temperature before turning it on.

• Protect your investment. If you’ll be lugging that laptop around, you really need a decent protective case with padding.

• Don’t just slam it shut. Proper shutdown habits are a must. Exit all open programs and put your laptop to sleep or hibernate BEFORE closing the lid.

• Organizing your laptop is essential to extending its life. Back up any data, organize your desktop icons, empty the trash bin and clear out any programs you don’t use on regular basis.

And don’t forget to stock up on rice. If your laptop falls victim to the dreaded spill – all is not necessarily lost. Remove the battery immediately, dry off the laptop as much as possible – and put the whole thing in a bag of rice and let it sit overnight. The same trick can often revive a wet cell phone too.