Should I Ventilate My ibook?

[Invizzible]

My 12" G3 900 Mhz ibook is just over 3 years old, and yesterday for the third time in 3 years the motherboard died. Fortunately, Apple is gonna swap out the board for free even though the warranty expired 2 weeks ago (I think partially why they're doing this is the current motherboard only lasted 5 months and 1 week). I'm starting to wonder if maybe the small form factor and design of the 12" ibook prevents it from cooling efficiently enough to allow the motherboard to survive. Then I thought, if that's the case, maybe I should drill some more holes in the case to get more air moving through it. I have two reservations though:

1) If I do this, and then the new motherboard dies within its 90 day warranty, they might not fix it for free. [I could wait until after the 90 days, but by that time heat may have already shortened the life of the new motherboard]

2) If I put additional holes in the case, I might damage some cables or hardware that lie directly on the other side of the case, where my new hole pokes through.

So, I'm wondering if any tech savvy ibook owners around here have done anything like this? Does anyone know where the safe areas might be to add holes? Does anyone think this is a good idea? If the next motherboard only lasts 5 months, I can't imagine Apple would replace it for free again, since then it would be 6 months past the ibook's 3 year warranty.

I suppose, since this ibook is mostly used as a desktop machine, an alternative would be to add a tiny external fan. Does anyone know of any other cooling options for a primarily stationary ibook?

 

[Xander562]

you could try a laptop cooler, something like this:

the only downside is it takes up a USB port.

 

[CoMpX]

I would use something like what Xander562 suggested. Drilling holes into your iBook would almost definitely ruin internal components. Also, motherboards aren't supposed to die so often just from the normal heat inside the case. They are designed to run in an iBook with the ventilation it already has, so drilling holes won't help it. The logic boards are dieing from other causes.

 

[katie ta achoo]

isn't three repairs the cutoff for lemons, and it should get replaced, or does that not apply to the G3 logic board fun of the iBook?

 

[dextertangocci]

My 1.33Ghz G4 iBook NEVER got hot, even if I used it on a bed etc, it was as cool as ever

 

[Invizzible]

The laptop cooler seems like a better way to go, and it looks like they're pretty inexpensive.

I'm not sure what the cutoff for lemons is, but I'd be amazed if Apple decides to replace a 3 year old ibook with a new computer. Man, would I ever be raving about Apple if they sent me a refurbed G4 ibook as a replacement, or a Macbook!

I wonder if the reason the G4 ibooks don't get hot is because they're underclocked so much that the processors in them never get even close to being stressed. That's just a guess - I don't know for sure that they're underclocked. Anyway, my G3 ibook definately gets quite warm when doing processor intensive stuff.

A guy I work with told me his Sony laptop has a really smart yet simple ventilation thing where it allows you to fold down a plastic door to expose additional air vents. Seems like my ibook has very few vents, and that fact combined with my motherboard luck is what has me questioning the ventilation design of this particular laptop.

 

[FullmetalZ26]

A guy I work with told me his Sony laptop has a really smart yet simple ventilation thing where it allows you to fold down a plastic door to expose additional air vents.

Makes me wonder why such a device would be designed with 'optional' cooling.

 

[Maxiseller]

I think the above laptop cooler is an excellent idea - as somebody said, don't drill holes in your iBook!!

The reason Apple replaced your board again is because they still feel responsible for it. I think, should it die again you may still qualify for a solution - a computer is meant to be reliable way after the warranty expires...and we all know how kind and giving massive corporations are !

By the way, I used to use my iBook playing C&C generals on my bed! It sure got warm, but no harm was caused!

 

[After G]

Laptop cooler recommended. I use an iBreeze, nearly invisible when on a desk.