Sick of my bloody powerbook G4

[maverickuk]

I wish i'd never bought it now, mainly because it gets so hot, its ridiculous that these bloody machines get so hot. I am sitting here now with it on my lap, and its burning.

The top is hotter than the rest, I can grip the corner for about 5 seconds before the heat becomes unbearable, I'm suprised Apple have not had law suits on their hands.

All I have running is Safari and Adium

Secondly, my lid wont close AGAIN! I have to send it off for repair AGAIN.

sigh :eek:

[Capt Underpants]

I wish i'd never bought it now, mainly because it gets so hot, its ridiculous that these bloody machines get so hot. I am sitting here now with it on my lap, and its burning.

The top is hotter than the rest, I can grip the corner for about 5 seconds before the heat becomes unbearable, I'm suprised Apple have not had law suits on their hands.

All I have running is Safari and Adium

Secondly, my lid wont close AGAIN! I have to send it off for repair AGAIN.

sigh :eek:

Well getting that hot isn't normal, either. What rev. PB do you have?

[edesignuk]

There must be something wrong with it. I have a 15" 1.5GHz, and if I sit with it on my lap, sure it gets warm, but not "burning".

[maya]

There must be something wrong with it. I have a 15" 1.5GHz, and if I sit with it on my lap, sure it gets warm, but not "burning".

Good to know there are 2 MR members here who do not want offspring. ;) :)

[edesignuk]

Good to know there are 2 MR members here who do not want offspring. ;) :)
lol, I was thinking about that story as I was writing that...I don't sit with it for long, and it's generally not situated near the little fella :D ;) nearer my knees than er...that other thing...

[maya]

lol, I was thinking about that story as I was writing that...I don't sit with it for long, and it's generally not situated near the little fella :D ;) nearer my knees than er...that other thing...

ROTFLMAO. Some defective fella's are better than All defective ones. ;) :)

[maverickuk]

Not sure how to find my revision number, its a 15" 1.25ghz with superdrive and optical keyboard.

I don't know whether its normal or not, each time I tell somebody with a powerbook G4 they say oh yes thats normal they all get hot.

But the temprature definately wouldnt be described as warm, it's like when you stir a cup of tea or coffee and then touch the spoon.

The bottom half isnt nearly as bad, that is bearable.

I am sure its the heat from the top of the mac, that is causing the chasis on the screen to warp and thats why it keeps popping open when I try to close it.

[asif786]

sounds like you have a dud. Phone apple demand a new one, or try going to an apple store and seeing a genius...

/asif

[Lacero]

I always use my laptop on tables, never ever needed to put it on my lap. I guess I am not really a laptop user.

[maverickuk]

I will ring them tomorrow.

They should replace because a) This is the 3rd time I've had to send it off because of same problem and b) It really is ridiculously hot.

[maverickuk]

I always use my laptop on tables, never ever needed to put it on my lap. I guess I am not really a laptop user.

Even if it's on the table, floor etc it still gets stupidly hot, takes about 15 minutes and its boiling.

[Peterkro]

Theres def some wrong with it.Mines been on and working hard for days and while the bottom is warm, the top near the hinge is very slightly warm, the rest is cool to the touch.
PS just running temperature moniter on it the results:
28c Battery
49c Processor Bottomside
44.8c Processor/Controller Bottomside
44.o Powersupply bottomside
( they are varying a bit a I watch but only by a few degrees)

[daveL]

Is the fan running all the time? If it's that hot the fan should be running. If it isn't running, that could explain the excess heat. I've had a 1 GHz TiBook, 1 GB RAM, Superdrive for over 2 years and it's folding 24x7, but still it's anything more than warm. The fan does run all the time, though.

[maverickuk]

I cant remember the last time I heared the fan run, though perhaps I just dont notice it.

I will make a concious effort to listen out for it and see if it comes on.

If I am charging my powerbook, it gets even hotter :(

[asif786]

I cant remember the last time I heared the fan run, though perhaps I just dont notice it.

I will make a concious effort to listen out for it and see if it comes on.

