Let's list and discuss some currently available fanless notebooks. Also announced models available in close future.

Let's not consider anything with smaller than 7" screen or larger than 17" a laptop. The thing must also have a regular keyboard and enough horsepower to run normal common operating systems and applications. Also operation on battery power is a must, and so is LAN and WLAN.

At the moment most passively cooled notebooks can be found in ultra portable/netbook class, have usually 10-12" screen, Intel atom CPU, integrated graphics and weight under 2kg. Because of small screen and low power components, battery life is usually good.

Pros: They obviously make less noise than actively cooled ones, and with solid-state storage they make no noise at all.

Cons: Low performance because of low-power cpus.

2013

All have Atom Z2760 CPU, 2GB RAM and SSD.

Asus VivoTab TF810C
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-VivoTab-TF810C-Convertible.88430.0.html

Dell Latitude 10 tablet
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-10-Tablet.88933.0.html

Samsung ATIV Smart PC
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Samsung-ATIV-Smart-PC-XE500T1C-Convertible.86558.0.html

Thinkpad Tablet 2
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-ThinkPad-Tablet-2-Wi-Fi-Tablet.89867.0.html

HP Envy x2
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-HP-Envy-x2-11-g000eg-Tablet.87799.0.html


2012 models

ASUS EeePC 1011CX
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-Eee-PC-1011CX-Netbook.74216.0.html

Asus EEPC X101CH
http://liliputing.com/2012/03/asus-eee- ... -look.html

+ possibly some other EeePC models since 2012.

Nav 13x
http://netbooknavigator.com/index.php?o ... Itemid=208


Not available anymore as new:

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 and 10v (Minis 9 and 12 no more available as new)
10 inch netbooks.

Sony Vaio P
8 inch netbook

Nokia Booklet
10 inch netbook

Asus T91
9 inch tablet
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-Eee-PC-T91-MT-Tablet.24438.0.html

Dell Inspiron Mini 9
9" screen, Intel Atom CPU, 512mb-1gb Ram, 4-16gb SSD
It's fanless and has SSD, so it should be completely silent.
Specs: http://gizmodo.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2008/08/dellproductoverviewwtmk1.jpg
Review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4578

Samsung Q40 (12" widescreen, external optical)
Specs: http://www.samsung.com/uk/business/b2b/products/notebooks/ultra_mobile/q40.htm
Available with SSD in Hongkong.

Panasonic Toughbook W5 (12", internal optical)
Specs: http://www.toughbook.eu/media/SpecSheet_CF-W5_en.pdf
Reviews:
http://www.notebookreview.com/reviews/Default.asp?brandID=11&productFamilyID=910&reviewSiteID=0&lastBrandID=11&currentPage=0&callingPage=&cmd=

Also T5 (12" touchscreen), R6 (10"), CF-51 and many other toughbooks are fanless. New dual-core 5-series models and W7/R7/T7/Y7 models have a fan.


Fujitsu Lifebook P7120 (10.6" widescreen, internal optical)
Specs:
http://www.fujitsu.com/hk/news/news20070104_eng.html
Reviews:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2695


Motion computing M1200, M1300 and M1400 were fanless tablets. M1400 had 1.1ghz Pentium M ULV cpu and wide viewing angle display.

Nec Versa pro VY11F/GL-R and possibly some other models were/are fanless tablets.

Acer Travelmate C110-C112 were fanless centrino tablets.

Sony Vaio X505 was fanless small centrino laptop.

Samsung Q30 is also fanless, but replaced by Q40. Dell latitude X1 (re-branded Q30) is fanless, but not available anymore.

Toughbook W2-W4 and single core W5 were fanless, propably same for early T2-T5 and Y2-Y4 models.

Lifebook P7120 is still available, but it's being replaced by P7230 which has a fan. It's starting to disappear from retailers.

There are some devices with VIA/other CPUs out there, but the performance is poor compared to Intel CPUs.

Wyse has fanless "thin client" laptops, i don't know if you can install regular hard drive or SSD in those.

Obsolete:

NEC ShieldPro FC-N21S is a 12" inch fanless rugged tablet with 1.2ghz Core Solo, 1gb RAM and 60gb HDD released in early 2008, quite a bit cheaper than toughbook CF-19 in europe ("only" 2700e and up).
http://www.neceurope.com/pdf/ShieldPRO_Catalogue%20%28English%29%20Final.pdf

Many GETAC rugged models are fanless.

