Proactively dealing with the heat.

Question

Many user's of the new macbook's and macbook pro's are recognizing the high heat issues of these machines. Some however report of having no significant heat experience at all. I do not see any reason why some macbook's who get uncomfortably hot and some wouldn't. Is it possible that some user's w/o complaints simply haven't used thier computer for long enough periods to establish a significant heat level? Most people don't even use a computer for longer than an hour or so,. Personally, my macbook gets a little warm. But this is only after an hour or so. During the first hour, following a long rest/sleep, the heat is fine. After that I must say that it gets a little warm on my lap, enough for me to shift it around every once and a while. But it really doesn't bother me that much. But the key word here. "ME."
I venture to say this:
All macbook's and macbook pro's and quite possibly all notebook's will get hot to uncomfortable point if used for a long enough period. However, since the description "uncomfortable" is entirely subjective, we will get:
1. More extreme reports from user's with very sensitive skin.
2. Mild or no report at all from user's not sensitive enough for the warmth to get to them.
3. Report's of no heat problems whatsoever from user's who do not use thier computer's for long enough periods, or long enough sitting's to warrant the upper heat levels (by far, the vast majority of user's will be in this category and you will never hear a word from them. If you do, it will be very positive, which is entirely O.K. and honest and absolutely understandable, albeit perhaps a bit misleading to a different user.)
4. Report's of no heat from user's who, in the much understandable excitement of having just recieved the macbook, have prematurely posted a no heat experience without even having used thier machine long enough.
Personally, I fall under the #2 group. If the heat begin's to bother me I just shift the computer a little bit or put it on the table instead. I, out of what I would call common sense, never expected that a notebook would not be hot.
Notebook's are going to get hot. Cram all that power into such a small area and heat will certainly be produced. Now one can argue for the reasons why but one can also not escape the fact that pretty much all laptop and notebook computer's get very warm after extended use periods or processor heavy periods. With the current technology there is not a way to remove this issue.
All this being said, we must discover ways of minimizing that heat if we should want to use our notebooks indeed as "laptops." I am open to dealing with the heat issue and am open to any advice any of you can offer to minimize this inherent issue. Those of us who are bothered by the heat level and have found or know of ways of reducing it should speak. Does anyone care to start?
(DO NOT POST TO TELL ME THAT YOU HAVE NO HEAT PROBLEMS. THE HEAT PROBLEMS ARE NOT BAD. THEY ARE JUST THERE. WETHER OR NOT YOU DEFINE IT AS A PROBLEM DEPENDS ENTIRE UPON YOU AND YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIECE. I WANT ONLY TO DEAL WITH THEM HERE.)

Answer 1

A simple visit to an Apple store (if geographically possible) will show that your model, the 1.83ghz MacBook, appears to be the coolest to the touch along the bottom and topsides, of all models. Oddly, in one of the stores we visited (of 3), the temperature varied among the same configurations. ie. Black MacBooks along side one another, where one was much, much warmer than the other, confirmed by store members and personnel. A 17" MacBook Pro was the coolest to the touch, but possibly because the larger surface area of the shell made for a greater radiator or heat sink, if you will.
We have 2 MacBooks, an iMacIntel Duo 20", and a venerable 17" G4 Powerbook. The heat generated varies remarkably on the Intel processors depending on configuration of memory, usage, climate and the programs running.
Now if the Macbooks only had a backlit keyboard, then it would be nearly perfect for those night time living room surfing in the dark evenings at our house.
Black MacBook (2), iMac Duo 20", Powerbook 17" etc Mac OS X (10.4.6) Stock configuration