New to this Forum 17" MBP Old one DROPPED!!

Hi there everyone, first time on this list, I had my old (4yrs old) MBP stolen and caught up with the dude and he dropped it on the ground while it was still turned on, this stuffed the hard drive, and I had to get a replacement, which I did, but the good thing is due to the damage around the case my insurance company wrote it off and got me a new one, and I still have my now working old MBP as well, my Daughter is happy with this result. So I made a cover for my new MBP as I am a bookbinder, it turned out really well, now my daughter wants one too.
I leave my MBP and iMac on for extended periods of time, like for days, would this affect or harm them?
If you want to see some pics of the cover I made for my MBP I have attached pics, if I can work out how to do it.
Regards CaddyDaddy

Nice looking cover!

Hey...pretty neat cover for the MacBook Pro. I have 17" MBP as well...and although the "book-cover" is nice...I'm sure it adds a good bit of bulk & weight. But still...a pretty neat "look"...and certainly ties in well with your business/occupation!

As far as leaving your computers on for days...I don't think that there's a problem...I do the same thing. The only thing that I can think of to watch out for is...making sure nothing is blocking the air flow for cooling the computers...especially the MacBook Pro...since it can be placed on soft surfaces like a bed or a couch that might be covered with materials that could disrupt air flow. Otherwise there shouldn't be any problems leaving the computers on for extended periods of time.

Of course you can set up each computers "sleep" function...so that they go to "sleep" when unattended after a specified period of time.

- Nick

Thanks for the comments about my cover guys, yes, I understand about it being covered up with bedding or other items, I made sure when I made my case there was plenty of ventilation, and as you can see you can see the whole MBP in my case, nothing is covered up, and to the magic that is velcro it holds in very securely, I never have to take it off the cover, not to mention security, when closed it does not always look like something worth stealing, unless you are a book collector.

Regards CaddyDaddy

It's a beautiful case, to be sure, but even though you've left the sides open I would still be concerned about closing that case while the machine is hot and it not having a good natural ventilation. Heat rises, so I'd make sure that the machine was fully cooled off before putting it to sleep and closing the cover.

Hey Chas_m, yea i have already done those tests, MBP has been left on for 72 hours with the lid closed, and even put in my library, as was good as gold, didn't even put the hard drives to sleep, was cool to touch, when I first pulled it out, even the base was barley warm. I think if any kind of laptop is getting that hot you have problems, this case has the least obstruction of any cover on the market, even the bed of velcro raises the base the same hight as the original feet, so thats why it stays so cool.

And as far as the two beds of velcro holding it to the base, I have banged it as hard as i dare on the side, does not move, even turned it upside down and tried to make it come off the book base, did not even move, the lid opened though.

And I have found that I can even access all my ports on the side and close the lid still charging, seems to work well, can't do any of that with a bag or cover.

I have even made one for my iPad, works great, everyone thinks it a book until I open it. I have attached a few pics of the iPad ones.

Regards CaddyDaddy

caddydaddy said:

...MBP has been left on for 72 hours with the lid closed...

Click to expand...

Were you running your MBP in "clamshell mode" for those 72hrs?

- Nick

No Lid was shut, and book put in with other books, standing upright, don't tell me this is something wrong with doing this?........it is still working fine
Regards CaddyDaddy

caddydaddy said:

No Lid was shut, and book put in with other books, standing upright, don't tell me this is something wrong with doing this?........it is still working fine
Regards CaddyDaddy

Click to expand...

I'm confused. How was your MBP "left on" for 72hrs...with the lid closed...the MBP put in with the other books...and it wasn't running in "clamshell" mode?

If it wasn't running in "clamshell mode" when the lid was closed...then how was it running for 72hrs?

- Nick

Hi Nick, I am confused as well, I am new to the term clam shell mode, the computer had been on all day as I was using it, then at the end of the day, instead of shutting the computer down I went to system preferences and changed the settings for "Computer Sleep" and "Display Sleep" to the "never" bit and unchecked all the boxes and shut the lid and with the charging cord still attached put the book standing on its end in with a heap of other books and left it there for the weekend, when I came back to work I pulled it out, opened it up, hit the space bar, the MBP then came to life and away I worked on it again for another day. No heating problems at all. So thats a good thing eh?

Regards CaddyDaddy

Then the computer was not in "clamshell mode," it was asleep. When you closed the lid of the machine you overrode whatever energy settings you had. So of course it didn't get hot.

chas_m said:

Then the computer was not in "clamshell mode," it was asleep. When you closed the lid of the machine you overrode whatever energy settings you had. So of course it didn't get hot.

Click to expand...

You hit the "nail on the head"!

@caddydaddy: Like "chas_m" mentioned...when you said that your MacBook Pro was "left on" for 72 hours in the case you made for it...the MacBook Pro wasn't really "on"...it was in sleep mode (which would generate basically no heat).

"Clamshell Mode"...is when you run your laptop with the lid closed & attached to an external monitor. In this setup...the computer is running (and generating heat) just like it would if you were using the MBP's display.

So if you ever decided to run your MBP in "Clamshell Mode"...it probably wouldn't be a great idea to have it in the "book"-case you made for it...with the book-case closed.

- Nick

Hi Chas_m, ok once I replied back to you I thought I would look up the net about this clamshell mode, and how to get my MBP to do this to test my case out, and I had no idea about this clamshell and this is great as last night I plugged my MBP into a larger external Monitor and got it all going, and so I had the power plugged in, the adaptor for my Monitor plugged in and paired up my wireless keyboard and trackpad and started to download some movies, So I closed the cover and placed it beside my other monitor, after a few hours I came back and I can see what you mean, it was a little warm, but I would not say really hot, but all seemed good, woke up this morning and MPB still running in clamshell mode with cover still closed, all good, I think because my cover is not made of plastic it does not seem to affect it, I still have it in clamshell mode and I will keep it on this mode for most of today and get back to you. At the same time last night I Downloaded this app called Insomnia X and downloaded on to my old MBP, and started downloading more movies, I shut the lid and closed the cover I have for this one and checked it as well after a few hours, this one was hotter this time, but no problem with my case at all.

I have come to the conclusion that my case works well under these conditions, and if you were to put it in any other type of cover you would most likely kill the MBP, especially if it was a bag, you might as well thrown it in a fire.

And another thing, the older MBP was hotter on the lid than my new one, and I think this is because my new one has an LED Screen, they defiantly throw out a lot less heat than the traditional ones. Same as my LED screen on my TV, the TV upstairs is a LCD and the other is a plasma, and these two TVs are really hot to touch compared to the LED.

Finally, I think if you continue to use your MBP using clamshell mode for extended periods I am sure you will shorten the life of a lot of the hardware, so personally I would only use this mode on occasion, but at least my cover seems to be holding out.

Thanks for showing me this mode, as it is great for those few times I want to download some big files while I am not there.

Regards CaddyDaddy

Hey Nick, just did these tests after I found out more about clamshell mode last night, my case came out no problem, just read what i sent Chas_m, its a cool feature for sure, but would not use this all the time especially with older MBP, but cover is still sitting there and both still working ok.

Regards CaddyDaddy