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Leaving PowerBook in a hot or cold car

florencevassy

florencevassy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 1, 2004
204
0
Princeton, NJ
I have never taken my PowerBook out of the house but I think that the time has come for her to venture outside. I will need to work on it at a friends house and take it to a few places.

I plan to buy a good case from mac-case.com (since I like my mac-case sleeve so much)

Not sure if this is a silly question or not but - if I need to leave my PowerBook in the car (it will be in the sleeve + the case) or trunk for a few hours while shopping or driving, if it gets very hot or cold outside can that damage it? What if gets jostled a little bit during the car ride?

I am a bit nervous because I use my PowerBook as my main computer.

All opinions are very much appreciated! Thanks.
 
florencevassy said:
Not sure if this is a silly question or not but - if I need to leave my PowerBook in the car (it will be in the sleeve + the case) or trunk for a few hours while shopping or driving, if it gets very hot or cold outside can that damage it? What if gets jostled a little bit during the car ride?
Click to expand...

So long as it's not on, it will be fine in the car during the ride. Asleep is fine.

As far as leaving it in the car goes, so long as you're happy it won't be broken into, you should be OK. One thing to bear in mind though - batteries aren't too keen on high temperatures. There's a page on the Apple support site that says that if your battery is left at 35C (95F) for very long, it can permanently damage the battery. It can apparently recover from being left in the cold for a while.
 
Mine was on my backseat in a sleeve and a timbuk2 commute bag. It was good. But since it was a road trip it was in my car while driving so it was never too hot. Plus it was spring time up north and all. Anyway point is, it will withstand the travel, but I would not leave it in a trunk while it is too hot. For 30 minutes maybe, but nothing more. It's light enough to bring in the store with you and it's common to see men with messenger bags these days so I would do it over risking the heat. I think the cold would be fine. But then again I don't know if I paid attention to your location.
 
If you get a good bag like something by Brenthaven that has really good padding and a seperate space designed just for your PB, then you don' tneed to worry about it sliding around some in your car.

Any big temperature changes are not good for a computer. You shouldn't leave it in a car when its hot or cold for a very long time at all. It won't kill your PB doing it once or twice, but its just not good for it in general.
 
I take my PB everywhere with me....and them being as light as they are (mine is a 12 incher, but the 15 is that much heavier either...) I carry it with me wherever...too uncomfortable with the thoughts of break-ins, temperatures, etc....someone else can try that out...I would not want to try it!!! Its too precious!!!!heh heh...
 
I also thought about this topic. Even though I use my Dell PC for my work (a company-issue), I take my 12" PB when I travel on business. I have to leave my bag in my car while visiting the customers. Usually, the car is parked under the sun (no shade). I can get out of the meeting in an hour usually; but sometimes it gets too hot in the car during the heat wave. It seems my PB's exterior did not get hot because it is insulated in Brenthaven bag. Also, I put on the window shades on the back windows and rear window of the car.

For a peace of mind, I am thinking of getting a cheaper notebook (like 12" iBook) for travel usage. I am too OCD with my PBs.
 
All electonics list the minimum and maximum storage temperatures they can withstand.

http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html

Storage temperature: -13° to 113° F (-25° to 45° C)

Since most cars get to well over 120 degrees in the summer, it might not be a good idea to leave it in the car.


Sidenote: It's interesing that you aren't supposed to operate the Powerbook in over 95 degree temps or over 10,000 feet.
 
since this thread covers the temperature........

I hope there is an actual example a PB goes through the severe climate conditions to show its durability. I recall I read a story that a mountain climber reached the top of the Everest and he brough his IBM Thinkpad with him. Even though its battery life was weaked by sub zero temperatrue at the top of the Everest, he was still able to use his Thinkpad.

Does anyone know about this type of life story for Apple PBs?
 
YS2003 said:
I hope there is an actual example a PB goes through the severe climate conditions to show its durability. I recall I read a story that a mountain climber reached the top of the Everest and he brough his IBM Thinkpad with him. Even though its battery life was weaked by sub zero temperatrue at the top of the Everest, he was still able to use his Thinkpad.

Does anyone know about this type of life story for Apple PBs?
Click to expand...


That would be a great idea for a new promotion for Apple.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!
 
Just Thinking...

I was just thinking about this same question the other day. I left my iBook G4 12incher in my car - here in Texas - for about 2 days. It was stupid, I know. But... it is perfectly fine and my battery has shown no damage.

I am a lucky one for sure!

Curtis
 
I think Macworld did a test like that on the iBoook clameshell, they put it in the frezzer and then beat it, dropped it and all that good stuff. They broke the screen by throwing like a frisbee but the computer still booted up!
 
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