More questions from a first time Mac owner.

Hello everyone, I have a few questions more to ask, and I hope everyone will have the same patience as before on my first thread.

Ok, so I bought the unibody MacBook some weeks ago, probably nearing a month now. And I'd like to perhaps get some answers on some things that have been bothering me a little here and there. I've called AppleCare but they almost always tell me to bring my MacBook down somewhere to have a look at it, and that is not a very viable option. Unless it of course is something major.

1. What is the normal temperature for a MacBook running say Firefox with maybe 5+ tabs open and a video streaming in one of those tabs? Along with maybe aMSN and Pages. Before I had SMCFancontrol running, with power attached it would run at or between 55~61 degrees celsius or so. Currently with SMCFancontrol running, it runs at about 45~51 celsius but the fans are working doubly hard.
While running games on my Win XP partition, it gets hot, sometimes if I put it on my lap for a second or two, it almost feels like the surface could scald me. But I guess that's because I'm running games.

2. Is it more advisable to have the battery out or in if when I'm at home and using just the power adapter?
Applecare has advised that I leave it in all the time, but I'm not entirely convinced on this. Macs aren't PCs but most if not all of the people I know that use PCs have the battery out all the time and only plug it back in when they need it.

3. Is it normal for the screen when closed to not align perfectly with the chassis? It's not noticeable, but if I run my fingers across the edge where the recessed portion of the chassis is that you use to open the MacBook, I can tell it's not aligned 100%.
Also with the battery cover, it cannot be seen but if felt, there is a slight, perhaps a 2mm protrusion.

4. My Win XP CD got stuck in the optical drive when I first installed Win XP. I spent a great deal of time trying to remedy this and eventually found a solution involving running a spoon handle over some spring in the optical drive roughly around the middle. Sure that worked, but is it normal?
The technicians down at Applecare thought it was brilliant and that I should continue to do that if the problem came back, they even had me show them what I meant.


That's all, and please keep in mind that I'm a first-time Mac AND laptop user. And with the Mac reputation about how everything Steve Jobs sells is immaculate, I kind of assume that everything should be P E R F E C T. I've heard about lemons, and I'm just wondering if I got a half Apple-half lemon computer, I think this Mac is fantastic, other than those questions and the glossy screen that I honestly need to get used to or buy anti-glare. I have no other qualms.

Thank you for your time.


Edit: Pictures for Worry #3.

The back of it, you can see it's not fully aligned from left to right and the left portion isn't level.


Same but perhaps a second shot is needed.


Front cover.


Front cover right(where the concern is at).


Front cover left(which appears to be ok, or might be overlapping).


I honestly hope that this is normal and that I should stop fussing and start enjoying. But do tell me if it isn't, thank you again.

 

1) Those temperatures seem fine. While I don't have a unibody to test, my PC runs at about that. Macbooks are generally thought to run a little hot, but what you have is fine.

2) I take my battery out, to keep capacity for as long as possible. I DO NOT recommend doing this with the new unibody macs for 2 reasons. One: It's a bit of a pain to do so, opening the cover, taking the battery out, then closing it. However, the big caveat is this: the unibodies are designed to underclock their components when operating without battery, because the 65w adapters they use are being pushed to the limit. Apple doesn't want the computers to shut down, so they reduce power usage/downclock. See here.

3) Never heard of such a problem. Post some pics maybe so we know what you mean? You might want to take it back; some part of the chassis might be bent. But pics would certainly help us see what is going on.

4) If a CD gets stuck again, demand a replacement. It shouldn't get stuck. But nice job with the spoon. I've never heard of that before!

 

Thanks for replying, and what a relief it is that my MacBook isn't running too hot!

I will try to post pics after I get back from work and if my camera is charged up, thanks for the tip.

And with regards to that spoon trick, I got it off the following website;
http://www.ecstaticist.com/mac/how-i-removed-a-cd-stuck-in-my-macbook-pro/
It recommended a knife blade, but I don't have one lying around and I thought that was a little too sharp for my liking so I went with a spoon instead

And when you say replacement, a replacement optical drive? Or a replacement MacBook?



Edit: How do I rep someone up? I know it's a silly question but I have absolutely no clue!

 

The CD got stuck because you didn't have the drivers installed...

 

What? Are you serious? But that's ridiculous. How could I have installed the drivers when I just installed it and if the CD refused to come out of it's cave? I'm getting the drift that from your point of view, this is unavoidable.

Also, I did attempt to have it eject while in Mac OS X. Not just via Win XP, so I don't think drivers have anything to do with it? At least that's what I think.

 

Yep, weirdo pretty much summed it up for you. The pics would really help for the second question, as a visual conception of the problem would help diagnose it. I think he meant a replacement Macbook.

To rep somebody, just hit the button that says "Add to reputation" in the lower left hand of somebody's post. It will then let you add a comment. It should look like this:



Hope that helps!

 

Thanks Colton!

It seems I don't have a lemon afterall I did have some issues earlier on with it not being able to wake up from sleep, turns out the RAM chips/cards/modules, were "dirty" and that it was the shop who installed it for me at fault. But Applecare fixed that one up real fast.

So with the reply and no replies, I would assume it's perfectly ok to keep the battery in while my MacBook is almost always plugged in and with the battery at 96%(I know it does this to not overcharge itself)?

 

No problem articulate! Glad I could help! Glad Apple was willing and able to replace/fix them.

It's perfectly ok to leave the battery in, as I've had a white Macbook for a couple years, and it's been fine, AND I've kept the battery in the notebook the whole time.

 

Err could you please look at the first post? At the bottom there's the pictures for question number 3. Thanks

 

maybe you should ask for replacement?

also,nothing is perfect...

 

Just saw the pictures. For the bottom casing, I've seen that before. While that's not "normal", per se, I've seen it on friends' computers and you shouldn't really be worried about it.

As for the cover, I think that your hinge is aligned slightly off. Perhaps where it comes out of the unibody, the holes are just a little crooked? If it's significant to the point where it is obvious when you run your finger across that area and you can't stand the inperfection, Apple might replace it. However, it's probably not worth the hassle for that.

One other thing (and this is just a vague possibility): if the problem lies in the hinge, you may end up with hinge problems later. Do you have the 1 year or extended warranty? It's all something to consider.

 

Extended warranty. So I probably should stop fussing about this right? Thanks again. And I'll call Apple to see what they would do about this.