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Using 3G service makes iPad warm?

SweetPoison

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Actually, almost hot. Today I noticed that it was pretty warm. I use 3G all the time out in the field and never noticed this.

I thought I read that the iPad works harder when using 3G?

Or not...:eek:
 
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f4780y

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I'm a fairly heavy user Marie. Never noticed anything significant in terms of heat.
 
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SweetPoison

SweetPoison

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Come to think of it ~ it was only the left front that was warm. Funny you should ask that, Leigh. Why did you ask that? Trying to get inside that smart head of yours!
 

f4780y

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You don't want to get in here, trust me! Are you sure it wasn't environmental being on the front? Sun shining on a spot through a window before you picked it up? The front should never get hot from internals!
 
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When heavy using, like Puffin browser or other heavy usage apps, mine will get very warm AFTER I finish using it. I just figured it's a heat dissipation thing. It does it at the top and bottom thirds of the entire back. It's only that way for a few minutes and will be slightly warm at most during use.


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SweetPoison

SweetPoison

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You don't want to get in here, trust me! Are you sure it wasn't environmental being on the front? Sun shining on a spot through a window before you picked it up? The front should never get hot from internals!

I would not ever let my iPad in the sun! I remember though, Leigh, when I first joined this site ~someone told me that when 3G is activated it makes our iPads work harder...

But that would be a hella lot of posts to go through to find that.:D


When heavy using, like Puffin browser or other heavy usage apps, mine will get very warm AFTER I finish using it. I just figured it's a heat dissipation thing. It does it at the top and bottom thirds of the entire back. It's only that way for a few minutes and will be slightly warm at most during use.


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Well this is good to know!
 
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I've not used 3G on my iPad yet but I would think since it uses more energy than wifi that if your signal was weak and the iPad tried to compensate, assuming it does that like a phone would, that the battery would work harder thus creating more heat.


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k7lvo

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The power output of the 3G transmitter is quite low, although I've never seen the specs.

I haven't used the iPad in this manner yet, but the iPhone gets almost too warm to hold comfortably when I run a GPS app and charge it at the same time (which is almost a necessity with the iPhone - the GPS seems to take a LOT more power than the 3G radio.) it seems to get to "full heat" in a half hour or so. I've had it set up that way for several hours at a time. It seems to get hottest on the upper back.
 

f4780y

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Thinking about this last night you could be right about the 3G. As others have said, the iPhone does warm up particularly if I have been on a long call. Maybe if you were pushing hard for half an hour or so it was sufficient to generate some proper heat...
Is it back to normal now Marie?
 
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SweetPoison

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Is it back to normal now Marie?


Oh yes. It was back to normal before I slipped that puppy back into it's case, while still in my car.

And you know ~ it might have happened before while accessing 3G, I just never touched the iPad directly, maybe. This time I just happened to.
 
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Interesting theory ~ I suspect it must be true as it happened to me.

The iPad seems to be designed to dissipate heat quickly so I guess it would feel warmer since it's getting rid of the heat faster than say plastic.
My Omnia phone( I still use it as a wifi PDA) CPU area gets warm enough to use as a hand warmer when I use it for any length of time, add in the battery heat and it's great on a cold morning if I forgot to bring gloves ;)


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