If I am charging my powerbook, it gets even hotter :(

Uhm, I would definitely suggest not using the laptop *on your lap* for now.

Sounds as though it could be a serious health hazard, you never know - it could catch on fire.

Also, have you seen this page: https://depot.info.apple.com/batteryexchange/ - this could be your issue..

[daveL]

I cant remember the last time I heared the fan run, though perhaps I just dont notice it.

I will make a concious effort to listen out for it and see if it comes on.

If I am charging my powerbook, it gets even hotter :(
Sounds like the fan or the temperature sensor aren't working. If it's getting that hot, I'm fairly confident you'd notice the fan running.

[maverickuk]

The fan hasnt run at all in the past hour or so, and its very hot.

I am going to look for and download temperature monitor now.

[Peterkro]

You probably found it by now but its here
http://www.bresink.de/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

[Applespider]

Theres def some wrong with it.Mines been on and working hard for days and while the bottom is warm, the top near the hinge is very slightly warm, the rest is cool to the touch.
PS just running temperature moniter on it the results:
28c Battery
49c Processor Bottomside
44.8c Processor/Controller Bottomside
44.o Powersupply bottomside
( they are varying a bit a I watch but only by a few degrees)

Peter - is yours a rev A 15" too? Mine is alarmingly different

39C Battery
52.8C Processor Bottomside
54.0C Processor/Controller
56.2 Power Supply

Yikes!

[maverickuk]

Battery 40oC

Proccesor bottomside 60oC

Processor controler side 58oc

Power supply bottomside 63oC

I had a recalled battery and got it replaced, so that cant be the problem.

Not sure if these results are normal or not?

[MyLeftNut]

Mmm definitely something wrong. Even when I run my PB to the ground the heat never makes it unbearable to touch. You might want to be careful of prematurely ruining your battery. They dont do well with extreme heat. As a precaution I'd take it out and just run on the power supply until the problem can be fixed. Just a thought.

Ooops. Just saw your last post forget that.

[Peterkro]

No mines a rev C 17".so it will run a bit cooler because of the case size(works as a heatsink).Also mines sitting on a iCurve.Tho yours should't be that different ,your latest post indicades yours are somewhat high.Do a google and see if you can find what temp the fan should kick in.

PS just had a quick shifty and the only temp info on a 15" revA I could easily find was a range of 126f to 145f when the fans should kick in(they were using a ext moniter mind.Afraid you'll have to do conversion or change in temp moniter.

[Counterfit]

How about we get some numbers before everyone starts saying "It's b0rked, demand a replacement!!!1" with foam at the mouths. Grab a temperature reporting utility, such as ThermographX, and keep track of hot hot it is. It could be that you just have sensitive skin.

[maverickuk]

It could be that you just have sensitive skin

lol, hmmmm well no actually I don't. My housemate and other friends are shocked at how hot it gets too.

Plus my screen keeps warping so I cant close my lid without it popping up.

[unfaded]

lol, hmmmm well no actually I don't. My housemate and other friends are shocked at how hot it gets too.

Plus my screen keeps warping so I cant close my lid without it popping up.

Yeah. That's not normal.

[0s and 1s]

Look on the bright side.. You now have a portable stove/heater/computer to impress your friends.

[Artful Dodger]

I would make a call to Apple but in the mean time hope nothing inside gets damaged, stops working from the heat :cool: Even at the Apple store none seem to be "hot" just slightly warm.

[Logik]

be sure you have your energy settings set to "automatic" or "reduced" as well... highest tends to make mine pretty hot too.. not THAT hot.. but who knows.. give it a shot and see if it helps at all. no reason to have it set to highest if you are doing surfing and iming... :-/

[dotdotdot]

Maybe you need to check if something is defective or fell out?

My dad's Dell laptop was incredibly hot that the bottom of the screen was different b/c of the heat - hard to read, etc. Well, he checked and like the memory and something else was 1/2 in but the cpu thought it was in so it was incredibly hot... he fixed it and now its nice and warm!

