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quiet notebook...

post #1 of 25
10/31/04 at 6:39pm
Thread Starter 
Hi, I'm looking for a quiet Centrino notebook - quiet as in low 20db fan noise, maximum. I've currently got an Asus M2418 which I find intolerable to use. This was advertised as low noise (yeah sure, when the fan is off) but in reality it turned out to be marketing bullshit.

Nice to haves: a decent screen (eg sony XBlack), relatively light ~2.5kg or less, decent battery.

Any help appreciated.
Cheers
Baz
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post #2 of 25
10/31/04 at 6:42pm
quiet when doing what exactly? Even pentium-m notebboks (centrino) can get somewhat loud when running their processor at max speeds.

CL56 is one that is absolutely quiet when surfing or doing word processing.
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post #3 of 25
10/31/04 at 6:50pm
Thread Starter 
To put this into perspective: my PC has 3 fans in it (AMD Barton 2500) and this is barely audible running flat out (<20db). I'm looking for similar noise levels from a 1.5 GHz (say) Centrino, or is that expecting too much?
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post #4 of 25
10/31/04 at 6:53pm
Even "centrino" (pentium-M ) notebooks will be somewhat loud when doing intensive stuff.

My CL56's fan would turn on when playing games... but when surfind and doing less intensive things, it made no noise at all.

The Sharp Actius MM20 is a fanless notebook that uses the Transmeta Efficeon. It has a 1Ghz Processor, which should be close to a 1.5 Ghz P-M.
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post #5 of 25
10/31/04 at 7:22pm
Thread Starter 
Are there any manufacturers of centrino notebooks that make an effort to minimise noise by using quiet fans and allowing fan speed to be adjusted? I run audio applications and I'm not sure whether Transmeta based machines would be up to the task (although I'll investigate further).
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post #6 of 25
10/31/04 at 7:51pm
No notebook that I know allows for fan speed to be adjusted.
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post #7 of 25
11/1/04 at 10:00pm
Thread Starter 
Any other recommendations to short-list?
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post #8 of 25
11/2/04 at 2:43am
if you weren't limited to a pc i would recommend a 12" powerbook, the thing is SILENT.
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post #9 of 25
11/2/04 at 2:57am
These systems are all fanless, therefore silent:

1. Sony X505/P/SP/CP, 1.7 ~ 1.8 lbs
2. Sharp MM20/MM10, 2.0 ~ 2.1 lbs
3. Sharp MP30, 2.8 lbs
4. Sharp MP70G/MP50G, 2.78 ~ 2.82 lbs
5. Panasonic R3/R2/R1, 2.1 ~ 2.2 lbs
6. Panasonic T2/T1, 2.4 ~ 2.6 lbs
7. Panasonic W2, 2.84 lbs
8. Panasonic Y2, 3.4 lbs

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post #10 of 25
11/2/04 at 1:46pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for all your suggestions. The Panasonic Y2 looks interesting, but the memory restriction is a problem. I'd rather not pay a premium for a ultra-lightweight as this isn't a primary consideration - in fact a bigger, hi-res screen is more important.

I think a centrino based notebook is most appropriate for my needs. If the fan starts only during heavy cpu usage maybe I'll have to live with that; at the moment it starts intermittently even with light use and running on battery.
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post #11 of 25
11/2/04 at 2:39pm
I would recommend you the Asus M6(B)Ne - it is very very quiet and the fan has many speed settings. During normal use you just don't know it is there. Plus the fan itself is very quiet even if it comes on.
The Compal CL56 also seems to be very quiet, at least this is what I read.
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post #12 of 25
11/2/04 at 5:23pm
Have a look at HP nc6000. HP nc8000 and nw8000 are virtually silent during normal use, and the same should be true for nc6000. Try to get a SXGA+ screen instead of XGA, which sucks.
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post #13 of 25
11/8/04 at 9:47am
The nc8000 is virtually silent? Nah. Mine has a stupid fan that turns on after 5 minutes of usage; the fan just never shuts down, even when I'm running at 600MHz. When I'm running it at the full 1.7GHz speed, you could use the ventilation grid as a dryer.

Is my computer just having an odd behaviour or did I misunderstood you on the "virtually silent" part? To me, a silent computer is a computer that doesn't have ANY fan on at all when the processor is idle (web surfing for example). Not a humming noise that makes you think you forgot to shut down your vacuum cleaner.

My nc8000, even when running at 600MHz, switches the fan on even when the processor is idle. This isn't what I would consider a "silent" laptop. I would love to meet a nc8000 engineer just to ask him why the hell he thought it was necessary to enable the fan when the processor temperature goes over 40°C (i.e. all the time).

Lately, it seems that car makers simply don't test-drive their cars and computer engineers don't use their computers.
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post #14 of 25
11/8/04 at 12:40pm
I've got experience from nc8000 model PF196AA (my father's lappy) and nw8000 model DU425EA (my bro's lappy) and they both are virtually silent during use. The fan kicks in only during 3D use and it doesn't produce much noise (although can be clearly heard).
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post #15 of 25
11/8/04 at 12:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagicRobin
...I would love to meet a nc8000 engineer just to ask him why the hell he thought it was necessary to enable the fan when the processor temperature goes over 40°C (i.e. all the time).
GOLD jerry GOLD!

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post #16 of 25
11/8/04 at 4:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tommi
I've got experience from nc8000 model PF196AA (my father's lappy) and nw8000 model DU425EA (my bro's lappy) and they both are virtually silent during use. The fan kicks in only during 3D use and it doesn't produce much noise (although can be clearly heard).
OK, so this means mine has a problem and I already lived with it for over 6 months.

I'm going to give HP a phone call and torture the tech support guy in order to see what can be done. MobileMeter clearly shows the first fan kicking in step is 40°C, so I wonder why other nc8000 would not act the same. You don't run your laptops in a freezer, do you?
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post #17 of 25
11/9/04 at 5:05am
Although it is rather cold outside, our house temperatures in Finland are above 20 degrees celcius.
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post #18 of 25
11/10/04 at 7:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagicRobin
I'm going to give HP a phone call
Any feedback yet?
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post #19 of 25
11/10/04 at 7:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by baz
Any feedback yet?
The guy said he will try on a nc8000 and call me back.
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post #20 of 25
12/3/04 at 6:59pm
Thread Starter 
MagicRobin - so was there a fault with your laptop after all?
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