A pile of junk

[Lord Blackadder]

I've never really been too worried about weight - the lightness of the MBA is quite nice but I have no issues carrying my 15" Powerbook G4 around, so I'd just assume stick with a MBP.

I have to say that the 17" is a bit too big though - not so much in weight as sheer size. The screen makes up for it somewhat, but tit's a bit unwieldy to carry around IMO.

 

[Heavenkittykat]

Guys thank's for all your replies, supportive or not.

To clarify, I came to Macs because I couldn't believe what a total pile of junk Vista was (is).

I came believing the hype, that this OS just works. I believed all of the Mac/Windows ads. I was sold.

I purchased a MBP on the day Leopard launched. I work for an airline and the MBP was just too big and have for my travelling needs. I took it back and swapped it for a MB. I was quite happy with that, but as soon as the MBA was released I sold the MB and purchased the air.

I can live with 1 USB port (just) and like everything about the air. What I cannot stand, is out of the blue the fans will start to run at full tilt when I am doing nothing. At the moment, all I have running is this forum. Maybe in 10 minutes my fans will be at 6900rpm or maybe they won't. It's that simple.

Yes I like Leopard but almost everything I do with is seems to generate bugs and crashes somewhere. I can't remember the last time a Windows machine ever fully locked up requiring a total power down. My Air has done it several times since owning it. Applications quite often crash. I can live with that because I believe Apple fix things quickly. I purchased 4 iMacs a couple of weeks ago (for my other business). They are great, don't really crash and I hope that the several bugs I have encountered get fixed in 10.5.3

I will take my Air back to the store, but like I have said countless times, I am convinced it is not faulty. I just think it is a poor design. To all those people to are having a go at me because I am complaining about the noise of the fans. Have you ever heard the Air's fans running at 6900rpm when all you are doing is say, typing a word document? It sounds like the machine is on its way to destruction. If it is normal to do that, than I have purchased the wrong product and it is not for me.

Re my comment about about the Air being quiet as I am typing this.....Oh here we go again, the fans are starting to speed up like crazy now currently 4200rpm and increasing.

I will sign off now because I can feel the irritation coming back.

I think the USB Ethernet is the culprit.

RPM 4900 now. I guess one core will shut down in a minute and then the thing slows to a crawl.

GRRRRRRRRR!

why are you so sure that your macbook air is not broken? I have a macbook air since march 10th and this baby works perfectly fine. I can't even hear any fan most of the time that I work with this computer. And sometimes I open a lot of programs at the same time but my MBA is still smooth sailing.

Why is it so hard to just go to the apple geniuses and tell them that your MBA is broken and you need to get it replaced?

 

[Stratus Fear]

Why is it so hard to just go to the apple geniuses and tell them that your MBA is broken and you need to get it replaced?

It's easier to complain in an online forum

 

[HotAir]

I think I have every right to hang out here especially as a counterweight to people like you. There are lots of newbies and prospective buyers that read these threads that need to have a balanced perspective.

Okay thanks for clarifying. Don't forget to check your own fan. I feel a lot of HOT AIR.

 

[queshy]

I got mine a couple weeks after launch. Had to trade it in because the battery wouldn't charge in <10 hours. Ironically, both units I've had (2nd one worked fine), I can count the # of times the fans rev'd up on one hand. Seems completely normal to me. Granted, I wasn't really taxing the computer - just the usual internet and typing stuff. Youtube certainly does nothing to my fans. Take it into Apple. It's not as if you're stuck with a broken computer. They'll fix it.

 

[NT1440]

The fan can and should turn on but not be cranked to 6200 half the time. You should not have to have an eye on iStat half the time while you use it. There are several quotes on the board from people uninstalling iStat because they are obsessing on the fans.

They should turn on but be largely (not totally inaudible). I have 2 fans on my MBP. The spin at 2000 to 2500 ALL THE TIME. They are inaudible. This is what the MBP should be.

so one flaw (if you can call it that) makes the entire think "a pile of junk" ?

you sir are far too critical of things you own. Im guessing your cars a POS because you have to put air in the tires from time to time?