DRS Armor C12 is a fanless, rugged tablet.

Advantech MARS 3100R and 3100S are fanless rugged 10" inch tablets with 500mhz AMD geode cpu.

Many semi/fully rugged laptops (like most of the toughbook family, CF-19 and CF-30) are fanless, but extremely expensive. Some models:
Roper Duros
pacebook d110

Some Kohjinsha and Raon models are fanless, but have slow AMD geode CPUs around 500mhz, and availability is poor in US or Europe.

The Samsung Q30 is the very same system as the Dell X1 (OK, X1 has a Bluetooth adapter as well). The latter can be had for relatively cheap on eBay. As Linux recognizes its CF and SD readers, you can buy CF and SD cards, at this moment 8G and 2G ones are the sweet spot for a total of 10G flash to run from. To boot you still need the HDD, and I would recommend rsyncing occassionally back to the HDD as well. But aside from that, the HDD is not really needed and you can have a machine which does not have any moving parts while operating, costs about $800-900 and has backup on board

Fanless laptops are nice, real nice - but in my opinion a more practical solution would be a laptop that can run with the fan off under light to medium usage, then kick in if performance is needed. Trouble is, from what I've seen, most laptops have fans that kick in much too early, and are a little above what I'd consider to be safe to run passive at idle.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/water-cooling/rumor-hp-going-for-water+cooled-fa%20nless-laptops-this-fall-258443.php



I hope these things will make it to the market. Watercooling in laptops sounds a bit weird at first, but i suppose it could be used to spread heat from hot components to metal case more effectively than heatpipes, though with more weight. Actually typical magnesium-alloy case itself could directly connect to hot components, and be heatspreader and heatsink (I think this is how some of the toughbooks are cooled, with direct connection or heatpipes connecting the hot components and the case).

I have a Dell D420 which has a similar issue. The fan doesn't run at all (or does so very slowly), it gradually heats up (even at idle), and then the fan comes on sounding like a vacuum cleaner. Fortunately, there's a very nice utility for controlling fan speed--I8kfangui. I've set mine to come on sooner at a slow speed, and in the non-stressful way I use it (basically email and word processing), it works quite well and is pretty quiet.

uuuuuuuuuup!!


i really need a fanless laptop.

which ones are really fanles at this time (appart overpriced ones like Getac or Toughbook CF-30) ?

thanks a lot!!!!! !

Despite my earlier post, I could not get my D420 fan under control. I sold it and bought a used, but mint condition, Dell X1 on ebay. It is totally fanless.

I replaced the HDD with a Samsung SSD, so it's now totally solid state--silent and no vibration. If you want an ultralight and all you do is basic office stuff, it's great--2 1/2 pounds and almost full-size keyboard.

Dell X1 is great, and with SSD must be really noisless

but the problem is that i need more power.

i think a least 1.66 dualcore


the new penryn LV at 1.86 ghz have only 1 W more than the 1.66 ghz cpu used in the Getac M230 fanless laptop.

i think we will see updated fanless rugged laptops soon. (i hope so)


still, i don't know why factories don't release fanless laptop for people that want silence. There is a huge market on this.


i was looking at a Toughbook CF-30 which is not so bad. And some can be found on Ebay near 2000$. They have a nice outdoor screen also.

I've sent a mail to Dell to know is the augmentix XTG630 based on the Dell ATG D630 is fanless or not (i don't think so, i've sadly seen vents on the back)

also, in the list above, the Toughbook Y5 is mentionned as fanless.

but he is not

the very first Y5 were fanless, but Panasonic called them back because there was problems.

that's why, on internet we see people talking fanless Y5 and other says it has a fan.


i know this from Panasonic France Toughbook technicians.

anybody could call augmentix for me (i live in France, i cant call) and ask if the XTG630 is fanless or not ?

number is : 866.556.0088 Ext 3.

i don't know if it's overtaxed call or not.

if anybody is interested, please help me, thanks a lot

Could you describe how often the fan was coming in at low CPU usage?
A reviewer of the D430 claimed the fan "hardly ever came on" (when not testing the unit at 100% CPU usage).

It's hard to imagine they improved the fanless idle ability all that much between these two models.

In a room about 20 degrees Celsius and while on battery power, with low CPU utilization, the temps would be pretty stable, and the fan would not come on, or would come on after an extended period. I think that that's what fooled me into thinking I8kfangui was controlling the fan.

