How hot is too hot for a Tibook?

[TheWitePony]

I just got a Tibook a few weeks ago and I was wondering about the heat that it generates. It doesn't actually get that hot that often, just when I am doing something really CPU intensive. Like when I first got it I ripped my CD collection on it and it got pretty hot then. But then again I was ripping CD after CD for a couple hours while i was surfin and email and playin around with it. And today I was playin Warcraft for a while and it got a little toasty. I guess my question is, can it ever get too hot, like enough to damage it? The manual says thats its normal for it to get warm during operation, but I was wondering if there is a limit to this. Like a max time of CPU intenive work after which would be a good idea to either let the 'book rest or shut it down? The heat itself doesn't bother me, I just wanna get the max life outta this laptop withouut any issues due to heat damage.

Oh, and a question about the fans. I was just curious about their configuration. How many are there? There is one on the right I believe which seems to come on most of the time casue I can feel air blowing on the right side. But I never feel anything on the left. So is it designed to take in air on the left and pass out on the right?

 

[MoparShaha]

I don't have a PowerBook, but from friends and from what I've read here on the forums, they do get quite hot. Don't worry about damage, if it gets to the point its so hot something is gonna fry, the computer will go into sleep mode automatically, all modern macs do this as a safety precaution.

The best advice is to make sure the bottom of the PB gets adequate ventalation, don't leave it on the bed or carpet, its best to have it sitting on a flat surface, or something that raises it up, but doesn't contact the entire bottom of the PB, so air can flow around the bottom.

 

[cb911]

i wouldn't worry about it getting too hot. when i had my TiBook (667 DVI model) it got fairly hot. like when i would play WarCraft III for about 45 minutes then it would get the hottest i've ever felt it. but it's within normal operating ranges, so i don't think it's anything to worry about.

the only time i was worried about heat was when i was playing WC III in summer one time. it was about 32 degrees celcius here (close to the max recommended operating temp.) and that combined with the heat coming from inside the TiBook was enough to make me give it a break for a while.

don't the PowerBooks have something built in to shut them down when they get too hot? anyway, it's probably best that no one finds out.

 

[Schiffi]

I believe you should give it a 15min rest every 1hr of CPU intensive cycles. In fact, this is what consols recommend as well.

 

[daveL]

Originally posted by Schiffi
I believe you should give it a 15min rest every 1hr of CPU intensive cycles. In fact, this is what consols recommend as well.

Well, that would make the machine useless, wouldn't it. That's like Ford saying you have to pull over and turn your car off for 15 minutes every hour when driving 75 mph on the highway. I can just see it now: My client comes to me and says "where's that report I asked you for an hour ago?", "Oh, well ah, I reached my 45 minute quota on my PB, so I had to shut it down. I'll have the report to you in another 15 minutes." Give me a break.

There's no problem, in my experience. I've had a 1GHz/1GB TiBook for 9 months, and I've used it heavily with room temps of 75 - 80 degrees F. Folding and burning CDs and Web, no problem. I don't do anything special. Obviously, you don't want to block the air vents.

 

[Rezet]

I dont want to repeat myself again, but if you are doing an intensive work here is what I recommend.

1. Keep it on the flat surface.
2. Do NOT leave it exposed to sun light.
3. I'd recommend using it in a room/place where there is a nice air flow.
4. Laptop gets hot not only because of a processor but everything else you use. DVD-roms, hdds, video cards. That is the heat you are feeling. It's quite normal. If it ever gets so hot that you will not be able to keep it on your "lap" because of heat, then you might want to start asking questions on how to fix it.
I've seen one broken pbook 500 i believe, with a broken fan, if you put it on the lap, it will be almost like putting a bucket of boiling water. Yet the computer didn't think it was hot enough to shut the system down (sleep).

So I say you don't worry about it.

The biggest downsides of this whole heating thing is not that it will break Pbook, but rather that fans make noise and use alot of battery power.

Here is what I recommend to BUY if you want your powerbook to run cooler:

1. Ventilated stand. - http://www.macmice.com/ibreeze.html
(Maybe not this one, but something like this. See other sites like www.macmall.com)
2. Buy this little program. http://www.mkd.cc/sox/
(From what I heard from many people, this baby gets the job done at speeding the system up and keeping it cooler. In fact I just saw some guy post in this forum on how good this thing is.)



Well, Cheers!

 

[daveL]

Rezet:

A bit off topic, but I tried that 'sox' program, and I didn't think it was worth it. The "optimizing" that it does is the same thing the Mac software installation process does. I guess if you have a bunch of third party software that doesn't do this step when they install, there might be some benefit, but I haven't noticed many installations that skip this. The "window compression" might benfit a system with limited memory and a lot of minimized windows, but you are actually doing more processing, not less, with this feature. Anyway, on my 1GHz/1GB PB, I don't really notice any difference.

Someone, I'm sure, will correct me, if I'm wrong. I've had the impression, with nothing to back it up, that the "optimizing" step that 'sox' does might have been an issue on early releases of OS X, but not in recent (Jag) releases. Can someone in the know comment?