Noisy laptops

[weapon]

I recently purchased a sony vaio s38,

in battery mode it is virtually silent apart from the hd every now and then, but on mains power, even with the settings optimised to make the fan quiet, it is noisy. Not just noisy, but totally unpredictable, the fan cycling on and off, speeding up, powering down constantly.

It's driving me insane, and makes working and concentrating in a quiet environment extremely difficult. I plan on returning this laptop because of it.

Is it possible to get a quiet portable laptop (i.e., ~2-2.5kgs, 12-14inch screen, dvd burner)? I dont even care if the fan is going constantly (e.g., like a desktop), it's the random cycling up and down that's annoying. Can people share their experiences with laptop fan noise, perhaps suggest some solutions or quiet models (Please dont suggest i drown out the noise with music). Is the sony vaio s, particularly bad, does anyone else have experience with this model?

 

[uOpt]

I have a Thinkpad R40 with SXGA+ screen and 1.3 GHz P-M which is very quiet even when loaded. The fan does more when loaded but it never pops in and out on a high frequency and it is very quiet anyway.

And the Thinkpad ACPI allows you to permanently turn the fan on (or off if you are brave) so if you are more sensitive than me even that can be helped.

I have one of those super-small Sonys and as you say, it is annoysing especially that it turns the much loader fan on and off on a constant basis. Sony is really not the right brand for this.

 

[corkyg]

Your Vaio is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. The fan cycles on when it needs to based on temperature. Be glad it does - otherwise you might burn up your CPU. If battery is silent, it is probably a Centrino system or using Intel step technology which throttles the CPU down to preserve battery life and run cooler.

That is a characteristic of just about all laptops - especially those using P4 CPUs. You might be able to reduce the temperature by providing more airspace under the Vaio - or sitting it on a quieter, constant running pad with low speed fans that always run.

Some laptop makers provide utilities that force the fan to run all the time. DOn't know about Sony.

 

[uOpt]

corkyg, I very much doubt you ever heard a Sony tune up and down like they do. We are talking about intervals of seconds here.

None of my other notebooks is that insane, and that includes one with the same CPU as the Sony.

 

[flyboy84]

my gateway is very loud too

 

[DarkAmeba]

If mac isn't a problem, my Apple 15" powerbook is totally silent, even while running WoW

 

[bobsmith1492]

My Sager 3790 is pretty consistent with the fan. Under full load (and external power) it is just on constantly, yet fairly quietly. On battery power, it will only turn on for maybe 30 seconds after running under load for a while, then go back off for a good while. Under most useage while on battery (music, 'net, typing) it never turns on and doesn't get too hot. Gotta love the P-M!

 

[fr]

Yeah, the fan in my Sony R505 makes me want to kill myself.

 

[kenan921]

I'll second DarkAmeba's opinion powerbooks are pretty damn silent. My girlfriend has one (15" 1.33 G4) and the fan pretty much only kicks in when doing DV transfers. Defintely stay away from anything AMD based thats out right now. Have had 2 a64 laptops and one athlon4. They run like champs, and I couldn't care less about one tiny fan always running, but that was pretty much the case fans were on 75% of the time when the laptops were running at full processor speed. Not sure about the new Turion based notes though.

 

[bobsmith1492]

Of course powerbook fans don't turn on 'cause their procs can't do anything you realize....
Just kidding.... jeesh, why do mac people get so defensive all the time?

 

[hopejr]

Originally posted by: bobsmith1492
Of course powerbook fans don't turn on 'cause their procs can't do anything you realize....
Just kidding.... jeesh, why do mac people get so defensive all the time?

because a large number of people bash them without really knowing what they're talking about