New guy with a Macbook Pro heat question.

Hi all. My first post here and also my first Mac. I have had it for about 2 months, and love it.

I was just noticing that over the last couple of days my macbookpro has been running at about 160-170 degrees and the fans are at 6k rpm, according to istat, and was wondering if this is safe. It never used to do that, but then again I wasn't using Handbrake, Spaces, and Expose until a couple days ago. So i can understand why its running hotter, I just wanna make sure it's not too hot. I also use a dinky 15" Targus laptop cooler/genetial protector , and was wondering if thats good enough, or should I find a better one?

Thanks

Yes, they run very warm - and to some extent, the casing can act as a heat sink. So, if you're running heavy hitter apps like Handbrake and it starts to warm up, that's completely normal. Also note that the fans are thermostatically controlled, so they kick on and off as needed. You can use your MBP on any firm, level surface - a special laptop cooler, lap stand is just icing on the cake.