[Doug78]

Anyone have the 1.33 GHz 12" Powerbook running with an external monitor (Studio Display possibly??)?? Just curious how much the fan comes on with regular use. I used to have the 1GHz model and the fan came on quite a bit while connected to the monitor.

[mcsharick]

Originally posted by Doug78:
Anyone have the 1.33 GHz 12" Powerbook running with an external monitor (Studio Display possibly??)?? Just curious how much the fan comes on with regular use.

I am the proud owner of a 3 month old 12" PB Rev C. 1.33Ghz and a 2 day old 20" Apple Cinema Display. And I've been running the PB in "clamshell" mode (i.e. display exported and lid shut) and the fan runs near constantly. I have it elevated on a stand, WiFi and Bluetooth turned off. I listen to my music w/ my iPod in its dock and the audio out to my bookshelf stereo, which conserves precious CPU power for other apps. I am going miniDVI to DVI from the PB to the ACD, and using the ACD as the USB/Firewire hub. So, I'm afraid there's no getting around it (whatever my little two day test is worth to you), expect your fan to run frequently with this setup. However, it doesn't bother me, and on the Rev C. the fan is very quiet, not silent but quiet.

When I use my PB solo, the fan rarely comes on! And I'm using Photoshop, Reason, Logic, Illustrator, etc...

[Commodus]

mcsharick:

Keep in mind that closing the lid of the PowerBook means that heat can't escape properly through the top of the main body, so that increases the likelihood of the fan kicking in. That's not to say that it wouldn't come on anyways, it might just not spin up as soon.

And by the way: head on over to the PowerBook setup picture thread and contribute! A 12" PowerBook + new 20" Cinema Display should look quite nice.

[swamibooba]

closing the lid won't inhibit airflow on the powerbook since the air enters under the keyboard and the screen sits just high enough when closed to allow air to enter - unless there's a cloth in place to protect the screen, which one shouldn't use while in clamshell mode.

the only thing with having the lid closed is that it slightly inhibits heat dissapation. that can be remedied by leaving the screen open slightly, though the sweet effect of a slab on your (clean) desk attached to a lcd monitor is lost.

[teknopimp]

contrary to what swamibooba and Commodus posted, heat and/or air is not vented thru the keyboard/top. the powerbook is designed to work with the lid closed.

when i had my tibook connected to a 22" Cinema Display the fan would kick on a lot. my new 12" PB should be arriving in a few days so i'll post again and let you know how it goes. i've heard the rev C's run slightly cooler.

[MacEgo]

I have a week old 12" C 1.33 + 20" Cinema Display - it runs beautifully. I always run itunes + safari + mail + word and the fan has never turned it self on as of writing this - not while stading on my table at least..I have a dual 1.8 g5 at home but I'm amazed at the speed of this thing and thats with just the basic 256mb ram!!

One funny thing - everything seems to be more responsiv and quicker when running on 20" Display with P-Book in clamshell mode then when I work on solely the P-Book!!

The sound from this little piece of wonder is always quite amazing -

max

[RealMadrid]

My 1 GHz rev. B is connected to an external monitor and runs in clamshell mode. Usually the fans came in relatively often but it did not bother me the first days as I changed to the PB from a Dual 1 GHz Quicksilver that was terribly loud. After some days I got tired of the fans and got a simple solution:

Put the PB on some stand to elevate it approx 3 cm above the table. The I use an old 12 cm fan from the Quicksilver to blow air underneath the PB from front to end. Although the fan was loud I power it through the USB power so it runs not at full voltage and is totally quiet.

Fans never come on again. Silence...

[teknopimp]

Originally posted by teknopimp:
my new 12" PB should be arriving in a few days so i'll post again and let you know how it goes. i've heard the rev C's run slightly cooler.

the fan kicked on soon after i connected my powerbook to my 22" and it was on at least half the time for the duration of an hour. all i did was calibrate the color. but the fan was quiet and the 'book never got hot too the touch, so cool in fact that it made me wonder why the fan even turned on.

[Dr.Michael]

Originally posted by mcsharick:
So, I'm afraid there's no getting around it (whatever my little two day test is worth to you), expect your fan to run frequently with this setup.

Thats exactly my experience with a 1GHz/12inch and a 20 inch cinema display. Fan runs nearly nonstop.
If you want to avoid that you have to move to Alaska ;o).

[mcsharick]

Originally posted by Dr.Michael:
Thats exactly my experience with a 1GHz/12inch and a 20 inch cinema display.

It looks like my experience is not unique, however there may be workarounds. I agree with teknopimp that even though the fan is running for the majority of time on my 12" w/ the DVI out to the ACD, the PB feels cool to the touch. I've never owned anything as big or as nice as my new 20" ACD so I have no prior experience with LCDs this large, but the ACD itself generates a lot of heat. I have the 12" sitting right next to it, so I'm assuming the air that does flow through the PB is hot to begin with.

Next thing to try is RealMadrid's suggestion of using a fan, in my case it would be a small tabletop fan. I have the PB already elevated, if I can possibly blow in cooler air to the PB, its internal fan may not start up for a while.

[teknopimp]

i forgot to add that i have a Podium CoolPad. it definitely helps as heat radiates off the bottom surface and the angle allows heat to convect out the rear vent. i would guess that a stand with fans would really work well to keep the 'book as cool as possible.

[mcsharick]

Originally posted by teknopimp:
i forgot to add that i have a Podium CoolPad.

So do I. I bought it in the bundle with the travel pad when I bought my iBook. Its works out very well for the PowerBook as well. I've been looking for a "silent" tabletop /desktop fan, and this fan seems like it might work well. And it doesn't look too expensive.

[Frumpy]

Just bought a 19" Samsung flat CRT monitor today and have it hooked up to my PB 1.33 G4. Just wondering if there's any way to only use the 19", without losing the resolution I have by dual-displaying it. If I 'mirror' the displays it shoots down to the 1024x768 that the PB screen does. Dual lets me get up to 1600x1200. Oh, and I want to be able to use the PB keyboard. Don't have the cash yet for a seperate one. Any way to get the resolution out of the 19" and use the PB keyboard? Thanks!

[tictactoe]

I am using my Powerbook right now with DVI-out to a 17" LCD running @ 1280x1024. If I put my ear really close to the laptop, I can tell that the fan is on, but it is very quiet (I assume the fan operates at different speeds according to system heat). I've used it for a few hours at a time while multitasking with bluetooth on, airport off and it never gets louder than it normally is (very quiet).

[brettcamp]

I use a REv. C 12" Powerbook connected to a Samsung 17" flat screen display and using DVI. The fan comes on occasionally, but seldom. However, I mostly use it for SAfari, Mail, and word processing, so YMMV. Even when the fan's on, it's very quiet.

[iREZ]

Frumpy first connect your PB to the ext. monitor then shut the PB closed to put it to sleep, then get an external mouse (seeing how you dont have an external keyboard) and click the mouse. The screen will come one while the book is closed then you could open the PB and it'll stay shut off while you work untill you change it back to spanning or go back to sleep.

[crazeazn]

i use it with a 21" sony crt, the fan kicks on fairly often.

[iREZ]

I'm with brettcamp. I also use my PB with my Samsung 17" LCD via DVI port and my fan comes on but not too loud and rarely do I get the loud one even while working on the CS suite or MX suite.