Heat problems with new pBooks?

[Ozi]

I am going to buy a 12" powerbook, no questions asked.

I just was interested in how hot they are getting. I know that some Macrumors users have already bought these machines, and once you guys have had some time using them, could you let me know if your lap is scalded by the heat? I know the older pBook 12" were plagued with heat problems... heres an interesting take on the heat issue!

Thanks... if they do turn out to be too hot I might opt for an iBook instead.

~ozi

 

[kbonnel]

Sorry, I didn't have the 12", but I can tell you my experience with my previous 15" (I returned it so I could order the new ones). It got hot, really hot. The area's I noticed it most, was in the back of the machine, on both the top and bottom. Mine seemed to get hotter than the ones in the Apple Store, so I don't know if mine was bad. I used it a couple of times with the battery, and I didn't really notice the heat much. It seemed to get really hot when sitting on my table under AC power. According to my temp monitor, it could get around 65+C degrees.

Samuel L Bronkowitz

 

[DreaminDirector]

I bought the new 12" yesterday (1.33Ghz, combo) and there doesn't seem to be as much heat as I expected. I haven't thrown any heavy photoshop work at it yet, but I did constantly load software on it for about three hours or so. The computer got warm, but not hot. My old TiBook used to get much hotter. Actually, now that I think about it, the fan didn't even come on last night.

I also use a Coolpad from Roadtools.com. That might help a bit.

I personally love my new powerbook. But, everyone has different reasons to love a computer. I that helps you out.

 

[Ozi]

thanks guys... I will probably get the pBook then! I was originally looking at a iBook, but if the pBook doesnt get too hot, I will get it instead. Living in Australia, I don't want a machine which heats me up any more than necessary!

And from the pics, I think I could very easily fall in love with a new pBook 12", and out of love with my bank account!

 

[entropy1980]

I bought the new 12" yesterday (1.33Ghz, combo) and there doesn't seem to be as much heat as I expected. I haven't thrown any heavy photoshop work at it yet, but I did constantly load software on it for about three hours or so. The computer got warm, but not hot. My old TiBook used to get much hotter. Actually, now that I think about it, the fan didn't even come on last night.

I also use a Coolpad from Roadtools.com. That might help a bit.

I personally love my new powerbook. But, everyone has different reasons to love a computer. I that helps you out.

What did you have before? How's the speed!? Thanks!

 

[DreaminDirector]

I had a 800mhz 15" TiBook with 512MB of RAM. The fan used to come on after about 15 or 20 minutes of use, but with my new 12" powerbook, I used it for about 2 hours plugged in and no fan. Don't get me wrong, it got good and warm, but not as hot as my old TiBook. My Tibook used to leave a nice red mark on my leg (nothing serious, of course...), but with this little 12", it's hasn't gotten nearly as bad.

However, the real test will be this weekend when I start to test it with all the photoshop and video work I can throw at it.

Oh and the speed of this little 12" is sweet! I can really feel a difference in OSX with the new 64MB nvidia cards. Overall, it feels much faster than my old powerbook and it's smaller!

 

[powerbook4me]

However, the real test will be this weekend when I start to test it with all the photoshop and video work I can throw at it.

Keep us updated

Im looking forward to getting one. Would like to know how its fairs against the older ones/how the performance is/ect.

 

[DreaminDirector]

I will definitely let you guys know how it goes.

 

[Ozi]

Hows your 12" going? Do any other owners of the new pBooks suffer burnt thighs, or scalded wrists?

 

[aswitcher]

Various owners of rev b PBs seem to be reporting less heat issues and fan start ups and noise. I hope my 17 is as good.

 

[Steven1621]

Various owners of rev b PBs seem to be reporting less heat issues and fan start ups and noise. I hope my 17 is as good.

how often do the fans turn on in a PB?

 

[aswitcher]

how often do the fans turn on in a PB?

Dont have one yet, so dont know. Reports are that the latest PBs have the 7447A chip, and it sounds like better insulation/heat sinking (I guess?) so they are not running as hot and the fan isn't coming on much...

 

[dragula53]

12 inch PB

I just got one

no heat problem

it doesn't appear much different than my 1GHz Imac.

it xbenches a little higher.. a few points.

it's very nice

 

[hi_im_rob]

how often do the fans turn on in a PB?

I have both a 12" PB 1ghz and a 12" PB 1.33Ghz.

