Thinkpads Forum

gunston wrote:well,
frankly speaking, i don't feel hot in Right Wrist palmrest of X60s

Rule of thumb for laptops: If it is too hot, it is not so cool.

stay cool~
and wear a glove

and an insulated j-hat

lucas wrote:and an insulated j-hat

What is a j-hat?

Our X60s does have a very warm right palm rest but we expect that when we're doing cpu-intensive projects. Ultraportables are not designed to be doing number-crunching all the time; we save that for our T43p which runs up to 75 decrees C! Interestingly, the palm rests remain cool but the fans run on high.

Otherwise, our X60s runs silent and relatively cool under normal applications. No complaint here.

Some may have a faulty unit.

Good luck!

CJ

yeah,
My X60s as well,

it remains cold all the time

cj3209 wrote:Ultraportables are not designed to be doing number-crunching all the time

Maybe true, but that doesn't mean the X60 is exempt from being able to run hard while still being reliable and maintaining a reasonable operating temperature that's comfortable to work with.

That said, my X60s runs pretty well. The right palm rest gets warm, especially when charging while in use, but hasn't given me any cause for concern yet. It's lucky that I tend to use my left hand for controlling the pointer though. If I used my right I would be resting my hand above the hottest part of the machine and contributing to the problem.

Has anyone measured the surface temperature of the right palm rest using one of those non-contact thermometers?

I have an IR thermometer at home. Tonight I will measure the temp under different conditions. My right wrist pad does get a little warm, but noting that concerns me.
-Jason

Hi everyone, here is a comparison of;

1. x60 - 1.6Ghz Core Solo - Intel Wifi
2. x60s - 1.6Ghz Colo Duo LV - Intel Wifi

x60 idle wifi off - fan cycling

cpu 43
aps 39
gpu 41
bus 36
pci 36

x60 idle wifi on - fan nearly on all the time

cpu 37
aps 46
gpu 36
bus 36
pci 32

x60s idle wifi off - fan off

cpu 42
aps 38
gpu 41
bus 34
pci 34

x60s idle wifi on - fan cycling

cpu 47
aps 46
gpu 43
bus 36
pci 36

Overall the x60s has a quieter fan and which cycles less compared to the x60, both have hot rests though once wifi is switch on.

Well, this is a really tired thread, but since I recently changed WiFi cards, I thought I'd add an observation.

I haven't done scientific studies, but comparing when my laptop had the Intel wifi card, with having the current atheros card, there is no perceptable difference between the surface temperature (to me). I think some people have wondered about this on other threads...

If the Wifi is turned off, the entire laptop runs very cool (including the wrist rest). If the Wifi is on, the right rest above the wifi card is warm...not burning my hand, but I don't rest my hand there more than I need to. When I'm at my desk I always plug in an ethernet cable so the radio will turn off and my palm rest will be more comfortable.

I am a little bothered by this, because my X30 also had internal Wifi and I didn't have this small annoyance to think about. The wrist rest never rose above room temperature (except if warmed by my hands, of course).

I wish that for the X60/X60S, Lenovo's designers had found somewhere else to put the Wifi card than under the palm of my right hand, or had designed a way to remove its heat other than radiating it through the palmrest into my hand....ergonomics is a major reason why I buy Thinkpads. Maybe all the static on these threads will help prioritize future design decisions and my next Thinkpad (X90?) will be more like my X30 in this respect

However, this is the ONLY thing I think is poorly designed about my X60S, and I'm definitely loving it and keeping it!!!!

>keruibo

I haven't done scientific studies, but comparing when my laptop had the Intel wifi card, with having the current atheros card, there is no perceptable difference between the surface temperature (to me). I think some people have wondered about this on other threads...

My case is different from yours.
After I changed Intel card with Atheros card, I clearly noticed Atheros was hotter than Intel.
And measured by tpfancontrol,found Atheros was 4~5degC higher than Intel.
Not very hot ,but it is a bit uncomfortable to me.

NJ_IT,

4-5 c is significant, don't know why I haven't noticed it, but I trust your data is correct.

Thanks for posting the data!

NJ_IT wrote:My case is different from yours.
After I changed Intel card with Atheros card, I clearly noticed Atheros was hotter than Intel.
And measured by tpfancontrol,found Atheros was 4~5degC higher than Intel.
Not very hot ,but it is a bit uncomfortable to me.

What were your actual temperatures with the Atheros card?

In my computer, on AC (battery fully charged), WiFi on, only doing email, I get
CPU 45
APS 49-50
GPU 44
BUS 44
PCI 39
Fan = 3022 RPM - I can't hear it above the background noise in the room. TPFancontrol program suggests the fan is responding to the highest temperature = APS.

