So, regardless of my attempts to keep my kids away from the laptop, the one year old got to it and pushed it onto the floor.
It's no longer under warrantee, but I thought it was fine as it ran perfectly fine for awhile. Then I started getting 8 beep errors on startup--particularly if I used the system on my lap. Starting up with the D button pressed, I got flashing colors, so I guess the LCD display is not at issue. Also, the fan seems to be going on more and more frequently. But the fan is still running fine.
In fact, when I get the error, it boots up fine if I power down, remove the battery, and let it sit to cool down. But the 8 beep errors and the slow downs are happening more and more often.
My thinking, based on the warmth of the case and the fan going on is that there is some kind of problem with the heat sink, but what could it be? And is that what's causing the 8 beeps? Is there another likely explanation?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Can't really afford to sink money into a new laptop right now.