Strangely the 1.33 seems to run cooler.

-Rob-

 

[powerofthekiwi]

I have both a 12" PB 1ghz and a 12" PB 1.33Ghz.

Strangely the 1.33 seems to run cooler.

-Rob-

starting a collection?

 

[DreaminDirector]

Yeah, the 1.33 Ghz 12" powerbook ran warm but never hot this weekend. My 800mhz powerbook ran hot and the fans were always on after about 30 minutes of use. I have yet to hear the fan in my 1.33ghz.

 

[0s and 1s]

I have both a 12" PB 1ghz and a 12" PB 1.33Ghz.

Strangely the 1.33 seems to run cooler.

-Rob-

OT: Ah...so you lied to me about buying my 15" PB and purchased a 12" PB instead? What a wuss. Be a man next time and tell me WHY you didn't want it.

 

[Hwnlocalgurl]

Thanks DreaminDirector for posting about your new 12" pbook not having heat problems. I was wondering about that.

Do you happen to have iDisk on your 12" pbook. My sister was wondering if that comes with the pbook?

 

[Ozi]

And dreamin, is yours the combo or super drive? Is there likely to be any heat difference? Thanks everyone for posting too... I just want to make an informed buy.

 

[DreaminDirector]

And dreamin, is yours the combo or super drive? Is there likely to be any heat difference? Thanks everyone for posting too... I just want to make an informed buy.

It's a combo drive. I decided that going up to the superdrive wasn't a logical choice because I have one in my tower. I lose out on the bragging rights, but I save 200 bucks.

I don't think that there are going to be huge heat differences in which drive you have. I could be wrong, but seems like it wouldn't matter.

 

[DreaminDirector]

Thanks DreaminDirector for posting about your new 12" pbook not having heat problems. I was wondering about that.

Do you happen to have iDisk on your 12" pbook. My sister was wondering if that comes with the pbook?

I'm not sure what you mean by if it has an iDisk. Access to iDisks is built into Panther (and jaguar). Even if you don't have a DotMac account, you can connect to other peoples public folders and stuff. Just go to "Go" in the menubar in the finder and there is an iDisk option.

I think that's what you're talking about. So to answer your question; Yes.

 

[win_convert]

APC magazine in Australia says: "The new surface (aluminium) is soft, easily scratched and quickly appears tatty", is this accurate?

 

[aswitcher]

APC magazine in Australia says: "The new surface (aluminium) is soft, easily scratched and quickly appears tatty", is this accurate?

Issue? Page?
Link?

 

[Rod Rod]

APC magazine in Australia says: "The new surface (aluminium) is soft, easily scratched and quickly appears tatty", is this accurate?

the surface (aluminium) is much harder than plastic. it's scratch resistant to a point. I haven't managed to get any scratches in my aluminium PowerBooks, but I've seen friends's Al PBs who've achieved it.

back on topic, my new 1.33GHz 12" PB runs way cooler than my old (and sold, gotta ship it out today) 867MHz 12" PB.

DreaminDirector is right. the fans just don't need to spin very often.

one strange thing though, is that Pac the Man 2 seems to stress the computer a bunch when another app is running. I had Disk Utility erasing the old PB's HD, while playing PtM 2, and PtM 2 was acting slow and stuttery. should a Pac Man imitation really stress out a 1.33GHz machine?

 

[JFreak]

I had a 800mhz 15" TiBook with 512MB of RAM.

i had a 667mhz dvi model (same generation as yours) and noticed slight temperature drop after putting in the full gig of memory, which was nice. but only after i exchanged the stock hard drive to the 7200rpm hitachi 7k60 model last summer i was amazed: with this new and mowerful hard drive the tibook was really cool no matter how extreme use i put it into. the fan became almost useless.

i think there was something wrong with the toshiba 4200rpm hard drives apple put into 667/800 powerbooks, so anyone still having that generation powerbooks could make it so much better by simply changing the hard drive. yes, it costs something and not everyone is comfortable changing the drive by himself, but it's well worth it. i'd say you get 100% more hard drive performance and 50% less heat, leaving battery life as it was before. my only regret is that i couldn't do it sooner [as they were introduced last summer] because the excess heat the toshiba drive put into the powerbook made the paint drop off making the 'book look kind of ugly. after drive change, no further paint dropoffs. sad but true, and i will absolutely never ever touch toshiba hard drives anymore.