New 15" i5 overheating?

I'm finding my new MBP is getting extremely hot on the bottom, to where it feels like it will burn my legs if left there for a minute.
I downloaded smcFancontrol, and just sitting here in OSX, using Safari typing this message, it is reading 107F. I have nothing else running.
It shows the fan speed as 1999rpm. When I go into preferences, and move the sliders up to increase the rpm, say to 5500, I then hit save, enter my password, and it closes, but the fan speed doesn't change. Stays at 1999 (give or take 5).

So....is there a problem with my MBP if it is getting this hot?? And am I doing something wrong with the fan control since it won't increase the RPM???

Thanks!

 

uhhh... 107º F is very cold (for a laptop)... did you mean C ?

I've never had SMCfancontrol not work...I make presets for it to easily change what I need to change just from the top menu bar.

 

check out if you have programs using an unusually high amount of cpu power in activity monitor.

 

No, that was temp. in F. I realize from reading that it doesn't seem to be very high, but I've never had a windows laptop that felt like it was literally burning my legs, this one does. I can't have it sitting on my legs for more than a few minutes.
Weird, now that I am using it this morning, the fan control seems to work...perhaps it needed a reboot to start working?
Anyway, it feels somewhat cool at first, even though the temp reads the same @ around 105, but then after 30 minutes, the temp will still read the same, but the bottom of the laptop will be extremely hot..

 

its a side effect on the aluminum unibody. the aluminum conducts the heat towards your lap more effectively than with the plastic most pc lappies are made from.

 

Thx, I guess that is the reality. Are there any really thin cooling pads that are safe to stick to the bottom, like a thin layer of neoprene? About 95% of the time I use the laptop is on the couch, thus on my lap..

 

Maybe get something like this Review: Thermaltake iXoft Notebook Cooling Pad ? Computer Chips & Hardware Technology | Geek.com

 

I'd get your laptop checked out.. there may be something wrong with it.

The bottom of mine is cool to the touch even up to 120º F... it only feels warm getting up to like 150º F to 160º F, and not really unbearably hot until its getting over 180º... Mine isn't a i5 15"er but it still seems surprising.

 

I have the i5 model also, it never feals that hot unless im on youtube for a long time or playing a game,even then it is only at around 50-70 degres Celcius. When browsing the web and word processing on a surface that keeps the air flowing, my laptop stays at around 40.Try to keep it on a surface thats flat so that the air flows better and it should stay cool. If not get it checked.

xDC