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bcaslis · Sep 18, 2003, 07:04 PM

I picked up a new 15" today. After a few hours of updating installs and copying files from my 17" as a firewire drive, it is very hot. The 17" had the fan on for a long time, I'd didn't get any fan on the 15" that I could hear.

One thing to note, the 15" had power management setting at default of automatic. I changed these to highest performance like my 17" and my previous powerbooks.

This thing right is noticably hotter than my 17" or my previous 1GHz Tibook. Hotest areas are the top at the edges near the display and the bottom edges near the display.

If this thing is this hot all the time, it's going back. Has anyone heard the fan on the 15"? I haven't heard it at all. I wonder if there's a problem on this or if they are all like this. The palmrests are not hot, but they are much much warmer than I ever saw on the 17".

MacsGalor · Sep 18, 2003, 07:09 PM

I have a new 15" and have used it a lot in the last two days. I have not had any heat problems in fact it has been running rather cool. I had a 12" and that ran a lot warmer than this 15". There may be a problem with your machine, but I don't seen one with the design. You should have it looked at they may find somthing wrong.

bcaslis · Sep 18, 2003, 07:28 PM

MacsGalor,

What is your energy settings set to? This is the first PowerBook I've gotten where the default was set to automatic. I'm wondering if there is a heat build up problem when the setting is changed to highest performance (which my previous 17" and Tibook had as their defaults).

Originally posted by MacsGalor:
I have a new 15" and have used it a lot in the last two days. I have not had any heat problems in fact it has been running rather cool. I had a 12" and that ran a lot warmer than this 15". There may be a problem with your machine, but I don't seen one with the design. You should have it looked at they may find somthing wrong.

MacsGalor · Sep 18, 2003, 07:58 PM

I have a custom setting here it is;
sleep when inactive for one notch under 15 min don't serparate display sleep, put hard disk to sleep when possible then under the options tab I only have wake for admin access checked processor Performance - Highest. if you open the energy save pref this will make sense. Hope it helps.

whatevrnvrmind · Sep 21, 2003, 06:02 PM

I have the new 1.25 GHz and the bottom section, toward the back (near the hinge) is extremely hot and I even have it resting on a cool pad. It comes close to unbearable against bare skin. The thing that concerns me is that I use my PowerBook with the lid closed a lot and I'm afraid the heat will damage the display. Should I be concerned? I have not heard the fan go on once since I've had the machine.

osxisfun · Sep 21, 2003, 06:10 PM

for what it sis worth i just watched the stevenote.

on one of his slides he mentioned that the 12 and 15 (and17?) inch new PBs can work in close lid mode.

whatevrnvrmind · Sep 21, 2003, 09:56 PM

Yeah, I know they *do* run in closed lid mode, but my question is whether or not I should be worried about the intense heat doing anything to the PowerBook display.

osxisfun · Sep 21, 2003, 10:20 PM

considering steve put it on a slide....

mainemanx · Sep 21, 2003, 10:32 PM

The 15" Al I saw at Cambridgeside, Galleria Mall, Cambridge, Mass had been running for 4 or 5 hours on a flat, formica table and the leftside underneath was about as hot as my 500mhz, 10gb two year old iBook.

Warm, but certainly "bearable" ... however, maybe if you compute totally nekkid ... I dunno, maybe it wouldn't be "bareable" ...

whatevrnvrmind · Sep 21, 2003, 11:00 PM

with the lid closed, the PowerBook is noticiably hotter on the underside. When I open the PowerBook to reveal the display, the surface of the display is hot. I have to think it could damage the display, but I guess that's what AppleCare is for...

And just because Steve jobs said it could run in clamshell mode, doesn't make it gospel. And it's not as easy as just plugging everything in and starting the computer.

I'll make sure to at least wear pants when I have the computer on my lap. Thanks for the tip!

Sean Li · Sep 22, 2003, 08:38 AM

Mine's gotten warm, but not hot. And I have heard the fan come on; it's a different sound than the 17" - it doesn't pulse like the 17" - but it's definitely audible when it's on.

It definitely runs warmer than the 17", but then again I have not compared it with the new 17" 1.33, only the 1st gen 1GHz.