That is 131° F for you imperial types. Right now my undervolted and underclocked MacBook is that exact temperature (measured on the bottom). This is poor engineering and form over function – sorry Jonathan the truth hurts.
Many people think that the term notebook was introduced to discourage people from using their portables on their laps. It is a plausible theory. A few years ago there were stories in the press reporting of severe burns from using laptops as the name would suggest; on a lap.
Looking back at the iBook G3 and PowerBook G3 introductions, those notebooks lasted 4-5 hours and temperatures were reasonable. Since then we have developed a need for far more power – that means heat and more power consumption. While Intel’s Centrino promised cool and long lasting portable performance we are still behind where we were 10 years ago in a couple of important metrics.
How do you solve it? I would argue that ULV processors in the 1.0-1.5 Ghz range, coupled with lots of RAM could keep most users happy.
[...] Chris Davies . Excerpt: This is poor engineering and form over funtcion – sorry Jonathan the truth hurts. Many people think that the term notebook was introduced to discourage people from using their portables on their laps. […] [...]
[...] The new form factor is great – it’s like a metal HP DV5. Metal always trumps plastic in durability. But more importantly aluminum is a good conductor of heat. Apple’s notebooks of the past eight years are extremely poor at handling heat. I base this on ownership of about five different aluminum and six plastic Apple notebooks since 2000. My lap can attest to the heat they generate. Infra red thermometrs are so much fun! [...]