Petitioning Retailers is Crucial

The forum for non-component-related silent pc discussions.

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Jake
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm

Post by Jake » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

It is presumed that people viewing this site are probably looking for the quietest computer they can find, but one of our main challenges comes in the lack of information available on computer noise.
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<BR>I call upon visitors to this site to email, phone and write letters to retailers urging them to include noise ratings alongside their products. I also ask this site to write a feature on how to perform good, accurate, standardised noise rating tests with methodology which can then be suggest to retailers and manufacturers alike. A traditional online/offline petition may also be an idea, although this can often be done really badly and hence becomes worthless.
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<BR>Another suggestion may be to include special awards alongside reviews so that retailers/manufacturers can stick these awards all over their products, in a similar way to how tradition PC magazines dish out awards.
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<BR>Does anyone else have any ideas along these lines? I think it's important to realise that generally the computer industry is 'geeks' (no insult intended) whose primary goal is faster speeds, and hence all specs/advertising/marketing is based upon this. We have to make the industry realise that, although geeks buy computers, most computer users aren't geeks, and care about things other than big numbers. Like noise, for example. But because we're so used to having to quantitatively compare specs on computers, at least provide a quantitative comparison of what matters to us - noise.
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tomris
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm

Post by tomris » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

We don't have to reinvent the wheel:
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<br>The international standards for measurement and declaration of information technology acoustic noise emissions are already developed.
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<br>I suggest Jake and other interested to read my recent writing on these matters:
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<br><!-- BBCode auto-link start --><a href="http://home.swipnet.se/tr/silence.html" target="_blank">http://home.swipnet.se/tr/silence.html</a><!-- BBCode auto-link end -->
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<br>and
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<br><!-- BBCode auto-link start --><a href="http://home.swipnet.se/tr/iso.html" target="_blank">http://home.swipnet.se/tr/iso.html</a><!-- BBCode auto-link end -->
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MikeC
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Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Post by MikeC » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

<!-- BBCode Quote Start --><TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font class="pn-sub">Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT class="pn-sub"><BLOCKQUOTE> The international standards for measurement and declaration of information technology acoustic noise emissions are already developed. </BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE><!-- BBCode Quote End -->
<br>Agreed. (Hi Tomas, welcome to our forums!)
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<br>And Jake, while telling retailers we want noise ratings is probably not a bad thing, they are not in a position to to conduct any of the noise tests relevant to PCs or components. The cost is prohibitive and no retailer has the resources to do it themselves.
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<br>I was in touch with the IBM Hudson Valley Acoustics Laboratory recently. This lab an internal facility for IBM and an independent testing laboratory. For IBM, they do noise control engineering design and development primarily for the large enterprise servers (mainframes and supercomputers), and our chambers are used for everything from component testing (fans, blowers, etc.) to full-blown compliance testing on the final product.
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<br>Their prices for noise measurements on a PC as per ISO 7779: US$500-950 depending on the particulars. Even a simple tone analysis: $100.
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<br>There's little question the manufacturers must be the ones to provide the noise data, and they need to contacted, perhaps with a cc to the retailer you're dealing with.
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MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Mon Aug 12, 2002 2:32 pm

BTW, for those who are interested, the testing standard relevant for fans is ANSI S12-11 - 1987: "Method for the Measurement of Noise Emitted by Small Air-Moving Devices".
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