12" PowerBook Heat Issues

welshdog

Wifey and I are planning to buy a Powerbooklet, Neither of us have had a laptop before. I have seen a couple of comments on forums that mention the 12" gets pretty hot on the left upper side. I'd like to hear from some of you new owners about the heat and any other good stuff too.



Thanks!

kcmac

Look around this forum, at macnn and ars technica for many threads that have touched on the subject. Opinions seem to be all over the map. If I were you, I would go see one for yourself and try it out.



The one I played with felt the same or a little warmer than my iBook. Since you have never had a laptop before, you really have nothing to compare it to.



Good luck. (BTW, if you don't have the budget for it yet, this personal visit could be devastating to your wallet. It may be hard to hold back.)



[ 01-29-2003: Message edited by: kcmac ]</p>

overhope

Laptops get hot, fact of life.



At work I use this Compaq thing that you can damn near fry an egg on after half and hour (I know there's a fan in there somewhere, but what purpose it serves exactly, I have no idea...), so I deploy a bit of survival instinct and don't rest it near any vital parts of my anatomy.



I don't think any machine's going to get to the point of setting fire to anything. Well, I hope not!

daeargiman

[quote]Originally posted by kcmac:

<strong>Good luck. (BTW, if you don't have the budget for it yet, this personal visit could be devastating to your wallet. It may be hard to hold back.)

</strong><hr></blockquote>



I actually tried to do that at Compusa. I was prepared to walk out of there with one for my wife's birthday (yes, I give great gifts). My store has them in stock, but had no current plans to put them on display. It seems I could buy one sight unseen no problem. Now, I was not speaking with the store's Apple rep so maybe I was just getting B.S. I'll try again in a couple of days.



I'm sure there will be one put out there eventually, but supplies are tight since it is so new. I've checked out the 12" iBook for comparison and it seems just fine, but for $1800 I really MUST see and touch the thing before I buy it. I'm just funny that way.



Hell, I'm just funny.

scott

I checked out a footlong at one of the Apple stores. It seemed okay to me.

neutrino23

Laptops do tend to get warm after long periods of use. At home if the heat bothers you you can get an external keyboard and mouse (and maybe a display). Then you will never experience the heat.



While travelling you usually don't use the laptop for extended periods so it is less of a problem.

splinemodel

I have a 15" 1Ghz, and I just came from a series of pitfull losses in warcraft 3. (supports 1280x854. . .super cool) It wasn't too hot during or after the matches.



The room I have the PB in is heated by a hyperactive steamed heating system, and I have the back part riding on bottlecaps. A more classy approach is to get a "coolpad" or something of that nature.

macsrgood4u

I have a lil' old iBook (white 700mhz) and when home I attach a keyboard and mouse and have the iBook on a Cool Pad. (When you buy the Cool Pad you get a large one for home use and a small one for traveling). When on a trip, I always get frustrated when typing because the keys are a littlecloser.

torifile

The mini does tend to get hot, particularly around the left palmrest because that's where the HD is. For comparison, I've had the ibook 500, and a rev. b ti (one of the hotter ti's). The heat coming off this one is greater than the ibook, but not as bad as the ti. The bottom tends to be much cooler than the ti and about the same as the ibook. Is it too hot to keep on your lap for extended periods of time? No it's not. It's pretty bearable, actually. The heat, while not a great thing to have to deal with, is completely bearable. I wouldn't worry too much about it.