I guess what i meant here is. Does it get hot enough to be problematic. Or do you make you wish you didnt buy it? Or to make you want to buy the ibook over the powerbook? 
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The real deal on the Aluminum PB and heat
- Thread starter CaptainCaveMann
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CaptainCaveMann said:I guess what i meant here is. Does it get hot enough to be problematic. Or do you make you wish you didnt buy it? Or to make you want to buy the ibook over the powerbook?
Not unless you plan on doing lots of heavy CPU work while wearing shorts and keeping the PB on your lap.
The thing that would make me get an iBook over a PB is the battery life. I was amazed when playing with Mum's over Christmas - I'd never seen 6 hours beside a battery icon before!
Whats the specs on the powerbook you have and your mums ibook? Do you notice a difference in the two as far as heat? How about the overall speed do you notice a diff?Applespider said:Not unless you plan on doing lots of heavy CPU work while wearing shorts and keeping the PB on your lap.
The thing that would make me get an iBook over a PB is the battery life. I was amazed when playing with Mum's over Christmas - I'd never seen 6 hours beside a battery icon before!
Heat Issues
I use the latest PB 15", and I find for watching DVD's and doing photoshop, encoding and Video stuff the far left hand corner can get extremely hot. I have scolded myself one too many times picking it up from my desk to my printer, and now do the above while running a small fan behind the screen when doing processor intensive work.
I use the latest PB 15", and I find for watching DVD's and doing photoshop, encoding and Video stuff the far left hand corner can get extremely hot. I have scolded myself one too many times picking it up from my desk to my printer, and now do the above while running a small fan behind the screen when doing processor intensive work.
CaptainCaveMann said:
I have a 1.25 G4 PB and Mum has a 1 Ghz G4 iBook. My PB only gets hot when I've got large files open in Photoshop/Dreamweaver or if I'm playing a game that uses lots of processor power. I only surfed the web with Mum's iBook so can't really judge what the difference in heat might be.
There was a huge difference in speed although that's probably more to do with the fact I have 1.25GB of RAM and she only has 256MB than anything else - and the delay was in opening apps for the most part, not while running them.
Can you go to a shop and open up some large files in each to see what your impression of the heat is?
I have the 1.5GHz 15.2" Al PB, it gets warm from time to time, but never to the point were I can't have it on my lap. The only heat issue that I am aware of was with some of the Rev A 12" PB's. The current generation get warm but nothing to worry about.
One additional bit of health warning news that came up recently for all you young studs out there. Balancing it on the lap increases the temperature of the scrotum which is known to have a negative effect on sperm production, researchers found.
Here is link to BBC article - You have been warned!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4078895.stm
Here is link to BBC article - You have been warned!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4078895.stm
I had a PB 15" 1.25 GHz
I had a PB 15" 1.25 GHz which used to get really hot. On September 16 this year, the battery exploded, and my PB started burning. The hole house could have burn down, but thanks to my dad, we got away with some smal damages to the desk the PB was sitting on. Apple gave me a new PB 1.5 GHz, but it took them three and a half month for them to sort out the isue and send me a new one. I've benn using mac since 1989, and I really like it, but can't really say I'm impressed on how they handled this, and how long it took them to ship me a new PB.
I had a PB 15" 1.25 GHz which used to get really hot. On September 16 this year, the battery exploded, and my PB started burning. The hole house could have burn down, but thanks to my dad, we got away with some smal damages to the desk the PB was sitting on. Apple gave me a new PB 1.5 GHz, but it took them three and a half month for them to sort out the isue and send me a new one. I've benn using mac since 1989, and I really like it, but can't really say I'm impressed on how they handled this, and how long it took them to ship me a new PB.
minde said:
Some of the batteries on the 1.25 GHz Powerbooks had a fault on them, which prompted Apple to issue a recall notice on them. Sorry to hear that you were so unlucky Minde. Thank god no one was hurt.
Link to recall notice https://depot.info.apple.com/batteryexchange/index.html
My Powerbook is a hottie!