 

[zosoair]

I had a little trouble with my air in the beginning, changed it couple of times (5 times) and glad to say I'm in love with this one had it for a while and completely trouble free. Fan comes on when required and shuts up when not needed. The battery life rocks too.

Could not be more satisfied...........

 

[MacHappytjg]

You know nothing about noise until you own a Power Mac G4.

Looks like a lot of you MBA owners have decided that Apple made unacceptable compromises to get the MBA so thin...

Time to start shopping for a thicker Mac, I suppose.

dont forget emacs although i seem to sleep with it on not sleeping lmao

 

[Counterfit]

Many of those who comment their is "fine" seem to go on later to say that their fans spin up - but only when they should because they are doing something to push the machine and it's to be expected.

Total bs. Rationalizing of a bad product by fan boys.

So someone who says "my fans only spin up when I'm working a huge file in Photoshop" is full of it? Just when are the fans supposed to spin up?

I defy anybody to live with this bloody noise.

4 1/2 year old PowerBook, 3 external hard drives. And trust me, these fans are spinning most of the night

There are lots of newbies and prospective buyers that read these threads that need to have a balanced perspective.

And Fox News exists for the same reason.

I had a little trouble with my air in the beginning, changed it couple of times (5 times)

If you had to change it 5 times, that's not "a little trouble".

 

[steve31]

I have had my MBA since the launch and have none of the problems that you (the OP) have. My fan stays at a solid 2500 when surfing and other simple tasks. I would say that your MBA is defective. I think that for an ultraportable notebook...it ROCKS!! But I would never trade my MBP for a MBA!. But it is a nice addition. I also would get frustrated if I had your problems with my MBA and would go with another option. Just dont go back to Vista! LOL.

 

[Scott6666]

so one flaw (if you can call it that) makes the entire think "a pile of junk" ?

you sir are far too critical of things you own. Im guessing your cars a POS because you have to put air in the tires from time to time?

Hardly. I rave over my MBP (that replaced the Air). Love my various HD TV's. Love my PS3. Think the XBOX360 is OK but it makes too much noise. Love my Honda Odyssey. Love my iPhone. Love my Honda Fit. Like my AppleTV (should play divx). Love my TimeCapsule (little loud, but it sits in the basement so who cares). Love my wife and kids. Love Jesus and America too.

The "one flaw" not only means it makes noise but the cores shut down making it unusable. If the radiator in my car did not work and the engine overheated and shut down, then yeah I would call that a pile of junk even if the engine worked great otherwise. I couldn't play iTunes on it for g-ds sake! Even my iPhone and iPods worked better.

I didn't start the thread with this name. I just agreed with it.

It IS a pile of junk / crap / malodorous garbage / a wretched stealer of dreams of money. They all should be melted down into blocks of Aluminum and recycled into something valuable like soda cans. Then Apple should start again. Unless of course you are deaf and don't want to use both of your cores. Then it's OK.

 

[Scott6666]

So someone who says "my fans only spin up when I'm working a huge file in Photoshop" is full of it? Just when are the fans supposed to spin up.

You should actually try reading the comments. If all we were complaining about were people pushing the machine like Handbrake and Photoshop there would be much less, if any, complaining. We're talking browsers and iTunes causing problems for some of us. Certainly playing a video for most (purchased off of iTunes no less).

It can't even do basic tasks that a 2 year old windows machine can do.

It's faulty. We're not trying to make a MacPro out of a sow's ear. We just want it to do what a G4 powerbook can do. Too much to ask? Get real.

Let's take these boards and encourage newbies to buy this piece of junk so they can get frustrated too just because you all spent $1,800 on crap and are trying to feel better about your waste of funds. Let's get our Moms to buy 'em so they can learn the joys and sheet terror of reapplying thermal paste. Or Apple could fix this pile of doo-doo. Oh yeah, that's too much to ask.

Mom, get out the q-tips and thermal paste! I'm going to recommend an Apple Air to you. Of course, this is normal for laptops. All laptops need new thermal paste..

