Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MBP-safe to use in the car?

mikes70mustang

mikes70mustang

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 14, 2008
1,591
0
US
I know that alot of people use their macs in cars. But ive been searching around and as usual, cant find straight froward answer. I assume its safe to use. But its not recommended to pick up and move while on, so how is it safe to use in a car thats constantly moving? Please direct me to another thread if this has been posted before.
 
Depends. Are you the driver or a passenger?
Driver: Definitely NOT safe!
Passenger: As long as the MBP doesn't get banged around on a rough road, no problem. It would be a bad time to have a glossy screen, though!
 
i just figured the SMS would mess up and do bad things. And no, not driving, thatd be illegal. Id be using my dads HTC sprint for internet, prob DVD. But on the other hand, il prob just use my old Dell inspiron 6000. Long as its booted up by the time i get to my destination. Im not going on a trip soon, i would just like to know for the future.
 
My ex used her MPB in the car for hours at a time (with a verizon express card) and never had any problems.

I used to dream of running the car into something hard enough to trigger the airbag on her side just to watch the mac bounce off her head -- but, like I said, she's my ex.
 
No problem in cars.

I often take PDF of directions, and screenshots of maps if I am traveling.
 
I'd say it's all right. I used mine (Late 2008) in the car going back to college watching movies off my HD. I had some problems with the SMS protecting my HD when we would hit a rough patch and it would mess up the movie. That's about it.
 
I don't think there will be any problem, you just might want an SSD. When I watch movies in the car, they kinda freeze on bumps and stuff because the HDD pauses to not cause any damage, and as far as I'm aware, SSDs don't have this problem.
 
Patriks7 said:
I don't think there will be any problem, you just might want an SSD. When I watch movies in the car, they kinda freeze on bumps and stuff because the HDD pauses to not cause any damage, and as far as I'm aware, SSDs don't have this problem.
Click to expand...

If you're going to be hitting the HDD constantly, a SSD would be nice, but they are expensive. You could play media off of a flash device or such.
 
also make sure you have a good power source if you are using it plugged. you don't want to have lethal a surge into you $1,500+ laptop
 
driving with glossy

My wife just used my 17 UMBP for a 5 hour trip in the day with the glossy screen and her comments afterward were "I am in love with your computer, I want it!" Dangerous words! I have found that the glossy does better than my previous 17 mbp with matte display, maybe it's the LED, don't know, but it was a pleasure to work with in the car.
 
Repo said:
If you're going to be hitting the HDD constantly, a SSD would be nice, but they are expensive. You could play media off of a flash device or such.
Click to expand...

Dude, id love to have an SSD. But id have no less hd space than what i have now. Id really like a 500gb ssd, but who knows when a reliable one of those will come out
 
I've always been concerned about airbag deployments with a laptop screen open (bye bye hands). Might be an unreasonable fear...who knows.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back