When your hot laptop needs ventilation and your wrists need a break from a flat keyboard, you can drop 50 bucks on a fancy commercial laptop stand—or you can build one of your own. Do-it-yourself laptop users have built several creations from common household materials to keep their notebooks elevated while they work . Made of everything from wine corks to door stops to paper (and paper towel) holders, check out our favourite top 10 do-it-yourself laptop stands for your lap and workspace pleasure. Photo by hunter1_86.

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Don't let that old wetsuit with the broken zipper go into the garage sale pile—turn it into a sturdy laptop sleeve instead. Do-it-yourselfer Alex cut and sewed a good-looking laptop sleeve from a Neoprene surf jacket. The result is... Read More »

You might not be able to tell from this photo, but this "laptop" is actually a PDA and foldable keyboard, stripped down and embedded in an old book. It was done by the team over at MAKE. They've got a video demonstration of how to do it (fittingly hosted by a guy in a "I void warranties" t-shirt) which is only four minutes long, so you might want to refer to the PDF for more detailed instructions. You know, I have an old Handspring lying around somewhere... :)

Weekend Project: Make a PDA Notebook [MAKE]

Like a famed race horse or a classic book, you don't just throw away a laptop because it's banged up a little. Even if it seems outdated and underpowered, most any laptop is still small, quiet, and relatively low on power consumption, making it a seriously valuable spare to keep handy—even without a working screen. With some free software, a little know-how and some creative thinking about your home network, nearly any old laptop can find its second wind, and today I'll run through some of the best ways to get it there.Photo by daveynin.

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No laptop lasts forever, but many live long lives through upgrades or replacements. Those life-extenders can easily fall apart, however, if there's a stuck or jammed screw that will make hardware replacement a tricky, or even damaging, proposition. CNET blogger Michael Horowitz recommends pulling out a tiny screwdriver and testing out the screws on any new laptop, especially on the oft-upgraded memory trays, hard drive holders and other devices. While obviously not a tip for those uncomfortable with DIY hardware replacement, experienced laptop owners might be within their rights to request a replacement or repair on a new unit if they find jammed screws, as the useful life of their new system would be effectively shortened. Got any new laptop maintenance routines you've discovered (or discovered too late)? Share your tips in the comments. Photo by Daquella manera.

Tired of having the Windows side of your dual-boot system eat up more battery power? Want to simply do the right thing and stop sucking power for unnecessary power cycles? Linux power-saving site LessWatts.org has a wealth of tips and tricks for reducing the power needs of desktop and laptop systems. Among the intuitive power-savers:

• Stepping Ethernet ports from gigabit to standard 100/10 speeds when not at the office
• Disabling unnecessary Bluetooth radios
• Turning off Wi-Fi "auto-associate" behaviors that draw power when wireless is shut off

Check out the site for more power-conscious tips, helpfully organised by device type. How do you conserve battery (or just outlet) power on your Linux system? Share some hacks in the comments.

If you don't want to drop cash on a pricey laptop stand like the Elevator, snap together your very own with some PVC pipe and joints. Instructables user alceste shows you how. The result isn't adjustable like commercial ones (boo), but it does let you hide cables inside the pipe (neat!).

So your router and Xbox 360 are on completely opposite sides of your home, running a long, ugly wire along the floor is out of the question, and you don't feel like dropping $100 on an Xbox Wi-Fi adapter? If you've got a laptop with Wi-Fi, Instructables details how to use it as an Xbox 360 wireless adapter. In all its a really simple process involving sharing your laptop's wireless internet connection with your Xbox through an ethernet cable. It's not as good as a wired connection, but if you don't regularly rely on the connection, it's a good workaround. If you want a slightly more permanent solution, you can also build an Xbox Wi-Fi adapter on the cheap. Thanks Graham!

If you're using a Linux-powered laptop with limited battery life, or you just want to darken your laptop screen for whatever reason, Tombuntu has a tip for you. To turn the monitor off and have it wake up at the touch of a mouse or key, create a shortcut using this command, or type it into a terminal:

sleep 1 && xset dpms force off

(Note: The "sleep 1 && " portion is only necessary for terminal commands). Any laptop can be set to darken its monitor after a certain amount of time, but even the quickest setting—15 minutes on mine—uses precious battery life if you need to look away. Adding this shortcut to a panel button or menu could come in handy.

So you've just un-boxed your new laptop, and you've been intrigued by all this talk of Gutsy and Werewolf and the like—but how do you know if a Linux installation will be a revelation or headache? Free Linux guide TuxMobil has more than 7,000 installation stories and guides, covering the tricks and tweaks necessary to get nearly any laptop, PDA or even cell phone up and running with an open source operating system. Between this site and Linux on Laptops, you should be able to find an open source operating system that works on any portable hardware, and save yourself some serious headaches digging through user forums and tech support sites.