I'm about to pull the trigger on a gen 1 Air (used or refurbished). Some people solved their fan problems by cleaning thermal paste, some used undervolting, and some had problems come back after Apple's update. My only major concern with laptops in general is fan noise-- so I was wondering what the current state of affairs is. Any takers?
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What's the latest on fan problems?
- Thread starter darquette
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mine is in the apple store now, getting looked at about this problem. we will see if they fix it, or tell me that it's just normal
Don't
If you are concerned about fan noise then just DON'T do it.
The 2nd gen just announced may solve those problems. Wait until the first get delivered to see if the fan issues are better.
It would be silly to buy a gen 1 now. If you can't afford an air get an MB but don't try a gen 1.
If you are concerned about fan noise then just DON'T do it.
The 2nd gen just announced may solve those problems. Wait until the first get delivered to see if the fan issues are better.
It would be silly to buy a gen 1 now. If you can't afford an air get an MB but don't try a gen 1.
for your own sanity sake, please don't do that.
i own the 1st gen MBA and it's driving me crazy.
well solved with coolbook for a month, but now coolbook gave me constant freeze. a complete frozen system, even the cursor can't be moved so i had to hold the power button to make it shut down, and yes, i have upped the voltages step by step and did stress test the cpu.
i even reapplied the thermal paste with arctic silver 5, but it only lowers the temp a bit and it doesn't do really much about getting off the problem.
watching flash videos like in youtube for 8-9 minutes makes the heat goes all the way up and the video becomes stuttering.
i feel apple robbed me with this flaw 1st gen machine. but it's my bad to get a rev A product, hell even rev A products should have a fix but this 65nm proc is just hot and can't be fixed unless it's changed to a cooler proc.
i'm planning on getting the new mba since i love the portability it has given but for sure i will be waiting for the reviews for the new macbook air and checking if any guinea pigs have problems with it before buying that thing again.
i own the 1st gen MBA and it's driving me crazy.
well solved with coolbook for a month, but now coolbook gave me constant freeze. a complete frozen system, even the cursor can't be moved so i had to hold the power button to make it shut down, and yes, i have upped the voltages step by step and did stress test the cpu.
i even reapplied the thermal paste with arctic silver 5, but it only lowers the temp a bit and it doesn't do really much about getting off the problem.
watching flash videos like in youtube for 8-9 minutes makes the heat goes all the way up and the video becomes stuttering.
i feel apple robbed me with this flaw 1st gen machine. but it's my bad to get a rev A product, hell even rev A products should have a fix but this 65nm proc is just hot and can't be fixed unless it's changed to a cooler proc.
i'm planning on getting the new mba since i love the portability it has given but for sure i will be waiting for the reviews for the new macbook air and checking if any guinea pigs have problems with it before buying that thing again.
i was sitting next to a v.attractive girl today at the library
i kept checking her out coz she had an air and all she was doing was using word and checking her gmail and the fan was going nuts
at that time i was sitting there with my fatty white macbook full of jealousy and was on the apple website considering clicking buy
but then the fan thing put me off so much i changed my mind and decided to wait till ppl had used it the new one for a month or two to see if the 2nd gen improves on this issue....it's really not good enough for such an expensive laptop IMO
i kept checking her out coz she had an air and all she was doing was using word and checking her gmail and the fan was going nuts
at that time i was sitting there with my fatty white macbook full of jealousy and was on the apple website considering clicking buy
but then the fan thing put me off so much i changed my mind and decided to wait till ppl had used it the new one for a month or two to see if the 2nd gen improves on this issue....it's really not good enough for such an expensive laptop IMO
i was sitting next to a v.attractive girl today at the library
i kept checking her out coz she had an air and all she was doing was using word and checking her gmail and the fan was going nuts
at that time i was sitting there with my fatty white macbook full of jealousy and was on the apple website considering clicking buy
but then the fan thing put me off so much i changed my mind and decided to wait till ppl had used it the new one for a month or two to see if the 2nd gen improves on this issue....it's really not good enough for such an expensive laptop IMO
you tell her that i want to apply as much thermal as i can to her pretty ass.
ok here's me experiences with the AIR -
fans are really really quiet - infact ive never heard them go really really fast. my older 4rd gen macbook was much much louder.
