If you get this while doing non intensive windows tasks, I would first contact the manufacturer about the problem.  It's not uncommon for a laptop to have had a silent recall on warranty work for this type of issue.

1-800-HP-INVENT

If this were an older laptop, I would do a complete teardown of the unit to reseat/regrease the CPU and ensure that there isn't any blockage at the cooling vents/fan.  Excessive dirt often cannot be cleaned out just using canned air.  This is NOT recommended for the home novice.

Yeah I'm not a novice. Thought about tearing the notebook down. Fan seems to be running just fine. I wonder if I need to add new thermal paste. Any other thoughts?

paste might help, BUT if the comp is in a dusty environment then definitely try a clean of the heat exchanger, the worst that can happen is no improvement unless you do a dis-assemble of the comp, then the worst is no work, and the best is a decrease of operating temps, and I also think that the temps are a BIT high for a lappie, and my guess for the palm rest heat would be the hard drive.

harpo

Here is a shot of the system temps. Anyone know if this is normal or if this model has issues?

Those are normal temps.  Idle temps around 50-60C are decent operating conditions.  Put it under load and see how it does.

Typically, the working temp range on Intel chipsets ends at 100C(at which temperatures, cpu's should last a decade plus).  If you're busting 200F in an air conditioned environment with the laptop positioned for full ventilation access, it's time to do some corrective work and clean that sucker out.  180F under load is a pretty typical result for a laptop.  That said, four tabs in chrome and a music player doesn't seem like it should count as under load.  I call that idle.

You may have other problems, spyware, etcetera.  Your system is about a third the speed of mine, but that should still be pretty damn near idle.  I've got a lot more than that running right now and I'm running at 0-3% on the cpu front.

If you've had the laptop for a while, say a year or more, it is probably a good idea to clean out the fans (cracking open the laptop). You should not need to worry about re-applying paste, in fact you should not be removing the cpu heatsink at all.

But before that, how long has the laptop been in use and do you still have warranty?

From my experience all HP laptops do this when the cpu is loaded. I went through 3 different models of HP laptops all with the same heat problem. My last one the fan would run constantly and programs would run real slow. It would get so hot it would shut down I couldn't start it up again until it cooled down. Recently I bought a Toshiba Satellite it is so quite and after hours of use it's still cool to the touch.

I know this doesn't help but always using HP laptops to me it seems like a common thing.

This is on a fresh install of Windows. I am running Avast AV, Dropbox, iTunes, Firefox with 9 tabs open. The system is staying around 135F. Don't want this thing to melt.

Why not write to support at HP...or maybe they have something in their Forums? 

On the lighter side, until you have an answer...

135F with that much open is no big deal, just normal.  If you were doing 180F with that much running, you'd have either a major cooling problem, or massive infection that was leading to high usage even when basically idle.

I previously had a HP laptop i3 340m also, same heating problem would run ~100ºC in a normal room conditions. It's not uncommon so if you're still under warranty get something done about it. Otherwise as others suggested making sure fans/ducts are clear of dust. I wouldn't reapply any new paste. Also invest in a good laptop cooling pad. I would recommend the coolermaster u3. I bought this for £25 earlier this year and saw dramatic drops in temperature of around 10ºC which was a pretty big improvement compared to several others I bought prior and managing only a few degrees drop in temperature. I like the fact you can relocate each fan on the cooling pad rather than having it be static it allows to reposition each fan for optimal cooling.

Still working on this machine. One of the USB ports is really loose. Not so loose that I can't use it, but pretty loose. Is there any easy fixes?

Depending on the industry....Gaffer Tape... Race Tape....100mph Tape....

You know I was looking for some serious help. Guess I should have known better.