Kinda late to this thread..

 

Sorry to hear your laptop woes.  Here are my 2 cents on the subject.

 

1. Never use your laptop on any other surface other than a Hard Surface, a computer desk for example.

Never use a laptop on your lap, arm of a couch, pillow, blanket, or kitchen table with a table cloth on it.

The laptop needs good  airflow underneath to stay cool.  So if you place the laptop on a pillow or on the arm of the couch, the vents under neath will be blocked and the tiny little fan in the laptop will not be able to cool it down properly, which will lead to early laptop failure.

2.  Laptops are not designed for long term cpu intensive applications.  Photoshop for example is fine for a Laptop, but 3D Rendering is not.

Consider saving money for a Desktop just for renders.

Having a PC dedicated for rendering will have the added benefit that you can truly multi task. 

While your PC is rendering, you can still work on Photoshop on your laptop and able to surf the web and check your e-mails.

I'm going to post about my new PC shortly, which might give you an idea.