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Can you "feel" your macbook when you touch it?

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leonk

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 4, 2007
35
0
I've noticed something strange with my C2D 2Ghz whitebook.

When I have my hands on palm rests, I can actually "feel" the vibration of the machine (I'm not sure if it's the fans or the HD). But I can feel it all over (even when just touching the side of the LCD screen).

The CPU fan is running @ 1800rpm at the time.

Anyone else noticed this? Is this normal?
 
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phidauex

macrumors member
Feb 26, 2007
60
0
leonk said:
I've noticed something strange with my C2D 2Ghz whitebook.

When I have my hands on palm rests, I can actually "feel" the vibration of the machine (I'm not sure if it's the fans or the HD). But I can feel it all over (even when just touching the side of the LCD screen).

The CPU fan is running @ 1800rpm at the time.

Anyone else noticed this? Is this normal?
Click to expand...

People come up with the oddest issues sometimes... It must be the excitement of a new mac, combined with latent fear generated by all the bizarre problems people fantasize about having. There must be a special form of hypochondria just for mac users.

Speaking of which, I noticed earlier that my car was making a slight vibration when it was on. Is that normal?

-Sam
 
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Caezar

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2004
270
2
Between a rock and a hard place
I raised a similar issue with my Powerbook a year ago. Whenver I touched the case with the tips of my fingers, I could feel a vibration, as if current went through my body.

Actually this is exactly what happens. I noticed that I feel no vibration when I wear shoes with rubber soles. The vibration only occurs when I am barefoot.

I would have guessed this only happens on Powerbooks/MBPs since the case is made of metal. Can you wear shoes and see whether you still feel the vibrations?
 
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schmintan

macrumors regular
Mar 1, 2007
181
0
phidauex said:
People come up with the oddest issues sometimes... It must be the excitement of a new mac, combined with latent fear generated by all the bizarre problems people fantasize about having. There must be a special form of hypochondria just for mac users.

Speaking of which, I noticed earlier that my car was making a slight vibration when it was on. Is that normal?

-Sam
Click to expand...


nope, its the outragous cost of these machines, and owners not wanting to have to sent a new , very expensive machine back to apple as:

1. courrier companies cannot be trusted
2. apple care sucks. the support you get is directly proportionate to how much you argue with them. they'l tell you anything to get you to believe your not entitled to get it fixed or that its not covered or something, and you just have to argue and argue until its fixed.

thats why i worry about mine.
 
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PDE

macrumors 68020
Nov 16, 2005
2,484
18
schmintan said:
nope, its the outragous cost of these machines, and owners not wanting to have to sent a new , very expensive machine back to apple as:

1. courrier companies cannot be trusted
2. apple care sucks. the support you get is directly proportionate to how much you argue with them. they'l tell you anything to get you to believe your not entitled to get it fixed or that its not covered or something, and you just have to argue and argue until its fixed.

thats why i worry about mine.
Click to expand...


Absolutely. If Apple had good quality control and we could be fairly certain that our expensive tools would a) work out of the box without any defects and b) continue to work for several years without major issues, I'm sure there would a lot less worry.

In fact, if Apple just increased the warranty to three years the way other companies have done with their high end machines, that would alleviate a lot of the worry too.

This is not about fantasies or paranoia. It's about Apple not living up to its end of the deal. We pay through our ears for these machines, and then we pay again for downtime while Apple repairs them, and then again when they are sent in to repair the damage done in the first repair. We worry because it's a lot of money for many to just be playing around with.

Although I've had great customer service from Apple, I've also come to realize that it's only after Ive spent countless hours complaining, calling, writing etc that they come through for me. Whenever they 'give' me something, I'm like an abused child: excited that they did the right thing. Until I realize that they previously abused me so much that I deserve whatever they gave me and then some. We should not be paying for Apple's lack of will to implement good quality control measures.
 
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livingfortoday

macrumors 68030
Nov 17, 2004
2,903
4
The Msp
PDE said:
This is not about fantasies or paranoia. It's about Apple not living up to its end of the deal. We pay through our ears for these machines, and then we pay again for downtime while Apple repairs them, and then again when they are sent in to repair the damage done in the first repair. We worry because it's a lot of money for many to just be playing around with.
Click to expand...

Oh stop it, that's just ridiculous. Suddenly "feeling" your hard drive spinning in your MacBook is a big issue with Apple quality control? We've got a dozen posts on these forums (probably more) of people "Trying to reproduce" issues that they don't have, but hell, why not try to make the problem occur! Sheesh.

People need to grow up and understand that it's a damn computer, not a Picasso. If you want your computer to be absolutely perfect, just the way you want it, go create your own from scratch. Until then, quit trying to find fault with every single aspect of a computer. If you don't like 'em, just don't buy 'em.

I mean damn, really. Vibrations.
 
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drmike

macrumors member
May 17, 2006
77
0
California
To get back to the original poster's question, yes, my MacBook (2.0 GHz, white) vibrates as well, but only if I have the computer on a rigid surface, such as my desk at home (it's not noticeable on every desk and table, though). At first, I was worried about this too, but after visiting my local Apple store and a few discussion forums, I realized that it's likely normal, depending on the kind of hard drive that's inside the MacBook. My brother recently bought the same MacBook, and his vibrates slightly as well. So I no longer worry about it and figure that it's a characteristic of some (though not all) MacBooks.
 
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