[mim]

Seems unusual that the top of the PB gets hot. I have exactly the same model as you, and sometimes the bottom does get quite hot, if I have it working hard and it's sitting on something soft and insulating (like the bed for example). The top doesn't heat up much at all, except for the vent strip along the screen hinge. Even then, it's not bad.

Sounds like there is something wrong.

Mine currently (just warm to the touch on top...)
Processor/Controller Bottomside - 47.8
Processor Bottomside - 45.8
Power Supply Bottomside - 52.2
Battery - 38.0
SMART Disk TOSHIBA MK8025GAS (Z3C53103S) - 40.0

[Artful Dodger]

Just a thought, is it near the area where the hard drive is? How long does it take when you first turn it on to get hot? Also will it get hot if you remove the battery and keep it plugged into the power source? :cool:

[runninmac]

Sounds Like you have screwed up PB... That sucks i would talk to apple see what they can do

[Counterfit]

lol, hmmmm well no actually I don't. My housemate and other friends are shocked at how hot it gets too.

Plus my screen keeps warping so I cant close my lid without it popping up. I still want some numbers :p

And that screen thing must be annoying. Mine didn't close right when I first got it, but after the display assembly got replaced (white spots), it hasn't happened since. It also hadn't happened for several months before the replacement as well. Weird stuff :confused:

[xsedrinam]

63° C or 145° F is "hot" but still within norms of what I've seen posted along heat and overheat issues with the PB G4. When I'm encoding a project and have FCP HD and compressor running plus another couple of windows, mine has reached 145° F a couple of times. My fan kicks on at 139.5° F but will bring bottom temps down in about 3-5 minutes.

Have you tried deleting Finder Preferences from Home>Preferences> and restarting? Some who have done this have had success where the Activity Monitor has shown high percentage 65%+ with Finder activity. Deleting Finder Preferences and restarting has brought this back to within norms.

The fact that you report your screen and top are warped is obviously another off the chart problem.
X

[Counterfit]

63° C or 145° F is "hot" but still within norms of what I've seen posted along heat and overheat issues with the PB G4. Indeed. The fan for the power supply should kick in at around 150-152°F, and the CPU fan (I think it's on the right side, not sure though) should kick in at 145-147°F. ThermographX reports the "high threshold" for the CPU Bottomside to be 167°F, and 179°F for the power supply. I assume those are the temperatures at which the PB will shut itself down to prevent damage to itself and to the user. If your PB exceeds those values, 1) don't use it on your lap until it's fixed, 2) call up and tell Apple, 3) erm, there is no step 3 :p

[xsedrinam]

(167°F, and 179°F )If your PB exceeds those values, 1) don't use it on your lap until it's fixed, 2) call up and tell Apple, 3) erm, there is no step 3 :p

Addendum: If step one is ignored: Then 3) Cancel all meetings on calendar with regard to Family Planning as they will no longer be necessary :D
X

[vsp]

I just posted about this to a thread I started about my fan, but you might want to check this out on your computer.

Check Activity Monitor and see what's taking up most of the CPU. I think myleftnut (i hate having to phrase this this way) suggested this. The Finder was hogging everything. I Force Quit that and the temperature moved back into line.

Not that this will do anything for the fact your fan won't come on, but maybe you can cool your knees off some before you send it in.

[killuminati]

Battery 40oC

Proccesor bottomside 60oC

Processor controler side 58oc

Power supply bottomside 63oC


All of my temps are also always in the low 60s (I use it on soft surfaces sometimes though) and I don't find it that hot. It usually takes about 45 minutes to get to that temp and when it does I wouldn't call it "burning". I think you just have sensitive skin, or I'm used to touching hot things :p

[jacg]

I have the same model and it stays pretty cool unless I start rendering video (or just glimpsing iPhoto 5...), THEN the fan goes on. If your fan doesn't come on to keep everything at the right temperature (ie touchable) then you're sure to have a problem.

Have you checked Activity Monitor to see if there are any rogue processes hogging the CPU?