I dont have any problems playing videos - things can be sluggish while doing lots of things and a few times two finger scrolling kind of bombs out and then all catches up on itself all at once.
in general dont really have problems with it, I am interested in maybe using coolbook to bang it up to 1.6 for extended periods of time as it does throttle down to 800/1200 during intensive tasks.
saying that it it plays all my videos and flash based video content no bother.
for people having genuine problems i would suggest kicking up a major stink until they fix it / replace it with the new updated version for your hassles!
mine was purchased in march this year by a friend
I have only had it two weeks now.. so my experience is limited but I have been using it nearly every hour of the day since i have it
fans are really really quiet - infact ive never heard them go really really fast. my older 4rd gen macbook was much much louder.
I dont have any problems playing videos - things can be sluggish while doing lots of things and a few times two finger scrolling kind of bombs out and then all catches up on itself all at once.
in general dont really have problems with it, I am interested in maybe using coolbook to bang it up to 1.6 for extended periods of time as it does throttle down to 800/1200 during intensive tasks.
saying that it it plays all my videos and flash based video content no bother.
for people having genuine problems i would suggest kicking up a major stink until they fix it / replace it with the new updated version for your hassles!
mine was purchased in march this year by a friend
I have only had it two weeks now.. so my experience is limited but I have been using it nearly every hour of the day since i have it
My air experience
Regarding the fan it is not loud even at full blast IMO. My home dell desktop is much louder and my Wife's black Macbook is louder (though quieter then the desktop). Every computer in my home kicks the fan full blast when playing flash, so its not just an Air thing. The only thing I find unacceptable about the Air is that when plugged in and when playing flash or using cpu intensive programs the cpu throttles down. i paid for a full 1.6ghz cpu and when plugged in a expect to be able to use it. If I watch hulu after awhile the cpu is down pegged and it drops frames and that is not right. This thing should be able to run full throttle for 24hours not poop out after an hour. That being said the Air is the best computer I've ever owned and I love OS X having been raised a PC user and having dabbled in linux.
Just my 2 cents,
Jameel
Also I owned an OQO 02 before the Air and that thing had a loud fan and got hot but the cpu was never throttled down, even tho the via chip was weak.
Regarding the fan it is not loud even at full blast IMO. My home dell desktop is much louder and my Wife's black Macbook is louder (though quieter then the desktop). Every computer in my home kicks the fan full blast when playing flash, so its not just an Air thing. The only thing I find unacceptable about the Air is that when plugged in and when playing flash or using cpu intensive programs the cpu throttles down. i paid for a full 1.6ghz cpu and when plugged in a expect to be able to use it. If I watch hulu after awhile the cpu is down pegged and it drops frames and that is not right. This thing should be able to run full throttle for 24hours not poop out after an hour. That being said the Air is the best computer I've ever owned and I love OS X having been raised a PC user and having dabbled in linux.
Just my 2 cents,
Jameel
Also I owned an OQO 02 before the Air and that thing had a loud fan and got hot but the cpu was never throttled down, even tho the via chip was weak.
Exchanged my Air in for a pro back in March. Fan never goes past 2500, even when playing flash.
It IS an air problem. Seems like software updates have made this better by lowering the cpu speed.
I am hopeful that the new graphics chip and the new 45nm cpu will make a real improvement to the fan issues. We'll see when they ship in November.
Update- I'm not buying an Air. It seems that some people have major fan problems, some have no problems, and some have some problems. Unfortunately what I need is no fan problems.
Also, went to the Apple Store yesterday. Personal verdict on the new macbooks-- suck! It feels about as heavy as my three year old dell, and the screen looks about 50% shinier than the Air. The Air, as always, looked great.
Update #2- If new Air still has fan/heat problems, I might consider the soon to be released Dell Mini 12. Uglier than the Air, but much cheaper and still light.
Also, went to the Apple Store yesterday. Personal verdict on the new macbooks-- suck! It feels about as heavy as my three year old dell, and the screen looks about 50% shinier than the Air. The Air, as always, looked great.
Update #2- If new Air still has fan/heat problems, I might consider the soon to be released Dell Mini 12. Uglier than the Air, but much cheaper and still light.