However, if the laptop was plugged into the A/C charger, the temps would go steadily up and the fan would be on within ten minutes. This would also happen if the room were a few degrees warmer. Once the fan was on, it would stay on pretty much indefinitely.

What's annoying about the design is that it seems likely that if the fan came on at a lower temp and at lower RPM, it likely would keep everything cool enough and be decently quiet. Perhaps the D430 is better that way.

Another possibility is that the Core 2 Duo runs cooler (although I don't see why it would). I recently switched from a Mac Mini Core Duo to a Mac Mini Core 2 Duo. The former was not very quiet (fan on all the time and noisy), but I have to put my head very close to the latter to hear it (fan also on all the time).

EDIT: After posting this reply, I got curious and found this googling:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/archive/index.php/t-177464.html

It suggests the problem still exists.

Thanks for your post.

It seems the spacier/thicker 14" models are better for heat dissiaption than the ultra slims, but only the ultra slims have the low heat CPUs

You might think about a used X1. For many tasks the difference between a Pentium M and a Core Duo is pretty minimal, and spending the money on an SSD can actually yield as good, if not better, snappiness. If you have something that needs a lot more oomph, on-board graphics and a ULV CPU aren't going to do it in either case.

This area is going to get really interesting when the new Atom chips come out from Intel. With the power of an original centrino, and dual core versions coming soon under 10Ws, this should be a fun thing to watch.

new cpus comes with lower and lower tdp, but not more power... there seems to be a gap at 1.6 / 1.8 ghz that can't be risen above without multiplying by 4 the tdp.

other thing :

a new thin fanless notebook



emailed them to asked the price.

I wanted to know if they could design thinner laptops, with better colors...

no response...

I've been having an interesting chat about some Fujitsu notebook tablets.

The T2010 (u7600 + x3100) apparently runs low CPU tasks well with no fan in battery mode, but not when plugged in. With 7-8h's battery life, the later isn't much of an issue. In Australia it comes as standard with a detachable dock (with DVD drive) that sits under it, doubling it's thickness. Very nice.

The T4220 (shortly with Penryn) in it's current T7500 2.2Ghz version, also with x3100 graphics, sounds promising when "quiet fan" is selected in BIOS and it's run in battery mode. The DVD drive can be swaped for a modular battery. Intel Duo Core CPU whine may be an issue in some power states, but the extra power's there when you need raw processing grunt, rather than silence.

Those not interested in a Tablet could either throw away the pen, or investigate Fujitsu's non Tablet versions of these same notebooks.

Can't you fan people start a different thread?


The thread was for fanless laptops. It's an important subject in itself and deserves its own space.

ApparentlyI have heard that the whole toughbook range is fanless.
But I came across this link to a toughbook CF48 replacement fan!!!!
http://www.bobjohnson.com/_store/Displa ... =UDQFFDH01

I have a panasonic toughbook.. CF W2, has a japanese keyboard..
It does make some noise which I suppose must be the hard drive.

The noise doesn't kill me, but I would rather it were not there. There have been rare instances where I have had to turn it off or move away.. But I am very sensitive to continuous or repetitive noises or high pitched noises. computer noises tend to be continuous..

Another noise it can make sometimes, is when minimizing or maximizing windows, it can make a beep sound, not like a PC Speaker one, this is a real nightmare noise. High pitched. What I do sometimes is when it's ok, I create a "system restore" restore point, and if it starts, I restore it to that point. Then it doesn't make that noise anymore. OR another option is deselect "animate windows when maximizing or minimizing" in ctrl panel..system..advanced..performance settings.

The RAM is non standard, which is a real nuisance, because it is only 256MB.

The hard drive is hard to reach.. It's basically not very servicable. It can be opened up, I have seen a picture, but when that is done, it lifts the heatsink of the CPU, so would probably ideally need the paste to be reapplied. And the Hard drive has some kind of 3.3v hack.. so it is lower power (most hard drives are 5v). So changing hard drives would be an issue.

Battery life is fantastic.. that is common with ultra portables, because the processor is a very low watt / low power one.

I use it all the time.. I like it. Just because I hate noise. And it's good enough.

the only recent fanless toughbook i know and with enough power to use nowadays is the CF-30

i has good screen, quite fast processor but it's bulky :



an advantage is that you don't need a case to protect the laptop.

but really the ultimate fanless laptop is the Getac M230. It is thin but quite heavy, and a badass screen and good proc.

it's the most powerfull, and best fanless laptop on earth ^^

I have a panasonic toughbook CF W2B
japanese keyboard .. May be a japanese version of the laptop..

