HOT IN THE WINTER

I've been noticing an interesting trend with the new game consoles. Heat is a big thing.

The XBOX 360, PlayStation 3 and even the Nintendo Wii generate a lot of heat.

If you own any of these consoles beware: you need to keep them cool. Now I don't recommend any third-party adapter to cool them, as that adds extra stress to the console itself that it was not designed for, but I would suggest, especially for the PlayStation 3 and the XBOX 360, that you either lay them on their side (I know they don't look cool that way) or upright but at least 15 to 20cm apart (about 6 inches or so) and that will give the consoles ample room to dissipate heat.

The worst of the three is the XBOX 360 by a long shot. I'm not sure what Microsoft was doing when they designed the heatsink or purchased the consoles fans because they don't do a good job at all (and you think they would considering all the darn noise coming from the 360's fans). Another tip for 360 owners is the power bar should be placed away from the 360. That way the 360 isn't taking on heat from the power bar as well.

The PlayStation 3 creates a lot of heat as well, in fact more than the 360, but has a better cooling system, therefore making it cooler. You still want to keep room with the PS3 though because even if the inside stays cooler the air being pushed out by the fans is not.

Unsurprisingly the Wii is fairly cool compared to its competition, however it can and will get hot when you are playing a game. I would suggest making sure the cool air intake on the bottom of the Wii (when it is standing vertical) is clear and keep it away from hot things like your television or other gaming consoles.

This next tip applies to all the consoles. Make sure that all the new consoles are in an open space like a table top. Don't put them onto a bookshelf or something like that as the heat will build up in there and make it that much harder for the consoles to cool themselves.

I started noticing this when my office was often warmer than the rest of my house (now that it's winter in Canada - no there is not enough snow for igloos yet) even though my furnace obviously heats the whole house. I narrowed it down to the heat coming out of my game console. No, I don't leave them on all the time but they are well used. My computer also gives off a lot of heat and it is on all day.

Lesson today: if you are fortunate enough to have all three of the new consoles make sure you spread them out so heat can dissipate normally.