Ooops as my kids say when they do the same to mine!

So you aren't going to be able to rant about the london olympics banning the RedArrows doing a flypast because of being "too British?"
http://lifestyleblock.co.nz/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24598

Your mishap is not terminal. First off, I hope you shut it off immediately and tilted it to drain out as much of the coffee as possible. If you were drinking it black, so much the better.

Read ALL what is below before trying this and try to not get water into the display screen half, which usually does not get doused.

Second, take out the hard drive and wipe it down, praying that no coffee got into the air hole, this is not likely as they have filter plugs and they are usually on the underside.

Third, get a gallon of distilled water at the chemists.

Fourth, take out the battery pack, rinse it down with distilled water, or a damp cloth, then set aside in a warm spot to air dry. Dio same to drive (s)

Lastly, place entire computer over sink, gently pour distilled water over keyboard and tilt various ways to get all the liquids out. Repeat again, then gently shake unit at an angle and inverted so most all of the water pours off, wipe dry as possible, place in warm dry spot to allow the remaining distilled water residue to evaporate. If you are brave and have an oven, set it to the lowest possible heat, put some cardboard on the rack and place the computer inside on the cardboard with the oven door slightly open and the screen also slightly open, not completely closed. Temp should be about 120 to 160 F not more. Leave computer in there for an hour or two, then shut off heat source and let it slowly regain room temp.

Re insert dry battery and hard drive, turn on and pray. About 9 times out of 10 this will get you a perfectly happy working laptop. If you can leave it for a couple of days without use, this will pretty much guarantee all moisture is gone.

This method also works, with care, on other electronic items such as video cameras, cell phones and photographic cameras.

The trick is to use as little water as possible to flush out all the coffee, then to dry the item really well.

Good luck. BTW, refurbished T40's are now selling for agbout $480 U.S. at http://www.tigerdirect.com I have one myself.

Terrapod is spot on, with all but one exception.....

Mate, I hope you are sticking to your diet because sugar in the coffee could ruin all of the above!!!!!

:)

ps - I have lost 1.5 stone in the last 2 months- bugger new wardrobe time!

The only thing I would add to the above is, once you take the laptop out of the oven, throw it in the bin and eat the cardboard - much higher protein levels and less caffeine content.

(OK - an old one, but couldn't resist it.)What a bummer.

Conrad's Unhelpful Hint of the Day:

Don't spill coffee on laptops.

In all seriousness though, good luck! And remember data is very easily recoverable should you require anything from the hard drive.

You could always use it as a target ...

http://tinyurl.com/2nyedc

Coffee? WTF...? I always envision you typing away with a half-drained tumbler of single malt; the Sidney Carton of the blogosphere.