With Win XP, It can get itself into a state where it makes a high pitched noise when maximizing or minimizing.. But I can get it back to normal with a win xp system restore. I have a restore point called "nonoise".

It's not noiseless, I am not sure what makes the noise, maybe the hard disk drive. The noise it makes doesn't kill me though, I can use it for hours and not get sick. I have even left it on when I sleep , but usually I turn it off when I sleep. So there is noise, but I find it not that bad. I can certainly hear it. Not just with my ear to it.. But I have very sensitive hearing.

A big nuisance with it, is the RAM is proprietary, and the HDD is hard to get to. That may be unique to my specific toughbook. But I have seen with a few of them that if you open it up - related to lifting the keyboard - then the heatsink is separated from the cpu and so paste would probably need reapplying. I haven't opened it up yet.. too difficult.

I have read that the whole toughbook range is fanless..
(though I do recall seeing a link to a fan for a toughbook.. so do be careful!)

I noticed the keyboard on a fujitsu lifebook P7120 looks good..
a)maybe becaue it was a uk model, it had the backslash positioned so it's easy to do cd\ (if not doing auto-completion - tab- you don't need a space. You can type that -fast- with one hand)
b)the arrow keys were far from shift. that's excellent. Some laptops mess it up, and it means you can hit up arrow when you go to hit shift. Or vice versa.

Of these 2 fanless laptop you mention..
The toughbook CF-30, and the Getac M230,
does the rugged case mask the noise?

Can you hear them if you put your ear to them?
how about when working with them from a normal distance?

I'm really pleased to see fanless laptops that are bulky.

I suspect them to be less likely to make noise.

WAY too pricey though.. I see they are advertised to people who want the POWER with the fanlessness. And they are pricey for that reason.

Not so much the people that just want silence.. and thin kthat all computers nowadays are powerful enough and have been for years.

I tend to look more at cheap laptops , especially 'cos I may want a few of them!

i can't tell you m8 because i never owned one of these , but i think they are silent mostly because they are rugged with no fans, so all the interior of the laptop is kinda sealed to resist water.

one Getac M230 to sell on Ebay !!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/RUGGED-M230-LAPTOP- ... dZViewItem

(beware : 14,1 inch 1024x768 only!!)

The Panasonic CF-18 had a fan, but it's update, the CF-19 (sporting among other things, a faster CPU- duo 2 core U7500) is fanless.

"Water and dust proofing is essential to a healthy notebook. So we've created a fan-less design to avoid dust and other particles being sucked into the body of the computer."

Expensive, yes, but also a tablet. Now I need to find out if it will take SSD's...

To update this thread a bit.

The Dell
Mini 9, Mini 10 and Mini 12 are all fanless netbook laptops.

The XO-1 is also fanless.

Anybody know any other recent fanless laptops?


Is there a thread for listing/keeping track of fanless desktops/nettops?

The Lenovo H200 is supposed to be fanless.

A Dell sales associate just told me that all of their notebooks and minis have fans.

There are plenty of dissection pics on the net where you can see the internals of the minis.
At least I can't see fans here.

Perhaps the Dell sales associates simply don't know about it. (if it's not mentioned on their website)

Information was from looking at reviews, etc. on the web (haven't checked them myself). Don't have the bookmarks for the sites I found information on originally, but here are a few reviews, etc., indicated that they are fanless. (Of course they could have redesigned them to include fans.)

Mini 9 reviews:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4578

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc ... =3399&p=10

Mini 10 manuals:

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mi ... nline.html

Mini 12

http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/01/dell ... -pleasure/

I have an Lenovo X300, in which the fan can be controlled by the 3rd party application TPFanControl. With this application, the fan speed can be brought back into control. With the default BIOS setting, the fan often runs at 5500 RPM, even when loaded very little. In TPFanControl, I've set the fan to be off untill CPU temperature reaches 60 degrees. At 70 degrees the fan turns on and runs about 2000 RPM, which is completely inaudible. Only when temperature reaches 75 degrees, the fan speed goes up to 5500 RPM.

By using this application, this once quite noisy laptop is turned into a completely silent machine, 98 % of the time I use it. You can turn off the monitor and leave it at your desk, and you can't hear it's on. Only when the machine is continously loaded, the fan is noticeable.