quiet laptop

G

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Hi dudes

I'm on the lookout for a quiet laptop, preferably Intel-based. I've
heard about laptops where the fans don't come on unless you're gaming or
running something CPU-intensive - could anyone recommend such a laptop
from experience? Or provide any general guidelines to help me purchase
such a system?

I don't need anything fancy, just something nice and quiet with a bit of
power in case I need it (no Celerons!).

Ideally I'd like a laptop where the fans didn't come on at all if I was
just browsing the web or reading newsgroups.

Thanks!
 

Falco

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Apr 16, 2004
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I think the running of the fan is relative to what sort of climate you live
in.
I live in a semi tropical climate and the fan on my Toshiba Satellite comes
on frequently on HOT (greater than 30 degrees)
days.
The fan turns on even on cold days if I am doing video editing.
I must admit the noise (or lack of) is not an issue for me as to me it seems
not very loud.
Hope this helps.


"John L." <john@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:3l92ljF10umv8U1@individual.net...
> Hi dudes
>
> I'm on the lookout for a quiet laptop, preferably Intel-based. I've heard
> about laptops where the fans don't come on unless you're gaming or running
> something CPU-intensive - could anyone recommend such a laptop from
> experience? Or provide any general guidelines to help me purchase such a
> system?
>
> I don't need anything fancy, just something nice and quiet with a bit of
> power in case I need it (no Celerons!).
>
> Ideally I'd like a laptop where the fans didn't come on at all if I was
> just browsing the web or reading newsgroups.
>
> Thanks!
 

Andrew

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Mar 31, 2004
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Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

John L. <john@nospam.com> wrote:
: Hi dudes

: I'm on the lookout for a quiet laptop, preferably Intel-based. I've
: heard about laptops where the fans don't come on unless you're gaming or
: running something CPU-intensive - could anyone recommend such a laptop
: from experience? Or provide any general guidelines to help me purchase
: such a system?

Get a Pentium M-based system. Pentium M is a CPU designed for mobile
computing: low power, high battery life, etc. The CPU fan will need
to come on less often as a result. Pentium M also is more efficient
per clock than the desktop Pentium 4 (now "Pentium D) CPU, so a 1.5GHZ
Pentium M is something like a 3.0GHZ Pentium 4 in performance.

"Centrino" is Intel's "laptop package" that includes a Pentium M CPU.

: I don't need anything fancy, just something nice and quiet with a bit of
: power in case I need it (no Celerons!).

Nothing wrong with a Celeron. The originals got a bad rap because
they were kind of clunky, but today's Celerons are just fine. They
are a little slower than their counterparts at the same clock
frequency, but for some the cost trade-off is worth it. I have a 2GHZ
Celeron in my Toshiba laptop and don't notice lagging performance. I
have a 2.4GHZ P4 desktop as well so I would know the difference. The
very few times I really desire a faster CPU on my laptop have not been
worth spending a few hundred bucks more on a faster laptop in the
first place.

: Ideally I'd like a laptop where the fans didn't come on at all if I was
: just browsing the web or reading newsgroups.

My Toshiba is pretty much like that. Even with a Pentium M, the
frequency of the fan coming on will depend in part the cooling design
of the laptop but will also depend on how hot the room is where you
are using it.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
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----> http://www.bizave.com <---- Photo Albums and Portland Info
----> To Email me remove "MYSHOES" from email address
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G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I was hoping by now someone would have come up with real samples, not
generalities.

I don't have samples either, and while I am fairly happy with my
notebook in the noise area, I am not going to recommend a 5 years old
model to you, and it's a Cely! (works for me).

If I were on your shoes, and I don't get more precise answers, I'd
look for a notebook with a processor in its class which is labelled as
low power or low voltage. Go to the Intel website and verify indeed
this processor sux less power. Less power=less reason for fan to come
on.

Now I won't be runing 3D, first-person gaming with this rig, and u
shouldn't expect to.






---------------
If your business is looking for quick free consulting,
please ignore my replies. I only wish to reply to other
engineers/administrators and home users who are stuck
and not interested to give your business free consulting.

Thank you.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

On Tue, 02 Aug 2005 12:10:42 +0100, "John L." <john@nospam.com> wrote:

>I'm on the lookout for a quiet laptop, preferably Intel-based. I've
>heard about laptops where the fans don't come on unless you're gaming or
>running something CPU-intensive - could anyone recommend such a laptop
>from experience? Or provide any general guidelines to help me purchase
>such a system?
>
>I don't need anything fancy, just something nice and quiet with a bit of
>power in case I need it (no Celerons!).
>
>Ideally I'd like a laptop where the fans didn't come on at all if I was
>just browsing the web or reading newsgroups.

OK, I have an IBM ThinkPad R50p. It is great. I was sitting in a
meeting this morning, and I could hear the fans of a Dell Inspiron
5100 and a Gateway (unknown model) over my own machine. The thing
about that is that those systems were sitting at the other end of the
table (10-15 feet away). Their fans were on almost constantly, and
my system fans were off most of the time, and when they were on, I
could barely hear them over the other two systems. I could tell mine
was running by feeling the warm are coming out the vent, but I
couldn't hear it.

