Looking for a quiet, cool laptop

[blue123]

I'm poised on the precipice here. I've surveyed the products and specs, checked out some of the pros and cons, but I'm filled with fear and loathing at the prospect of the whole shopping ordeal. (I hate shopping anyway) Where to find a reasonably quiet laptop for about $1000?

Based on some reviews and feedback, I am wary of anything with a Core Duo or Core Duo 2 processor because they all draw 30W or more and seem to have significant fan noise. The AMD Turion 64 X-2 is in the same ballpark. I wish they made laptops with the old Centrino M chip but they don't seem to. They drew significantly less power and I think generated less heat and required less cooling.

Any ideas out there?

I am extremely sensitive to cycling fan noise. When in a quiet room at home, the fan coming on and then shutting off can break my concentration. It's really a drag. I have zero interest in gaming or any similarly demanding tasks. I would buy a used machine since I don't need the latest or fastest cpu but I'm reluctant to do so because I can't return it.

What to do?

I'm familiar with some of the fan control downloads out there. And I also know I can reduce the speed of the cpu from Windows. But I don't know how well that can work -- i.e. will that reduce the power draw sufficiently to keep the unit cool, keep the fans silent and extend battery life?

I am not averse to fan noise per se. My desktop is pretty ordinary in that regard but it's constant background noise and not at all a problem. It's almost soothing in a low-level, white noise sort of way. The problem with laptops is that the fan noise is variable. I would therefore consider buying a laptop that similarly had a constant fan as long as it wasn't too loud. Alas, I don't think they work that way and I don't know that they can be adjusted to do so.

I appreciate any and all ideas you guys might have.

[jolynsbass]

Hi,
I'll just put a plug in for the Dell e1405/640m laptop, since I got one for Christmas and I have been impressed with several things about it:

#1) - battery life: with the 85Whr battery, ~8 hours! that's beacuse it draws so very little power(Yes it has a Core 2 Duo 1.83Ghz, 667Mhz FSB) Where did you get the 30W figure? Typical power consumption for the entire system whilst doing word processing/coding/surfing is around 9-10 watts. That's with the screen at 5/8 brightness and wifi on! Even with the regular 53Whr battery, it get 4-5 hours battery life. Pretty amazing compared to the majority of laptop battery life, IMO.
#2) - Quiet fan: The fan runs at a low level all the time, and I mean low. It is a very quiet laptop - not silent. My other laptop had a fan that was either on full or off. It was awful. It was slightly quieter with the fan off, but since it ran much hotter than my current laptop, it was on more often than not. Regardless of the fact that the fan is on always with the 640m, it is also extremely low-noise. Helps keep the laptop cooler, too. Which brings me to:
#3) - cool running. This thing is very cool running. I can use it on my lap comfortably. Couldn't do that with my other laptop. The power consumption is so low, that not much heat is generated. The actual temp of the chip (monitored by Notebook Hardware Control) rarely gets above mid-90's Farenheight. Unless I'm doing compu-intensive stuff, it stays very cool, and once it's done doing hot stuff, it cools down quickly.

There are other things I like about it, but that addresses the concerns you've got. And you can get it for <$1000, as per your desire...

One thing, though: Intel GMA950 is no gaming chip... You will not be happy playing anything released in the last 3 years on this. But for me it was a sufficient chip, because of the longer battery life that comes with such an integrated solution(ALL of the dedicated options consume far more power, which means more heat, more noise, less battery life).

So, there you have it. I'm not an employee of Dell. I just am a pleased user of a Dell laptop.

[bean1975]

Samsung Q30 / Dell X1 . How can something be more quiet than this fanless little beastie I have an ongoing project where I will use the CF and SD readers of the machine to run Linux off flash -- after boot, I want to switch off the hard disk, no moving parts, zero noise.

[blue123]

Hi,
I'll just put a plug in for the Dell e1405/640m laptop, since I got one for Christmas and I have been impressed with several things about it:

