fan issues (any news?)

[wdso]

Hi

I'am looking for a 14,1 XGA Laptop. I like the built quality of the Thinkpads. However, the fan issue is holding me back from buying one.

When I say fan issue I basically mean two things:
a) 5-sec howling (or 30-sec with newest firmware upgrades)
b) always running fan

What I'm looking for, therefore, is a nice and quiet Thinkpad without any fan issues at all. I know that at least some of T41 Thinkpads DO have howling and a permanently running fan (I owned one for a couple of days before I returned it).

Are there any 14,1 XGA Thinkpads out, which do NOT have any fan issues? I know that T41 Thinkpads with R9600 GPU have a slightly less audible fan, but I don't consider this flawless. Besides, there aren't any XGA models witch R9600 out.

When is IBM releasing its new models? Does anybody know if the thermal design is going to be changed?

Thanks very much

[Plinkerton]

I've had 2 2378-FVU's and neither of them seemed to have the fan issue. The fan was completely silent almost all the time, and I know it wasn't always running. The FVU is a 14 inch SXGA+, 1.7 Dothan. I'm typing this with it sitting in my lap in bed, and the fan isn't running at all.

[wdso]

Thanks for your helpful reply!
I tried to lookup the model number. Unfortunately european und american model numbers seem to differ. Could you be so kind and tell me what model it is on: http://www5.pc.ibm.com/europe/products. ... d+T+Series

Can anybody with a 14,1 XGA screen (that means, someone with a Radeon 7500/9000 and AFAIK a short fan) acknowledge what Plinkerton said?

Could it be that IBM changed its thermal design, meaning that all new models
don't have the fan issues any more? What I know for a fact is, that the Thinkpad T41 with Radeon 7500 has had fan issues...

[wdso]

something else Plinkerton:
Does you fan run in AC mode (speedswitch enabled, without any major load?)

[Plinkerton]

It's this one, but it only came with 256 of ram, instead of the 512. I can't find the exact one.

ThinkPad T42
UC28Xxx
More Info
Intel Pentium M Processor 735 1.70GHz 2MB
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
512MB/ 2GB/PC2700 DDR SDRAM
40GB (ATA-100 (Enhanced IDE))
14.1''
1400x1050TFT
ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600
2.3Kg IBM ThinkPad UltraNav
--
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo
-- Integrated Intel PRO/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
56K V.92 designed modem
Intel 802.11b
IBM Embedded Security Subsystem 2.0

I think my fan runs more in AC mode, but so quietly, that I don't even hear it. When I am running at 1.7, if I am not doing anything heavy, the fan is not audible at all. Only sometimes will it kick up a few notches, but VERY rarely. Honestly, this is the quietest computer I've ever heard about 98% of the time.

[wdso]

No offence, but I wonder how many Centrino laptops you've heard to claim that your Thinkpad is quieter than most other laptops.

I've seen (i.e. heard) quite a lot of Centrino laptops within the last say 6 month and just to give you an idea whats really state of the art:

(first figure: fan behaviour without heavy cpu load)
(second figure: fan behaviour when cpu load reaches 100%)

- Dell Inspiron 500m (now outdated): off / VERY quiet
- Asus 2400N: off / quiet
- HP nx7000: off / audible
- HP pavilion zt3200: off / audible
- Acer Travelmate 4500: off / almost inaudible
- IBM Thinkpad T42, by what you've described to me: audible / clearly audible

I would say that 90% of the centrino laptops out on the market don't need active cooling under "normal" circumstances (i.e. without heavy load). This includes laptops for less than € 1300. I wonder why Thinkpads, which most of the time cost well over € 2000, can't have the same thermal design.

I will visit an IBM Thinkpad Center in about 2 weeks and I am very curious if recent Thinkpads can compare with Dell/Asus/HP/Acer regarding the thermal managment.

Please, this is not meant to be offensive in any way, I just have the feeling that among Thinkpad users little is known about other makes.