Well, my 12" Powerbook (1.33 Ghz, Superdrive, Rev. C) isn't really a hottie, but it gets pretty hot after some use (30 minutes, just surfing). A friend of mine and I got the same PBs on the same day (except for mine having the superdrive) and we notice a difference in the computers all the time. Mine usually turns the fan on sooner than his. It also runs hot when doing nothing - just sitting there with maybe only Safari and Mail running.
I'm kind of bummed out by that, because I really find the Boing 747 sound it makes when cooling annoying.
(B.t.w.: It seems like it is aware of what I'm writing right now, because it doesn't have the fan on. Mhhhhhm. . . . . )
Well, my 12" Powerbook (1.33 Ghz, Superdrive, Rev. C) isn't really a hottie, but it gets pretty hot after some use (30 minutes, just surfing). A friend of mine and I got the same PBs on the same day (except for mine having the superdrive) and we notice a difference in the computers all the time. Mine usually turns the fan on sooner than his. It also runs hot when doing nothing - just sitting there with maybe only Safari and Mail running.
I'm kind of bummed out by that, because I really find the Boing 747 sound it makes when cooling annoying.
(B.t.w.: It seems like it is aware of what I'm writing right now, because it doesn't have the fan on. Mhhhhhm. . . . . )
KevRC4130 said:I often use my PB w/ wireless internet instead of "bathroom literature", and it never feels uncomfortable on my bare legs....
Thats awesome. I do the same and people think im nuts. but anyways. Yea, mine gets warm, but like someone else said. It is designed for the heat to be dissipated through the casing. I'm actually pretty thankful, especially when my dad opens up his gateway laptop and that fan kicks on loud before the thing even fires up (it almost seems like pc fans kick on for no reason other than just to be on) and mine has been running silently the entire time. I think I've heard my fan once, but I don't remember.
I've got a 12" PB (1.33ghz). Only times it gets uncomfortably hot is when I'm watching videos on it, Folding (will never try that again...bad idea on a notebook), or when iMovie/FCE is encoding something.
So what you guys are telling me is that the powerbook gets hot because its designed so that the aluminum absorbs all the heat? So in fact the outside powerbook may be hot to the touch but because its absorbing the heat it keeps the inside cooler???jmsait19 said:
So are you saying that how you have your cpu set up as can dramaticly affect the heat you feel produced outside of the powerbook on the case?cluthz said:
mactropy said:
You could put the Activity Monitor in your dock and set the dock icon to show CPU processor usage. Some websites have so much flash that it keeps the processor usage high. Its a good idea to quit applications you're not using especially in battery mode.
CaptainCaveMann said:So what you guys are telling me is that the powerbook gets hot because its designed so that the aluminum absorbs all the heat? So in fact the outside powerbook may be hot to the touch but because its absorbing the heat it keeps the inside cooler???
I am sure that is a part in why they made it aluminum .. it certainly helps on keeping it cooler and reduce the use of the fans ..
It is a good design strategy from Apple as long as the limits of what feels enjoyable aren't crossed .. and sometimes the palmrests do get too warm .. I think this is an issue that should be addressed ..
James Craner said:
Yeah I read about that at theregister.co.uk a few weeks back. Apparently the PowerBooks have the added feature of acting as a birth control device (well for males only). That really is a great hidden easter egg that those crafty Apple engineers put into the product. A subtle parlay into the heated contraception issue. Bravo Apple, Bravo. Now I can save all those pennies I was going to waste on connies on my smack habit.
So if you factor this news into the price of the PowerBook, it really does add up to a spectacular value. I own a 12" PB myself, it is almost a year old now, wow it is a neat computer. Much better than Micron/Toshiba/Sony/Dell laptops I have used in my day...
JaromSki
Wow male birth control and a computer in one? Gives whole new meaning to the term all-in-one. On a more serious note, heres my question for all of you. Is the heat in the powerbook a good enough reason for you guys to go back and say you shouldnt have bought it? Is it a big enough issue for one to not buy it?jaromski said:
cluthz said:
Well, I actually received similar advice to what you were saying in another thread. My PB won't go to sleep and fiddling with the settings (restoring everything back to the original Energy Saver settings) didn't help.
Do I need a clean install?
