You could probably open the keyboard up a bit to let it breathe better but I bet if you remove it you will get a 301 on POST. I doubt a laptop BIOS will let you ignore that error. You can usually turn off the screen but again, if it is disconnected I bet POST will fail.
I have an LS400 Dell working as a FAX and scanner engine in my shop but I do have it on an external monitor/keyboard via a KVM switch shared with another machine, for much the same reasons. I have it propped up so air circulates under it for better cooling.
In the next round of computer reorganization I am going to get my weather station over on it too. The problem for me is this does not have a serial port and I have had shaky results with the USB/serial adapter and my weather station.