Right palm rest is not burning, but it does not encourage me to rest my hand on it with any pressure. Like keruibo, I like my X60s -- much more than my X40. Still, I wish the palm rest was cooler. I wonder what is different about gunston's unit.
Gunston, did you ever measure your APS and CPU temperatures?

>ozmann

What were your actual temperatures with the Atheros card?

X60: Hot CPU(Not X60s),AC operation, Web surfing, Atheros wifi card,

CPU 55-C (0x78)
APS 49-C (0x79) ---- (Changed within 48- 50degC)
GPU 53-C (0x7b)
BAT 36-C (0x7c)
BAT 34-C (0x7e)
BUS 44-C (0xc0)
PCI 43-C (0xc1)

FAN: 2914RPM
If wifi off: APS goes to 43degC

But Atheros provides very stable connection under Access Connections.
And much sensitivity. I love it!

Plugged into A/C power, battery is not charging, atheros wifi running:

CPU 51°C (0x78)
APS 52°C (0x79)
GPU 50°C (0x7b)
BAT 34°C (0x7c)
BAT 33°C (0x7e)
BUS 44°C (0xc0)
PCI 41°C (0xc1)

Fan speed: 2979 RPM

X41 had the wifi card on the bottom of the computer next to the memory slot, which I think it is a better place for it as all heat generated goes up into the keyboard, out the sides or down into the bottom case. On or off makes no difference in temperature felt by my hand and only a tiny bit on my lap.

Still, even with the X60s placement I think it would be a minor issue. The X41's tiny hard drive is right under the left palmrest and can get pretty hot, similar or perhaps even warmer than a wifi card, but not enough to interfere with its use in any way.

The X41's tiny hard drive is right under the left palmrest and can get pretty hot

Oh, you're absolutely right, it's seems common for laptop designers to put hot equipment under the palmrest (even if I wish they wouldn't). My computer at my last job was an HP zd8000, and the palmrest--and even part of the keyboard--seemed hotter than my X60S is.

Although I miss the room-temperature palmrest of my X30, as you said the temperature certainly doesn't interfere with its use...I don't think about it that much.

I still think the X60S design is way, way ahead of the competitors in its class. Before replacing the X30 with X60S I looked at Dell, HP and Sony, and it took very little time to make my decision.

CatSailor wrote:I have an IR thermometer at home. Tonight I will measure the temp under different conditions. My right wrist pad does get a little warm, but noting that concerns me.
-Jason

CatSailor/Jason:

Did you ever measure your palm rest temps?

The reason they put hot components under palmrests is that there is nothing else there that can be damaged by heat.

asiafish wrote:The reason they put hot components under palmrests is that there is nothing else there that can be damaged by heat.

Agree.

asiafish wrote:The reason they put hot components under palmrests is that there is nothing else there that can be damaged by heat.

The hand perhaps?

You must have VERY delicate hands.

They are, indeed!

Interesting thread, couple years back ( actually 2003 ) I spent a lot of time trying to figure out improvements to cool the palm rest of Dell D600. Posted under the same name rssb.

The Dell's released in Feb 2005 have implemented some of these features. ( esp D610 )

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums ... ing&page=3

Anyone who has used a T40 /41/ 42 can clearly see D600 is much thicker than these models. yet the palmrest on the thinkpads is much cooler.

So I kind of disagree with Saml01 's response that one should be satisfied with the fact that since they packed so much in a tiny space, it is bound to heat up.

The problem is poor design or lets say lack of a better design, there is always scope to improve things. Whether the amount of money / effort that is put in to build a better product which justifies thier profits generated is the controller.

What has kept the thinkpads above the rest is the quality ( whether it is hardware / software or IBM service ).

Compare the T4x to the X6x/X4x and you will see that while much thinner than the Dell, it is still much thicker than the X-series. The fact remains that the palmrest is an area where a hot item can be placed without causing damage to other delicate components . If you want better cooling in that particular space, then you need a thicker palmrest, and with a thicker palmrest people will complain about their ThinkPad getting bulkier.

cct wrote:http://www2.elecom.co.jp/accessory/cool ... /index.asp
or
http://www2.elecom.co.jp/accessory/cool ... /index.asp

Put one on the palm rest area and one of more at the bottom to help dispacth heat. It will dispacth heat and provide some shielding to your hand.

does it really work? pls tell me if it could alleviate the level of heat on the palmrest. thx.

the thinkpad T4x measures 0.75" ( 3/4 of an inch ) in total thickness in the palmrest area from top to bottom. When open !!.

The actual palmrest plastic thinkness is around 2mm, considering the structural strength i doubt if one can go below that on this particular type of ABS plastic.

Asiafish how much does your X4x measure, i doubt if this is much different than the X4x, when it is open. Can you measure the palmest plastic thickness on your X41 ?

Not counting the rubber feet its 1/2"