HATE HATE HATE HATE the MBA. And proud of it

 

[MacHappytjg]

there goes my thinking about getting an air oviously its another mb or mbp

 

[MacHappytjg]

I have had my MBA since the launch and have none of the problems that you (the OP) have. My fan stays at a solid 2500 when surfing and other simple tasks. I would say that your MBA is defective. I think that for an ultraportable notebook...it ROCKS!! But I would never trade my MBP for a MBA!. But it is a nice addition. I also would get frustrated if I had your problems with my MBA and would go with another option. Just dont go back to Vista! LOL.

im using vista right now on my macbook and it sucks a$$

 

[beeh]

Pagemakers,

You mentioned a USB ethernet dongle? Can you use the internet without it for a couple of days and see if your heat problems go away ( or at least are reduced )? The dongle would be powered by 5V from the MBA, which could ( not saying it does, but it could ) generate quite a bit of heat. ( We've got 5v regs for USB ports on some products that get quite hot when continuously running USB comms for a while - basically reading data from a flash drive ).

Maybe you have a neighbor with wireless that you can ask to "borrow" their connection for a while? Or, if it fixes it, might be worth the $40-$50 to get a wireless router for your place?

BH

 

[Pagemakers]

The MBA is sitting behind me now doing nothing. The fans were running at full blast for 20 minutes for whatever reason and now they are silent again for whatever reason.

I will take it to the apple store on Tuesday because I can't live with it anymore.

 

[SamoanDude]

The fans were coming on my MBA and it was overheating, then I discovered the way it was sitting on ly seat of my car were blocking the air intake which is in an inconvenient place.

I got rid of my air because it just wasn't practical though for what I do/needed

 

[Chappers]

have you repaired permissions? Usually solves some problems.

Good luck

 

[iHerzeleid]

have you repaired permissions? Usually solves some problems.

Good luck

hehe

repairing permissions isnt going to solve this..

and i am too rather disappointed with my MBA

 

[jonswan]

Instead of immediately going for the 'pile of junk' rant I think it'd be better to either a/ take it to an Apple store or b/ try to work out what's causing it.

For example, I installed Mac Janitor a year or so back on an MB and the fans went crazy as it took most of the CPU. Found out later the App was not for Intel computers, so I uninstalled and everything went back to normal. Did you install something recently..?

Are you using it on your bed or something which blocks the air? That'd be dumb to be honest. I use mine on my lap but sit it on a thin bread board.

My MBA works perfectly, only hear the fans when something intensive happens, like installing updates. Otherwise: silent. Mind you, I realise the MBA is not a machine to thrash intensively - that isn't what it was designed for, so perhaps what you want from it is not what it was made for..

A good place to start is finder > applications > utilities > activity monitor. Start that up and see what's taking all your CPU or RAM. There may be an easy solution, or it may need replacing. But, I can tell you now that it is no piece of junk.

 

[Pagemakers]

To reposnd to the last few comments above...

1) The laptop is sitting on a wooden table.

2) Yes, I have reaired permissions and done and re-install.

3) I did not immediately go the 'it's a pile of junk'. I have been farting around with this thing for ages and the frustration got the better of me.

 

[Pagemakers]

Machine has been on idle for about 3 hours.

It is running the Apple Cosmos screensaver and that alone is causing the fans to run at full speed.

 

[diabolic]

It is running the Apple Cosmos screensaver and that alone is causing the fans to run at full speed.

Whether you believe it or not, there is something wrong with your particular MBA. After reading your message this morning, as a test, I plugged mine in, turned off the energy saver, and left it running the Cosmos screensaver for a couple of hours. The fans still haven't kicked up once.

If you like the MBA, I'd take it in and complain and see if they will replace it. If you don't like it, that's fine, but don't believe that the Cosmos screensaver causing the fans to come on is the result of some MBA design flaw. It's definitely not happening here.

 

[Pagemakers]

It's going in tomorrow.

 

[MacHappytjg]

It's going in tomorrow.

was it that flippin hard