Originally Posted by chroot

I'm not only an electrical engineer, I'm a chip designer for one of the most prestigious semiconductor companies in the world. Every chip we sell to the consumer-electronics market is qualified for operation between -45 and +80 degrees Celsius. That's the operating range -- the storage range is even larger. Unless you live at the South Pole, taking your laptop along for a ride in the crisp winter air won't harm the chips one bit. In fairness, most chips that dissipate significant heat (i.e. those with heatsinks) will go from ambient (27C) to operating temperature (60+C) in under a minute. The "shock" of going from a blizzard to a warm house is still nowhere near as harsh.

Condensation is also nowhere near as big a deal as you might image. Chips and hard drives are sealed, and printed circuit boards are covered with plastic, non-conductive solder mask. There really isn't any danger from condensation inside the laptop; it might be annoying on the controls, though.

There are components in a laptop, such as those made from glass, that might require a little more care with rapid temperature changes, but, really, even a sudden 20C rise in ambient temperature is NOT considered important by anyone I know in the electronics industry. It certainly doesn't take a couple of hours (!) to settle. Give it five minutes if you're really anal.

- Warren