HP Pavilion overheating issues

I recently picked up an HP Pavilion, and I just noticed that all the cooling vents are located right on the bottom—there aren't any on the sides at all. Since I have a bit of a habit of using my laptop while lounging in bed, it usually ends up resting directly on my comforter, and now I'm starting to wonder if that might mess with the cooling process. If the vents are completely covered by the blankets, how is the system supposed to breathe? Is this actually how the hardware was designed to function, or should I be worried about overheating? I’d really rather not deal with the hassle of buying a separate cooling pad, but if it turns out to be necessary to keep things running smoothly, I suppose I'll look into it.

The worst thing you can possibly do is what you're doing right now: blocking those cooling vents. Obviously, it's going to mess with your airflow and cause overheating, which is just asking for trouble.

Just grab a laptop stand or a cooling pad as soon as you can. They aren't expensive, and they'll make things a lot easier when you're trying to use your laptop in bed...

http://www.amazon.com/laptop-cooling-pads/b?node=12738195