Though I've never burnt myself with a notebook, the heat can still be uncomfortable. There are plenty of stands around such as the amps Lapguard or the Laprest but a gentleman named Ron Brinkmann has come up with a novel solution, a hot water bottle.

There's a certain amount of logic to the idea. Water is a great way of moving heat around (if it's good enough for nuclear power stations, I think it's safe to assume it will work for a notebook). Perhaps it shouldn't need saying but I would imagine that this works best with plain hot water bottles. Cute sheep or cat faux hair may impair the cooling abilities somewhat.

The only disadvantage I can think of right away is trying to explain to my wife why I am trying to crush ice cubes to fit into a hot water bottle. Maybe just putting it into the freezer to start with would be a better idea.