I hold my laptop partially on partially hanging off of my desk, with the side that always overheats (the left side) sticking out so it can get more ventillation.
Same. Still doesn't start to fix the problem... laptops are generally pieces of crap, as far as gaming rigs go. Even so called "gaming laptops". Never any adequate cooling, the intake vents are always in the least convenient place for airflow, the output vents are always too small, the fans aren't powerful enough and have no decent dust filters - nay, scratch that, no dust filters at all, so they always gum up. Like, they're almost worse than the stock fans that come with tower computers. Almost.
And if you have a decent GPU or CPU that can do more than word processing, of course they will have a cheap model with a shitty thermometer so the fan doesn't kick in on time, and the GPU will produce more heat than even a good fan could disperse anyways.
And don't get me started on those thermal pads that are supposed to wick heat from the CPU/GPU to the heatsink for dispersal; it's why MY laptop is on it's last legs. Only too late did I realize that was the problem
(Mad props to these guys for helping me diagnose that), and when I went and bought the thermal gel to replace the thermal pad that they recommended, the gel didn't even hold up because the damage was already done. Not to mention the copper pipe that was supposed to be up against the CPU (with the pad/gel in between) doesn't even bend far enough to actually contact the CPU properly anyways!
Let me tell you, it's like Acer specifically did all they can to give the laptop exactly two years of lifetime. It's running on four years now, but holy shit Acer, get your shit together.