Powerbook Heats?

mac_morpheus2002mac_morpheus2002
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I'm thinking about a powerbook soon and am wondering how it's colling system is. Do any of you leave your powerbooks on 24/7? Can it withstand that kind of time (my G$ desktop is on 3 days nonstop then a day rest, then again), I want to do that with my powerbook too.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    It depends on what surface the powerbook is on. If it is on a desk, which allows air to circulate under it, it will be fine 24/7. If it is in your lap, it may get warm and uncomfortable, but the laptop will still be fine. On a bed, well, try not to use it more that 1-2 hours. The only time my powerbook used it's fan was when it froze going into sleep when I shut it. I stuck it in my backpack, and 10 min. later, pulled it out for my next class, and it was HOT. I immediately forced a restart and booted into target disk mode and it's OK. (I always check now.)



    Oh, and I leave it on all night all the time for disk utilities, virus scans, and indexing.



    [ 06-23-2002: Message edited by: Ebby ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 3
    allenchristopherallenchristopher Posts: 135member
    The TiBooks have had a rather aggressive speed ramp-up relative to chip heat improvements. Apple is letting them get hotter than most laptops because Motorola still isn't pulling its weight in chip research. The TiBooks count on the titanium shell to conduct heat away that plastic-shelled PCs insulate, and the titanium does help to certain extent.



    Unfortunately, that conduction tends to cook one's lap, and on a wooden or plastic desk the TiBook runs hotter than it should. One can't see the damage that's being done because it doesn't get hot enough for the CPU to start malfunctioning, but the capacitors on the motherboard, particularly in the power-supply, have a lifetime that is inversely proportional to operating temperature. The capacitors slowly deform, and eventually they pop.



    Apple's first batch of AirPort hubs ran hot and had cheap capacitors, so for no externally apparent reason they would stop working after 13 months and just make a hissing sound. You don't want to do that to your laptop.



    Since the TiBook's are so hot, special stands have been designed. They're lightweight, inexpensive, and provide a wedge of ventilation by either tilting the laptop towards the user slightly or by lifting the notebook upwards parallel to the work-surface, depending on the model. You can get them at Apple retailers but you can compare more varieties in the ads towards the back of MacWorld.



    Edit: Incorrect apostrophe.



    [ 06-23-2002: Message edited by: AllenChristopher ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 3
    thentrothentro Posts: 231member
    [quote]Originally posted by mac_morpheus2002:

    <strong> (my G$ desktop is on 3 days nonstop then a day rest, then again)</strong><hr></blockquote>

    My G4 desktop runs all the time. It does not need "rest".
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