I have a Pentium M 1.7GHz processor, UXGA (1600x1200) LCD, 128MB
video (ATI), 60GB 7200RPM drive, DVD-RW/DVD-RAM drive, and my 9-cell
battery will power the system for more than 3.5 hours of normal use,
and will allow me to watch a 2 hour DVD movie (in my last flight)
leaving 20-25% battery after the movie ended. I've never run the
battery low enough to see just how long I can go in "normal" use, but
I have gone as long as 3.5 hours and still had at least 20% left.
There are several ThinkPad T41, T42, and T43 systems at the office and
they all perform about the same as mine.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

John L. <john@nospam.com> wrote:

> I'm on the lookout for a quiet laptop, preferably Intel-based.

I can give you two data points.

1) At work, I have a Dell Latitude X300. Pentium M, well-made
I'd say. The fan is almost always on but pretty quiet. I
can't hear anything in my office environment. If I take it
home, however, my work area there is very quiet and I hear
the fan's low-pitch sound. Doesn't bother me much.

2) At home I have an Averatec 3200something with a mobile Athlon.
The fan is LOUD but: a) there is a calibration procedure in
the BIOS that makes it to run slower afterward, and b) when
the OS is configured right, it stays off most of the time. I
use Linux so that means athcool, cpufreq and laptop-mode (to
keep the drive spun down). Now Linux runs cooler than Windows
--but there are thermal driver thingies for Windows on
the Averatec website, I just never bothered to try them.

Note: both of these are small laptops with 12-inch screens. My
choice. I want the portability.

> I've
> heard about laptops where the fans don't come on unless you're gaming or
> running something CPU-intensive - could anyone recommend such a laptop
> from experience?

That's what I have. Sometimes just rendering an over-graphic web
page is enough to kick the fan into action, but it doesn't bother
me as much as I thought it would. I think the continuous noises
are the ones that get to you, not the intermittent ones.

(And gaudy web pages don't trigger the fan if I let them load
in a new tab and click the tab when they're done.)

--
pa at panix dot com
 

Al

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Apr 8, 2004
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bobb wrote:
> I was hoping by now someone would have come up with real samples, not
> generalities.
>
> I don't have samples either, and while I am fairly happy with my
> notebook in the noise area, I am not going to recommend a 5 years old
> model to you, and it's a Cely! (works for me).
>
> If I were on your shoes, and I don't get more precise answers, I'd
> look for a notebook with a processor in its class which is labelled as
> low power or low voltage. Go to the Intel website and verify indeed
> this processor sux less power. Less power=less reason for fan to come
> on.
>
> Now I won't be runing 3D, first-person gaming with this rig, and u
> shouldn't expect to.
>

After tons of research, I got a Dell. Specifically,
an Inspirion or whatever 2200.

It was rediculously cheap. It had a 725 M processor. My
research indicates that mobile Intel processors that end
in 0 (except for the 710) consume 27 watts and processors that
end in 5 consume 21 watts. Also the 725 seems to have all the
provisions for shutting down power draw when inactive. So, I
hope it will be quiet. I think I did as good as I could
in researching.
 

Al

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Al wrote:
> bobb wrote:
>
>> I was hoping by now someone would have come up with real samples, not
>> generalities.
>>
>> I don't have samples either, and while I am fairly happy with my
>> notebook in the noise area, I am not going to recommend a 5 years old
>> model to you, and it's a Cely! (works for me).
>>
>> If I were on your shoes, and I don't get more precise answers, I'd
>> look for a notebook with a processor in its class which is labelled as
>> low power or low voltage. Go to the Intel website and verify indeed
>> this processor sux less power. Less power=less reason for fan to come
>> on.
>>
>> Now I won't be runing 3D, first-person gaming with this rig, and u
>> shouldn't expect to.
>>
>
> After tons of research, I got a Dell. Specifically,
> an Inspirion or whatever 2200.
>
> It was rediculously cheap. It had a 725 M processor. My
> research indicates that mobile Intel processors that end
> in 0 (except for the 710) consume 27 watts and processors that
> end in 5 consume 21 watts. Also the 725 seems to have all the
> provisions for shutting down power draw when inactive. So, I
> hope it will be quiet. I think I did as good as I could
> in researching.

PS Here is the source

http://support.intel.com/support/processors/mobile/pm/sb/CS-007971.htm
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Al wrote:

> bobb wrote:
>
>> I was hoping by now someone would have come up with real samples, not
>> generalities.
>>
>> I don't have samples either, and while I am fairly happy with my
>> notebook in the noise area, I am not going to recommend a 5 years old
>> model to you, and it's a Cely! (works for me).
>>
>> If I were on your shoes, and I don't get more precise answers, I'd
>> look for a notebook with a processor in its class which is labelled as
>> low power or low voltage. Go to the Intel website and verify indeed
>> this processor sux less power. Less power=less reason for fan to come
>> on.
>>
>> Now I won't be runing 3D, first-person gaming with this rig, and u
>> shouldn't expect to.
>>
>
> After tons of research, I got a Dell. Specifically,
> an Inspirion or whatever 2200.
>
> It was rediculously cheap. It had a 725 M processor. My
> research indicates that mobile Intel processors that end
> in 0 (except for the 710) consume 27 watts and processors that
> end in 5 consume 21 watts. Also the 725 seems to have all the
> provisions for shutting down power draw when inactive. So, I
> hope it will be quiet. I think I did as good as I could
> in researching.
Well, I guess that if we don't ... hear :) from you, we can assume your
laptop really is silent and ... not dead.

Good luck

--
John Doue