Speck See Thru Case - Your Thoughts

My advice would be not to buy the Speck. I had one, used it about 3 months and found out that it does more damage than protection. Some little pieces of dust and sand are always getting between the Speck and the Mac, and when you apply any pressure on the cover, it makes little holes in the aluminum. Now after 6 months of use without the Speck i can say that the aluminum looks as it looked the moment i bought it. The only damage i have on the laptop is from the dust and the Speck, especcialy on the sides, and on the bottom.

But i would strongly recommend a keyboard cover of any kind , Moshi or Iskin. It saved my laptop from spilled drinks two times for the past 6 months 🙂

I am one of those (maybe the only one) who is against the Speck or any other cases that permanently enclose the MBP. Take into account that what is sold in any store, is meant to generate revenue, so there is a certain bias on part of the vendor. What the the person at the Apple store is partially true as far as where the majority of the heat is expunged (the back vent by the fans), but claiming that the bottom of the MBP is insulated is simply incorrect. The last time I took off the bottom plate of I certainly did not see any insulation.

My contention is simple: Given a statistically significant group MBPs, The average life span of non covered MBPs will be greater than covered MBPs (provided all are exposed to the same environmental conditions). As Mr. Hefner feels that some things are more attractive naked, I feel that my MBP looks better naked.

Ciao.

Joseph, greetings: There is no speculation on my part. Heat is the bane of all computers. Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat. Plastic is not and will tend to insulate heat rather than dissipate it. These characteristics conform to the laws of Physics.

Placing two MBPs side by side will prove very little because that does not meet the requirement of a statistically significant sample. What I am suggesting is analogous to a clinical trial, large enough so that the variables among the individuals is such that the item to be studied for effectiveness becomes the sole differentiating factor being measured. (For MBPs that would be the manufacturing variables and the sole factor is the Speck case.)

The result would be two failure curves (each curve consisting of date on the X axis and number of MBPs on the Y axis.) The MBPs (with out the cases) curve will be shifted to the right of the MBPs with the cases. If I had said by how much the respective failures would be and the differences, that would be speculation, but I did not.

Even if the MBPs were all operating within Apple specifications, as a group the hotter ones would fail sooner.

In a nutshell, the more heat a MBP, or any computer is subjected to, the shorter its life span.

Perhaps we should get together and develop a cooling system that will enable our MBPs outlast us.

Ciao.

This Apple article on notebook computer temps:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1778

which was last updated in December, states:

Set up your portable on a stable work surface that allows for adequate air circulation under and around the computer.

(my added emphasis)

If Apple keeps this article current as it seems they have done, them I'm leaving my case bottom exposed to some airflow.