#1) - battery life: with the 85Whr battery, ~8 hours! that's beacuse it draws so very little power(Yes it has a Core 2 Duo 1.83Ghz, 667Mhz FSB) Where did you get the 30W figure? Typical power consumption for the entire system whilst doing word processing/coding/surfing is around 9-10 watts. That's with the screen at 5/8 brightness and wifi on! Even with the regular 53Whr battery, it get 4-5 hours battery life. Pretty amazing compared to the majority of laptop battery life, IMO.
#2) - Quiet fan: The fan runs at a low level all the time, and I mean low. It is a very quiet laptop - not silent. My other laptop had a fan that was either on full or off. It was awful. It was slightly quieter with the fan off, but since it ran much hotter than my current laptop, it was on more often than not. Regardless of the fact that the fan is on always with the 640m, it is also extremely low-noise. Helps keep the laptop cooler, too. Which brings me to:
#3) - cool running. This thing is very cool running. I can use it on my lap comfortably. Couldn't do that with my other laptop. The power consumption is so low, that not much heat is generated. The actual temp of the chip (monitored by Notebook Hardware Control) rarely gets above mid-90's Farenheight. Unless I'm doing compu-intensive stuff, it stays very cool, and once it's done doing hot stuff, it cools down quickly.

There are other things I like about it, but that addresses the concerns you've got. And you can get it for <$1000, as per your desire...

One thing, though: Intel GMA950 is no gaming chip... You will not be happy playing anything released in the last 3 years on this. But for me it was a sufficient chip, because of the longer battery life that comes with such an integrated solution(ALL of the dedicated options consume far more power, which means more heat, more noise, less battery life).

So, there you have it. I'm not an employee of Dell. I just am a pleased user of a Dell laptop.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry to take so long getting back.

I quoted the standard power consumption of 31W that the cpu manufacturers list. I'm sure it's substantially less if one is using Power Now etc. My point is that the standard power drain for core duos is much higher than with, say the Centrino M cpu.

I'm wary of Dell since I once owned the larger version of what you had -- the 6400. It was hot and loud. I had to give it away. I know that the 1505 is better in those depts but that is likely the case with all smaller laptops.

Roger on the integrated graphic chip. They use less power. I am no gamer. I am a human being!

[blue123]

Samsung Q30 / Dell X1 . How can something be more quiet than this fanless little beastie I have an ongoing project where I will use the CF and SD readers of the machine to run Linux off flash -- after boot, I want to switch off the hard disk, no moving parts, zero noise.

Sounds great and expensive. A little out of my price range.

[jolynsbass]

I quoted the standard power consumption of 31W that the cpu manufacturers list. I'm sure it's substantially less if one is using Power Now etc. My point is that the standard power drain for core duos is much higher than with, say the Centrino M cpu.

I'm wary of Dell since I once owned the larger version of what you had -- the 6400. It was hot and loud. I had to give it away. I know that the 1505 is better in those depts but that is likely the case with all smaller laptops.

Roger on the integrated graphic chip. They use less power. I am no gamer. I am a human being!

Ah yes, the total power figure I quoted is when the chip is using EIST to operate at 1.0Ghz, .85 volts. I guess when it is under heavy load at full speed, it probably does use 31W, but you can tell it to never go to full speed. It's still mighty snappy even at 1.0Ghz!

I know they are in the same family, but the 6400 and 640m are really quite different machines internally. But, whatever!

I hear Nvidia's come out with a decent integrated chip recently, though, much better than the GMA950 performance-wise. I don't know how it does on power draw, though.

[Willy Higinbotham]

Laptops are rarely silent by design. Not enough space for effective cooling.

However, you can run them silent by undervolting with 3rd party software like NHC or RMClock.

I've been using RMClock since 2 years or so with very satisfying results. The fan never runs on my laptop. CPU temp is around 40°C.

[cloneman]

Laptops are rarely silent by design. Not enough space for effective cooling.

However, you can run them silent by undervolting with 3rd party software like NHC or RMClock.

I've been using RMClock since 2 years or so with very satisfying results. The fan never runs on my laptop. CPU temp is around 40°C.

which laptop?

[Willy Higinbotham]

which laptop?

Thinkpad X31 with 12.1" display. Since it has a smaller footprint, it is getting hotter (when not undervolted) than the laptops with 14-15" screens.

[blue123]

Laptops are rarely silent by design. Not enough space for effective cooling.

However, you can run them silent by undervolting with 3rd party software like NHC or RMClock.

I've been using RMClock since 2 years or so with very satisfying results. The fan never runs on my laptop. CPU temp is around 40°C.

Thanks for these ideas. I don't know RMClock. How does it work?

And how effective is it in comparison to Speedfan or other such programs?

Also I am leaning towards an IBM Thinkpad T60. I was into the store yesterday and from the "palm on the keyboard test" the IBMs were coolest to the touch. From what I've read, they seem to run cooler than most based on some reviews. The build quality is good too, which is a good thing. I can also get a discounted price through a friend who works there.

