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thebossisback

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 11, 2003
121
0
Providence, RI
I am a fan of the iBook, but that is not what this post is about. I have a 500mhz iBook that I bought brand new in 2001. Since I have had this, I have not once heard the fan go on. I know the thing has one it just doesnt wanna spin. Sometimes when I am playing games for a while or when my computer gets hot, it gets very sluggish or freezes (it only froze once). Do you think this is noramal or do you think my fan is broken. BTW, my friend has a 700mhz iBook and ive heard his fan go on alot, but i though that might be because of the speed diference and his gets hotter.
 

mnkeybsness

macrumors 68030
Jun 25, 2001
2,511
0
Moneyapolis, Minnesota
Re: iBook fan

Originally posted by thebossisback
Since I have had this, I have not once heard the dan go on.

wow...sorry but right away i was confused about why you were wondering about "DAN" going on...

i am not completely sure, but i don't think you probably have too much to worry about unless your ibook seems to get incredibly hot, too hot to hold on to. though you may want to take it to an apple store and have a techie look at it if you are completely sure that it doesn't ever turn on..
 

big

macrumors 65816
Feb 20, 2002
1,074
0
nope, totally normal.

my wife's 600 mhz ibook fan hardly ever goes off. It is best to actually place this thing on a flat hard surface (no cloth table top for over an hour)

I place mine on an external firewire disk that lays flat. The iBook handles all the work I throw at it, though a new 15" PB is looking sweet.

I find that as long as the center of the iBook is supporting the machine, it never over heats or gets hot. When I set it down flat on the table cloth, I have managed to freeze the computer, though after it cooled down, it will automatically pick right back up where it left off (cool huh, which is the point)
 

Powerbook G5

macrumors 68040
Jun 23, 2003
3,974
1
St Augustine, FL
I have a 400 MHz G3 Powerbook and the fan has only turned on once in the over 4 years I have owned it and that was when I watched two dvd movies back to back with my PowerBook sitting ontop of my Sony triniton tv (which tends to get pretty hot). It only turned on for maybe 10 minutes and that is the *only* time I have ever heard it since owning my PowerBook. Since your iBook is also a G3 and not much faster, I don't see any worries at all about the fan not turning on. From what I have heard of the PowerBook G4s, I'd say it's a blessing that your fan doesn't spin all the time because I hear so many people on these forums complain about the fan noise (which has me worried a bit about upgrading since I do enjoy how my PowerBook is virtually silent).
 

rhpenguin

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2003
929
0
London, Ontario
The fan on my iBook 800 has came on a few times. It doesnt turn on when playing Q3A or Starcraft, but when Photoshopping and Premiere. It spins up really fast, then drops off... but yeah its annoying.
 

saint

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2002
161
1
Sydney
I didn't think the iBook had a fan in it. If mine has one, it is either really quiet or it has never come on in the 2 years I have had it.

Where is the fan anyway? near the back or near the vent on the left hand side?
 

5300cs

macrumors 68000
Nov 24, 2002
1,862
0
japan
I have a 500Mhz iBook and have never had the fan come on (I wonder if there even is one.)

I have an 800Mhz iBook too, and as soon as I fire-up any game, the fan kicks-in. It's got this annoying buzz-like whine.
 

Huked on Fonick

macrumors 6502
Jul 16, 2002
300
0
1 Loop
mine comes on alot when i am useing it on bed with its not on a flat surface and to make things my comfoter like keeps all the heet traped under it, but i hardly every work at a desk,,, my fan comes on like every day i would say......in fact i just got it back from apple cuz i sent to them because it needed a new mobo(bad modem) and for some reason they put a new fan on or taped the old fan and they forgot to take the tape off.....

Ps the fan on my old 600 came on alot to.
 

dprlynch

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2002
24
0
Houston TX
Re: iBook Fan

I've got a 700-iBook, and I often forget that it even has a fan. It usually only comes on if I've been playing a graphic-intensive game for awhile. Even then, it's a really quiet sound.

My old roomate's laptop's fan sounded like a hair-dryer. Everytime it came on, I'd look up, trying to figure out what the noise was and he'd start laughing at the confused look on my face.

If it's freezing up though, you'll probably want to have Apple check it out - just to be on the safe side.
 

iShater

macrumors 604
Aug 13, 2002
7,026
470
Chicagoland
Originally posted by rhpenguin
The fan on my iBook 800 has came on a few times. It doesnt turn on when playing Q3A or Starcraft, but when Photoshopping and Premiere. It spins up really fast, then drops off... but yeah its annoying.

Mine does the same thing on my 800. I heard it maybe 3 times over the last couple of months. All of a sudden you hear it and it quickly droppes off to a really low hum and then stops.
 

CmdrLaForge

macrumors 601
Feb 26, 2003
4,633
3,112
around the world
Hi,

I have a 900MHz iBook and if I'm using it all day long with power connected then sometimes the fan goes on. The first time is really surprising !

Cheers
CmdrLaForge
 

visor

macrumors 6502
May 13, 2003
341
0
in bed
My fan occasionally makes noise...

now, i really find this noise disturbing.

so, when I've got a rendering job for the liitle book to do, just now i'm playing around with terragen a bit, I put it up on two pencils, so it has a little air between itself and the table.

That usually cools it enough for the fan to turn off again.

Oh, it's about 30°C here... and rendering takes 100% CPU load.
 

frescies

macrumors regular
Dec 9, 2002
225
0
Los Angeles, CA
Games....

Yeah... I have a 900mhz one that SCREAMS when I fire up a game! I think it may have something to do with the Radeon getting real hot in there. Renders rarely turn my fan on... nor cpu loads. It seems to be most triggered by graphic intensive games.

I actually like the sound... and the first time i heard it I thought the hard drive went insane and a platter was gonna shred its way through the surface of my ibook and then fly upward, shredding through the ceiling and fly away.
 

DakotaGuy

macrumors 601
Jan 14, 2002
4,226
3,791
South Dakota, USA
I have an iBook 600 and if it does have a fan it has never came on in the last year and a half I have owned it. I don't think the G3 generates much heat. I am not sure about this, but my guess is the G3 is one of the coolest running processors in a laptop computer.
 

thebossisback

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 11, 2003
121
0
Providence, RI
I know on my computer (500mhz iBook) the fan is in the middle close to where the hinge is. I know this because i tried to overclock my computer (unsucesful) and i saw the fan
 
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