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My hands are burning off on the powerbook keyboard

C

Caddy

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 13, 2003
63
0
Chicago
I feel like my palms are on a low temp oven! It is to the point where I have to remove them every couple of minutes to keep them from burning. What is up with this. I may have to sell this computer from this problem alone. I am writing my thesis on here and this is not going well. Is there any way to turn down the temperature :mad:
 
First you need to mention your model because my 15" gigbook is fine and heat is not an issue.
 
The laptop looses heat through the case, into the air and by conducting heat into whatever surface it touches (the table, your hands!). If it gets too hot, then the fan comes on.

How do you use it? If you rest it on a soft or wooden surface the heat won't get conducted away. Resting it on a metal tray or work surface could help.

You might want to try something like this if that doesn't work:

http://www.coolerexpress.com/heattecnotco.html
 
come on kid red, read her sig, its there ;)
as for problems...that IS NOT normal, take it back in to the store and ahve them check it out.

my TiBook started getting really hot one day (though not in the same area as yours - different design) and it did worry me. Turns out that the heat sink was no longer attached to the processor. In the TiBook at least (and i think most laptops) they use a type of paste to keep the heat sink in contact with whatever they are trying to disipate heat from. When my heat sink seperated, my computer started to get REALLY hot...almost untouchable at certain parts.

so, i say take it in and have them check the heat sink...if its not that, im sure they would have other ideas.
 
Try a podium pad or icurve too, and an external keyboard. I know it gets hot but i have never had the keyboard get very hot, just the bottom. I have a podium pad from the apple store and it works great.
 
The 12 inch IS hot though - most of the reviews mention this.

According to one review I read, the heat isn't actually from the processor and chips, the heat under your hands is from the hard drive.

Maybe setting the thing up to make the drive sleep more quickly might help. If it is seriously hot though then I agree - contact Apple.
 
well when she said she cant keep her hands on it for more than a few minutes...to me, that goes past running warm, and being an actual problem with the computer. I guess we need to know if she just finds it WARM and not comfortable or if it is seriously HOT and she cant keep her hands on it for long periods.

SOO, objectively Caddy, is it just warm or is it really HOT??
 
I have a 12PB and I'm fine with the heat it can produce (and I max 'ol Frodo out a lot).

This is a legitimate complaint.

Caddy, I do recomend you take the 12PB's temperature. Mine get's no hotter that 113 degrees farenheight. If yours exceeds this, it just might be a heatsink issue. But, if your book is the 'normal' 90-115 degrees, you will have to rely on another solution, iCurve w/ external keyboard, etc.

Just understand that Aluminum is an excellent heat conductor, that's one reason why Apple went with the material.

Side note: Chicago huh? Where abouts? Check out MeetUp.com (link below), I'd like to see you there.
 
As for being a wimp, NOT, my heat tolerance is quite high and fwiw, I found the heat on my DELL to be quite nice, this, however, is what my iron feels like on the lowest setting, thank you very much.

I am sure it is a problem with the fan since this hasn't gone on since we installed Airport Extreme.
 
Back to the point, I use word processing for hours on end, so this is an important issue. Secondly, it defies logic to tell me that I am dreaming or something when I have to "lift" my palms off the keyboard every few minutes.
 
Originally posted by Caddy
As for being a wimp, NOT, my heat tolerance is quite high and fwiw, I found the heat on my DELL to be quite nice, this, however, is what my iron feels like on the lowest setting, thank you very much.

I am sure it is a problem with the fan since this hasn't gone on since we installed Airport Extreme.
Click to expand...

Then there must be soemthing wrong with the machine. I've never heard my fan either (also using airport extreme) and it's warm but quite tolerable. If you're honestly at "iron" level, that has to be an machine problem.

But if I regualrly rested my wrists on an iron, my first stop would be the hospital, not macumors.com. Just a personal choice...:cool:
 
If you want to discuss politics, do so in the Political/War Discussion Forum. Off-topic posts and personal attacks will be edited/deleted.

ethan, this is you first and only warning to tone it down.
 
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