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Hot or not: Measuring MacBook Pro temperatures

#15 User is offline   DavidAtWork Icon

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Posted 07 November 2006 - 10:27 PM

My initial reaction was surprise that the Intel laptops were only slight;y cooler than the PowerPC laptops.
I had kind of got the impression that the chip switch would make a significant difference in the lap temperature, irrespective of the processing power.
David
PS: being part of the rest of the world, I prefer the international standard Celsius ;-)
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#16 User is offline   HLH Icon

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Posted 07 November 2006 - 10:45 PM

Hi,
I have a PowerBook G4 12" and it does get pretty warm. However, I bought a Targus 'Chill Mat' and it does a great job of making my PowerBook run much cooler. According to 'Temperatur Monitor' here are my temps:
Value Upper Limit
Battery 80.6 107.6 Degrees are in F
Graphics Processor Die 120.2 217.4
HD Drive Bottomside 106.2 138.2
Processor Topside 111.2 174.2
SMART Disk Hitachi HTS5410 95.0
As you can see the Chill Mat really works and makes it possible to use my laptop AS a laptop
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#17 User is offline   Nobody Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 06:04 AM

The answer is to use the International System of Units (SI) for all measures:
http://en.wikipedia....i/International[u]Systemof_Units#Units
SI base units
NameSymbol Quantity
metremLength
kilogramkgMass
secondsTime
ampereAElectrical current
CelsiusCThermodynamic temperature (Kelvin is not employed in everyday use)
molemolAmount of substance
candelacdLuminous intensity
I look forward to the day in which meter, kilogram and Celsius are used WORLDWIDE.
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#18 User is offline   luna_moonraker Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 07:57 AM

Quote:

I think you'll find that hotter is still hotter, even in Fahrenheit.
As an American publication and web site, we generally stick with units used in the United States.

Why the defensive reply? I think it is quite reasonable to ask if the data could be provided with a Celsius equivalent for the many non-American readership and to those that use Celsius everyday in America too. After all, Apple themselves provide details of temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius equivalent which makes life a lot easier (see The Apple specs pages for instance: MacBook Pro - Technical Specifications )
Now I, along with all the other readers who are not used to Fahrenheit in everyday usage have to convert 19 separate figures off the chart and 34 stated temperatures overall in order to make proper sense of the article; when just adding the Celsius figure too (in brackets , whatever) would help a lot to fully understand the article.
If you really "think you'll find that hotter is still hotter, even in Fahrenheit." then why did you bother going to the lengths of providing figures in the article at all? Why not just say 'warmer', 'hotter'?
I appreciate that you are based in the USA and understand fully why you would quote the figures in Fahrenheit, but please consider including the Celsius figure too for the rest of us, as Apple themselves do who anyone would consider an American setup. Thanks.
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#19 User is offline   Jamus Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 09:35 AM

If I plan to use my MacBook Pro for any long length of time (+30min), I break out a 14" cookie sheet with raised edges I got for $1. I flip the sheet upside down with the edges on my lap. The edges keep the metal from being in direct contact with my lap. The MacBook Pro then has a nice flat surface to sit on and the metal helps pull heat away as opposed to a pillow or jeans that would keep heat.
Sounds silly, but it works rather well.
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#20 Guest__*

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 10:29 AM

... Good One. I forgot that I used to use the old pork & beans scale in the engineering department at college.
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#21 User is offline   Peter Cohen Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 10:43 AM

"The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I like it!" - Abe Simpson
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#22 User is offline   Peter Cohen Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 10:48 AM

Quote:

In fact, my iStat Pro widget measures my computer's temps in Celsius - thus requiring me to convert.


Uh, at least until you change the "degrees" preference to Fahrenheit.
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#23 User is offline   bynkii Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 10:56 AM

I think you should express the temp in how warm a Starbuck's Vente house blend with no room for cream sitting over the hard drive would be after 30 minutes.

I mean, since this has degenerated into inane strawmen about temp units.

Better yet, I'm going OLD SKOOL! CENTIGRADE 4-EVAH! CELSIUS IS A POSER!
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#24 User is offline   stevelee Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 12:16 PM

Rather than Starbucks' coffee, a more practical comparison would relate to MacDonald's coffee.
We're talking about the effects of heat on the upper thighs and crotch. Laptop temperatures should be expressed relative to spilling MacDonald's coffee, measured in millions of dollars of litigation proceeds.
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#25 User is offline   Jason Snell Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 01:23 PM

Quote:

Why the defensive reply?


Not a defensive reply, just a statement of facts; we're a U.S. publication and therefore we prefer Fahrenheit. We might consider also listing them in C, for the one-third of our Web audience who does not live in the United States.
Also, just speaking as a human being, when you go to the effort of doing some new testing that you haven't done before, directly as a result of requests from readers, and the first response you get is a complaint about units, it definitely doesn't put one in a positive frame of mind.
The moment Apple starts referring to the 15-inch MacBook Pro as a 39cm MacBook Pro, though, I am going to give up imperial measurements altogether.

#26 User is offline   goldenbear Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 01:27 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I think you'll find that hotter is still hotter, even in Fahrenheit.
As an American publication and web site, we generally stick with units used in the United States.


But I bet a lot of your readers are not in the US. The rest of the world uses Celsius.


Yes, I wish the US would switch to the metric system too, but I don't see it happening in the near future /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
However, as has been pointed out, this is a US publication, with the vast majority of readers residing in the US. If the editors feel that posting everything in dual units is not the best use of their time, so be it (although I agree that it would be nice to see). Should we demand that all publications print their article in English, since the vast majority of the world understands English to some extent?
BTW, my Canadian relatives seem to have absolutely no problems converting between F and C, Feet and Meters, Pounds and Kg, Gallons and Liters, etc. I can do a rough conversion for a lot of unit in my head too... it's really not that difficult.
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#27 User is offline   Machound Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 03:21 PM

As a practical matter it wouldn't be that hard to post a link just below the temperature table that says "Table in Celsius," or something to that effect, rather than making all the Europeans, Chinese and Canadians get out their calculators. Just trying to be helpful.
BTW, great article!
To Peter's Abe Simpson quote: ROTFLMAO. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
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#28 User is offline   Missildine1 Icon

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Posted 08 November 2006 - 03:29 PM

I personally use Griffin's iCurve. Granted, it's a little wobbly on the lap, but beats 2nd degree burns from my PowerBook G4. As for the temp units controversy that seems to be waging here, get a life, all of you! /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
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