Macbook vs. Dell

that video clip all over the news and web of a dell bursting into flames comes to mind...hope my mac never gets that hot.
of course when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
I hear Dell has boosted it's bottom line, by striking a deal with Coleman.
The new Dell Outback laptop checks your Email AND cooks your meals..perfect for camping.

Quote from site...

"I think that the MacBook is a great alternative to the PC dominated computer market. It does run a little bit hotter than the dell, but I remind you that the MacBook lacks cooling fans that are built into the Dell."


Umm...No cooling Fans ??? He may want to take a closer look at his MacBook.

Jim

PowerBook G3 500 Mhz "Pismo" (Wonna buy it so I can get a MacBook?) Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Agreed, I hope to never see one of my laptops bursting into flames. Especially my Dell, well once I get a new one on account of my other being stolen by DHL. I can only imagine the phone call to apple saying that "My MacBook just blew up, I think it was a bit too hot." And apples response being the standard "That's within spec!" Have you seen the picture of the guy making eggs on his MacBook? Just goes to show how many things can be done with a laptop, woops I mean Notebook...

-MRCUR

Message was edited by: MRCUR

My Macbook usually never gets that hot even when it is playing a DVD. Dells contain fains at the left hand side. one at the far upper corner and one under the card slot. It also has a fan in the back and the processor. I think macbooks only contain two fans, the one in the back and one on the processor.

MacBooks only have one fan. Which is right in the middle of the computer right in front of the heat sink. Dells fans also run constantly on a very low setting I belive (at least mine does,) while the MacBooks fan only turn on in the high 79s low 80s. Hope this helps.

-MRCUR

I owned a MacBook before returning it due to excessive heat/poor build quality and I now own a Dell Latitude D620 (much better built PC). I must say that my Dell Latitude D620 runs MUCH cooler than my MacBook did. I can use my Dell for hours on my lap without feeling any discomfort.

...I must
say that my Dell Latitude D620 runs MUCH cooler than
my MacBook did. I can use my Dell for hours on my
lap without feeling any discomfort.

My old three year old D600 ran easily 1/3rd hotter than it does now. It was so hot on the left palm landing zone, than I typed a small pot holder to that location. The left bottom of my Dell, back then, was intolerable. And, just like here, I was rather vocal about it in the Dell forums. Go there, search for ''rymal'' and you'll see what I mean.

Well, after about 1 1/2 years, the Dell D600 started cooling off quite a bit. I have no idea, unless updates put a bit more intelligence in the fan setup.

This Dell D600, in spite of its heat at the time has TWO fans in it. One is by the hard drive, and the other is next to the CPU. Just like the MacBook, there is no intake vent, but there is a rather well-ducted exhaust vent. The intake is coming through the keyboard. The exhaust vent is in the back, below the LCD hinge.

Now, this Dell D600 is rather comfortable to use and quite cool in temperature. I'm hoping Apple can cool the MacBook down just as good, but since its exhaust blows in FRONT of the lower LCD by the hinge, I don't see how.

You Mac newbies also knock Dell and the blowing up notebook. How well, y'all forget things. Several years back, Mac 5300 (????) notebooks had batteries that blew up and some were subject to a recall.

Finally, before thoughts go otherwise, I prefer my MacBook over my Dell any day, but let's keep the criticism factual. The Mac honestly is ill-designed in chassis design for thermal evacuation in that the human will have hot CPU exhaust air blown on the fingers by the function keys. That is where the exhaust is. When that LCD screen lid is opened to an operational angle, the exhaust blows in front of the screen.

Good for you Warren!

I personally don't consider it a flaw.
blowing the exaust up the front may reduce the amount of dust that lands on the screen.
I understand peoples perspective on the heat, but honestly think it's good for us....the concept of a "laptop" has not been studied, nor has it been around long enough for adverse effects to be documented...but there is plenty of evedince out there to suggest that sitting a box full of electromagnetic fields, radio frequencies, potentiallly explosive devices on ones lap may be a bad idea.
Police officers getting testicular cancer from resting radar guns on thier laps, comes to mind as an example, but the possibility of cancer, lukemia, genetic mutations etc, won't be examined until AFTER it happens.

in other words: hundreds of cases, to justify conducting studies to get the evidence...then the lawsuits and eventually laws banning laptops, which will then be marketed as "Notebooks" and have big red warning labels. Advising of dangers to you, or your unborn children.

Interesting that the one area on the MacBook that owers consistantly say is too hot (the lower left-hand corner) is the same area that this article shows to be 14'F hotter than the Dell...

14'F doesn't seem like much, but put into some context, it's the difference in temperature between a hot summer day (90'F) and a nice spring day (76'F).

I love my MacBook but I know that Apple can do better when it comes to temperature control if they thought it was an issue.

I'm glad to see that mainstream reviews (like the one from The Washington Post the other day) are pointing out the heat. Maybe it will cause Apple to factor that in higher up on the priority list on the next rev?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/technology/20060717-100100-6372r.htm
"The only qualm I've had with this notebook is heat. It gives off a large amount heat, and at one point it felt as if you could fry up a burger or two without effort. Apple's official response: "Like all our notebooks, the MacBook meets the industry standard for case temperature.""

Hi Everyone,
At the Apple Store today I just got a firm answer of what the specs are for the operating temps of the Intel Core Duo. See my post at the link below, curretnly the last post on the page:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=567474

Hope this helps.

-MRCUR

Its so funny how the dell is bundled with all these stupid buttons and useless things most people will never use. Where as the Macbook is so simple and nice that they dont pack huge buttons just to start a media player that you have to take hours to configure.

As for the heat. I dont know..We just have to bear with it I guess =/

Its so funny how the dell is bundled with all these
stupid buttons and useless things most people will
never use. Where as the Macbook is so simple and nice
that they dont pack huge buttons just to start a
media player that you have to take hours to
configure.

I tend to agree, but I USE those buttons on my Dell D600. They certainly aren't useless.

And, I'm confused about "taking hours to configure" a media player? Say, huh??? Have you ever used a Windows PeeCee? Takes no longer to configure Windows Media Player than it does to configure iTunes for the Mac, or ummmm, iTunes for the PeeCee, or Windows Media Player for the Mac (before the Flip4Mac days).

lol, Well..I dont use media player that much. I use linux instead of windows now, waiting to get a mac. But I once had a toshiba laptop with those buttons and I really had no use for them. And I dont know if its just Toshiba's computer, It took a long time to get the buttons to work.