How hot does 12" PowerBook get?

[macphoria]

I've read number of posts saying 12" PowerBook gets quite hot at the top left corner, near the powersource, and at left palm rest, above the hard drive. Many mentioned that it gets, not warm, uncomfortably hot.

People might react to this differently, depending on heat/pain (?) tolerance, or maybe these are computers with defects. But I wanted to get a sense of how many people in this forum, who've regularly used 12" PowerBook, feel that it gets too hot?

 

[JordanShapiro]

really, not that bad.

honestly, the heat isn't even close to "painful." my dual-USB iBook also got hot in the same area due to the hard drive, and that was only a warming. the 12" does get hot, but it's just enough to warm you on a cool winter's night, not enough to burn you, scar you, cause you pain... unless you're a pansy!

toodles,
jordan

 

[whfsdude]

I hear it gets hot. The fan only kicks on when it gets hot enought that it could damage the computer.

Do you like hot dogs?

 

[regan]

I have been to the Apple Soho store many many times over the past month waiting for the 15" alumabook. I know I know....not gonna happen for awhile.

Anyway...to pass the time I play with the 12" and Tibooks which are side by side on the display tables.

The two powerbooks which are plugged in, and not on battery power differ GREATLY when it comes to heat.

The 12" is VERY warm...or hot(depending on your heat tolerance) while the Tibook is absolutely cool to the touch.

One of the 12" models was very hot had a slight but noticable bubbling up of the case around the trackpad. Now I don't know if the two are related, but its worth pointing out.

I think the 12" is a sexy little machine, and if my video needs weren't so great, I'd get one.

The Tibook is dead sexy. My dream machine looks wise. I'm just waiting to see what the aluma version of the 15" will be like...and depending on that will either buy one...or nab a discounted Tibook 1ghz and save some cash.

 

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by whfsdude
Do you like hot dogs?

Hot dogs and roast nuts...

Sound like they're going to go to a ball game instead of playing with they're laptop.

Just remember to remind them to have a few beers, it'll help if they suffer a loss.

 

[ian559]

My 12 inch PB gets very warm. But I kinda like it. Think wrist heat thearapy while you surf. Last night it put me to sleep in my recliner. The heat just put me out!!!! Heeheee. I still find its not as hot on the bottom as my old IBM thinkpad

 

[daniel77]

i am porbably in a distinct minority but i think that the 12'' aluminbook is ugly, it is just a spray painted ibook with different ram. honestly. i think that if they go to alum. with the 15'' they are ruining one of the greatest lookign computerds ever made and i truly hope that when i have money to buy a powerbook they will not have been wasted via the spray paint.

 

[ian559]

You would not say that about the 15inch PB if one of you hinges broke and apple tells you its 800 to 1000 bucks to fix. I to wanted a 15 inch but got the 12 after this happened to someone I know. Personaly I will take the stronger hinge design over the awesome looks of the tibooks

 

[Foxer]

Originally posted by daniel77
i am porbably in a distinct minority but i think that the 12'' aluminbook is ugly, it is just a spray painted ibook with different ram. honestly. i think that if they go to alum. with the 15'' they are ruining one of the greatest lookign computerds ever made and i truly hope that when i have money to buy a powerbook they will not have been wasted via the spray paint.

I assume you're kidding about the spray paint, since it is METAL and iBook isn't. Other differences include a G4 processor, bluetooth, better graphics card, much nicer keyboard, aitport extreme, blah, blah, blah for a price difference of a couple hundred bucks. OK, so I'm biased.

As to the heat issue, my wife was using it the other night and complemented to PB for keeping her "toasty." It's not a problem in any way.

 

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by daniel77
...just a spray painted ibook...

-daniel77

You have every right to your opinion and I will not dispute that. However, I feel you're opinion is not based on accurate facts, and I feel it necessary to point them out to you before you act on that opinion.

Yes, the general form factor is very much like an iBook, however, it is different in almost every other respect.

1. Spray Paint?!? The PB is, as stated, aluminum. And it's natural at that - not painted. It's microtextured aircraft-grade aluminum, so no paint chips to be had.

2. iBook?!? The PB has a completely different chipset, G4, ROMs, GPU, RAM (DDR). So though it may appear to be similar to an iBook, it's completely different. Think of it analogous with the difference between the B&W G3 to the G4, they may appear similar...

So again - opinion is yours, however, due to the inaccuracy of the facts you based it on, you sound like a stereotypical PC columnist writing about Macs.

 

[codemother]

the 12 inch powerbook is anodized so it can still be scratched or chipped - its just less likely to happen than it was with the ti book

 

[littlejim]

My machine is pleasantly walm after a couple of hours running on batteries doing nothing too intense.

On mains, it starts to get walmer, but never too hot to have on my lap.

It did start to get hot after some pretty intense backing up to CD.

I would like it to be a bit cooler only because I can be using it 50+ hours a week on mains, but I've never been worried - now, if someone could produce a stand with a very quiet fan incorperated ....

Having said all that - I've been using it for two-three weeks and I wouldn't swap it for any other computer on earth, it is a stunning machine.

 

[Datazoid]

What I find even more interesting about the "spray paint" comment is that, while the 12" Aluminum Powerbook is definitely not painted, it is equally well known that the 15" Powerbook IS. Thus, the need for TiPaint.