Any thoughts about IBM -- the T60 is popular, but perhaps the R series is also worth a look.

[Willy Higinbotham]

Laptops are rarely silent by design. Not enough space for effective cooling.

However, you can run them silent by undervolting with 3rd party software like NHC or RMClock.

I've been using RMClock since 2 years or so with very satisfying results. The fan never runs on my laptop. CPU temp is around 40°C.

Thanks for these ideas. I don't know RMClock. How does it work?

And how effective is it in comparison to Speedfan or other such programs?

Also I am leaning towards an IBM Thinkpad T60. I was into the store yesterday and from the "palm on the keyboard test" the IBMs were coolest to the touch. From what I've read, they seem to run cooler than most based on some reviews. The build quality is good too, which is a good thing. I can also get a discounted price through a friend who works there.

Any thoughts about IBM -- the T60 is popular, but perhaps the R series is also worth a look.

Starting from your last question, if you would like to know about Thinkpads in general, here's a link to one of the best Thinkpad forum on the internet, which I am a member of as well.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/

There you can find answers to your questions on Thinkpads. Very knowledgeable people and they know their stuff.

Although I have heard of Speedfan, I have never used it. I found RMClock easier to use and configure. But Speedfan should also work well.

http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml

Easy to set up. Just choose Power Saving profile, lower the voltages and off you go.

You can get more info on how to configure a Thinkpad on the Thinkpad forums.

I have been very happy with Thinkpads, I don't think that I'd go with another brand anymore. Great service, great quality.

[blue123]

Thanks Willy. IBM does sound like the best fit for me.

It's good to have a large active forum of knowledgeable users to see you through any rough patches.

Does using RM Clock invalidate any IBM warranties? I have heard this may be an issue with some 3rd party programs.

[Willy Higinbotham]

Thanks Willy. IBM does sound like the best fit for me.

It's good to have a large active forum of knowledgeable users to see you through any rough patches.

Does using RM Clock invalidate any IBM warranties? I have heard this may be an issue with some 3rd party programs.

No, using RMClock would not be problem for the warranty. First of all, there's no installer, you just download it and run it. The only thing it adds to the registry is the auto-run feature (user option), so that it starts every time the user restarts the computer.

Basically, it's an undervolt utility and not an overclock utility. You can't do any harm to your system by undervolting the CPU. The worst thing that can happen is that you'd get a BSOD (on Windows), which is an indication that you have undervolted too much.

Just lower the voltage bit by bit and run Prime95 to test the stability until you get no errors. This is how you determine the lowest possible voltage on your CPU.

[gogos7]

Hi,

I am using a Sony VGN-FE31H (Europe).
Specs :Intel T5500 1.66GHz, Nvidia Go 7400, HDD Fujitsu 120GB 5400rpm.

The GOOD: I have heard the fan very few times (10-15) the last 6 months that I am using the laptop. No matter what you are doing, is "forgoting" to turn on. Even with video encoding or gaming, the fan is off. (Plugged in AC, at "Performance" mode -> 1.66GHz).
Those times that fan turns on, is spinning for few seconds with minimal sound/noise , then it stops.

The BAD: That Fujitsu HDD, unfortunately, is noisy. I can't describe the noise exactly (seeking is not a problem, I am mean it isn't noisy), but is the only thing that generates noise.

With room temperature at 24C here is a screenshot:


In my opinion, prefer a model with low CPU frequency (of course for mobile use - Core 2 Duo, AMD Turion) and a decent GPU, but not something extreme (like 7600GT and above).

[blue123]

Thanks Willy. IBM does sound like the best fit for me.

It's good to have a large active forum of knowledgeable users to see you through any rough patches.

Does using RM Clock invalidate any IBM warranties? I have heard this may be an issue with some 3rd party programs.

No, using RMClock would not be problem for the warranty. First of all, there's no installer, you just download it and run it. The only thing it adds to the registry is the auto-run feature (user option), so that it starts every time the user restarts the computer.

Basically, it's an undervolt utility and not an overclock utility. You can't do any harm to your system by undervolting the CPU. The worst thing that can happen is that you'd get a BSOD (on Windows), which is an indication that you have undervolted too much.

Just lower the voltage bit by bit and run Prime95 to test the stability until you get no errors. This is how you determine the lowest possible voltage on your CPU.

Thanks again.

[gadgeteer]

My IBM ThinkPad T42 seems to be working great. But I heard that the Sony VAIO is pretty cool. I wouldn't mind switching mine to one of those...