Closing lid and heat problems

Hi everyone,

We have a couple of annoyances with a new macbook. Firstly, we can't figure out how to keep it running while the lid is closed, it would be nice to be able to listen to music without the lid open, i know the screen turns off automatically but it gets so hot underneath it would be nice to keep it upside down.

That brings me to my second question, I couldn't find an answer to this one, is there a program or something that can allow you to control the temperature of the processor? or are there any other methods of stopping the ridiculous amount of heat on the bottom of the macbook? We've already checked for the notorious piece of plastic on the vent.

Thanks in advance!
All the best
Simon & Laura

Their are hacks which allow the Mac-book to run with the lid shut but you'd end up melting the screen in the process, so I wouldn't recommend it !!

If you go to 'Energy saver' in the 'System preferences' and click on the 'Options' tab you can lower the processor performance which would in turn reduce the amount of heat it's making. The other option is to get a laptop cooler like this one:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=75005#

No idea if it's any good, may sound like a vacuum cleaner. Processors producing heat is a growing problem and most of the options available to reduce the heat have the adverse effect of white noise. The choice is yours, noise or heat.

I'm sure when winter comes around you'll see the benefits of the heat.

Thanks for such a quick reply! in the options of system prefs where does it allow you to lower processor performance? All I can see are better energy, normal or better performance. i cant see anything about processor performance under custom either :-s

Thanks again
Simon & Laura

PS

Is this the first laptop ever to not let you run it with the lid closed? I've never had melting screen problems on my P4 toshiba laptop :-s

Actually the Macbooks are designed to be able to run with the lid closed - no hacks required!

But this really only makes sense when you're running with an external keyboard and display:

Just plug in your external devices, close the macbook, wait for it to sleep and then wake it by pressing the external keyboard or mouse.

If you want to avoid it heating up, consider getting a cooling pad or a stand the allows better air circulation (Griffin technology's iCurve is quite nice).

Their should be the option 'Highest' 'Automatic' 'reduced' in the tab for 'processor performance' at the bottom but then maybe that's different with the new MacBooks ?. I've got a ibook G3 so can't check that myself.

Didn't know that you could still run the MacBooks when shut, sounds interesting.

Mr Bobbins said:

Their should be the option 'Highest' 'Automatic' 'reduced' in the tab for 'processor performance' at the bottom...

Click to expand...

That option isn't available anymore on Intel Macs, it was only available to the portables, and the G5 Macs.

Allthough it is indeed possible to use a MacBook/MacBook Pro with the lid closed, without a hack, I wouldn't recommend it...
They produce really a high ammount of heat, so I would have the lid at least a little bit open to evacuate the heat.

tv and black screen

hi

i'm sure i've set the power options to what i want but my macbook still
goes to a black screen after a short while.

this is really annoying especially whilst watching tv through tv mini

is there a way to stop this on the macbook?

regards

sleep

hi

sorry found it in prefs don't bother with my previous reply.

what i will say on this thread though is that these machines do

tend to get very hot. it does get a bit worrying as its more so than the g4

ibook which we thought - got too hot.

regards

Yeah, but the iBook's top case got warmer than the macbook's IMO.

The bottom is scorching, but the top area (the palm rests in particular) doesn't feel as warm as I remember the ibook's being.

But personally I probably wouldn't shut it if I was running an external monitor setup either.

Wow, this laptop is actually not that warm. Most laptops have really hot bottoms, as it is the only place to disperse heat. The top would scorch users. Laptops have really stopped being called laptops for a more suitable name, notebooks, because they arent meant to sit on ones lap. I find it bearable on my lap no problem. And when its not on my lap, it doesnt even get very warm, because the air is circulated better. I think for the size factor they did a great job. I mean, they could make one that didnt get hot, it would be 4 inches thick, but if thats what you want, you can start a petition. lol.

I think the heat problem is completely minor.

I had a dell a few years ago and it actually hurt, this just makes my legs warm, so I only use it on my lap when I'm cold. Its not that hard to find a place to set it and use it.

I have a 14 inch iBook G4 and i have it on my lap right now no problem or discomfort. the only time it gets very hot is when i leave it on for very long periods of time. I think heat is a much bigger problem in the intel machines. Thin design is a factor but I think our powerbooks and Ibooks are really thin and never heated up to the extent of the new intels. ps. I also have a 17 in PB 1.67 ghz 1 gb of ram 120 gb HDD ( never gets real hot)

I think the heat problem is completely minor.

Click to expand...

Heat is never good for a computer, they get hot, some as hot as 85 C . That's hot enough to fry an egg. Everyone keeps saying heat doesn't matter, trust me it matters.

jram said:

That's hot enough to fry an egg.

Click to expand...

Maybe this will be included as an extra feature with future realises.

jram said:

Heat is never good for a computer, they get hot, some as hot as 85 C . That's hot enough to fry an egg. Everyone keeps saying heat doesn't matter, trust me it matters.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it doesn't matter, yet all the fuzz that people make about it concerning the MacBook and MacBook Pro, is way overrated.
PC portables (to avoid notebook/laptop terms) tend to get quite hot as well, and even before the Core Duo aera, I remember a few being quite hotter than the recent Apple portables are, eventhough the fans ran like crazy, and the housings being considerably bigger.

So yes, heat is an issue in our evergrowing quest for more power and portability, but it is not only for Apple computer...from all the rants and discussions I had to read about it, 90% are simply nonsense and just useless rants against Apple.