I was delighted with the quiet operation of the new imac until a couple of nights ago it started whistling to itself. Maddening. Experimentation soon identified the source of the problem - one or more of the vent holes on top of the bowl. I've presently cured it with a piece of scotch tape covering about a third of these at the front of the machine, but I'm a little worried about causing some kind of meltdown. Has anyone else experienced this and does anyone else have a better solution for it?
MarkPilgrim: I have a slot-loading iMac DV and haven't had this problem. Taping up the top of your iMac should definitely be considered a short-term solution, though. The iMac is convection-cooled, it doesn't have a fan. Air enters at the bottom, cools the components, and hot air escapes out the top. No escaping, no cooling.
I'm sorry, I'm talking about a new imac - the luxolamp version. Unlike its predecessor this little beast has a fan, albeit a very quiet one. I understand the old imacs had insufficient airflow to generate any whistle, though I did see some complaints about hard-disk noise in google's usenet archive. Again, if such discussion is inappropriate for diveintoosx, please let me know. --PeterMerel