X60s is the World's Loudest Ultraportable Machine

[NYC10022]

This x60s is driving me nuts. I purchased it with graduate school in mind thinking it would be easy to carry around and great to type on. Well, It can't just sit idle beside me while i read without driving me insane with its ultrahigh pitched whirring and click-click-clicking of the harddrive. Others sitting around me must thinking I am running some of the world's most complex algorithim's on my core duo when really the machine is just sitting in screen saver mode.

Does anyone have any recommendations for another machine that would be quieter? Dell X1? Sony? I know these are reknowned for falling apart and their exploding battery capability but i'm willing to take my chances.

[pianowizard]

My 2.4-lb Toshiba Portege R100 is even lighter than the Thinkpad X60s and very quiet, certainly more quiet than my X40. You can get a used one on eBay for around $600. One drawback is that it doesn't have an integrated microphone, so you would need an external mic for making recordings.

[MobileGuru]

This x60s is driving me nuts."

Have you updated the bios, controller and various drivers on the system? Have you confirmed that the HDD is running on the latest firmware? There are a great many things that could be causing the machine to be noisy .. and a great many fixes that would be cheaper than replacing it.

MG.

[pianowizard]

I got the impression that NYC10022 was going to return the X60s.

More on the Portege R100. The keyboard has shallow keys and doesn't feel as good as a Thinkpad keyboard, but it's still fairly comfortabel to use. The keys are nearly full sized.

[NYC10022]

NYC10022 tossed the box for his x60s already. He is considering a dell x1 which he understands runs SILENT.

[MobileGuru]

Hopefully, it also comes with a fire extinguisher and flame retardant underpants.



MG.

[atlacatl]

Some screen savers are CPU intensive. Set your screen saver to "None" and your problem should be solved.

Also download and install a program called "Notebook Hardware Control" from http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc.htm#anchor_download.

Once running allow the program to spin down your drive.

Anyway, I don't find my X60s loud at all, but I have things to slow and be quiet when idle (no screen saver).

[cj3209]

The X60s is relatively quiet so perhaps he got a loud machine. Mine runs quiet although it gets a little hot on the right palm rest.

I've updated all my drivers via the software download mechanism and everything seems fine. This machine is SOLID.

CJ

[vincentfox]

Probably bad bearings on hard drive or fan.

My chica had a T43 that became crazy-noisy after about a month. It still worked fine just very noisy. First time she took it to IBM repair center they just gave it back to her, they only tested it in noisy room. She took it back to them again, said here try it in a quiet office, then they heard the problem, and replaced the hard drive.

[madana]

Does anyone have any recommendations for another machine that would be quieter? Dell X1? Sony? I know these are reknowned for falling apart and their exploding battery capability but i'm willing to take my chances.

Try Fujitsu P7120 out.

It is very well-built (Japanese make), completely fanless, 1.5 times lighter than X60s, has pretty much the same battery life on the main battery, is all geared for wireless connections, has a fingerprint scanner and, above all, has a built-in DVD-RW swappable for an extra battery. And yes, it is sleek...

The only drawbacks are that it uses a 1.8" HDD which limits its storage to 60GB for now, and its support in India is not quite as reliable as Lenovo's.

Otherwise I would have definitely gone for it.

Ebay generally has a lot of reasonably priced offers.

[pianowizard]

Try Fujitsu P7120 out.

It is very well-built (Japanese make), completely fanless, 1.5 times lighter than X60s

X60s = 2.7 lbs
P7120 = 3 lbs

[madana]

X60s = 2.7 lbs
P7120 = 3 lbs

X60s+8 cell = 3.46 lbs
........+ Ultrabase = 4.92 lbs
........+DVD-RW = 5.38 lbs

P7120 (with DVD-RW and 6 cell battery) = 3.2 lbs

Or am I missing something?

[pianowizard]

X60s+8 cell = 3.46 lbs
........+ Ultrabase = 4.92 lbs
........+DVD-RW = 5.38 lbs

P7120 (with DVD-RW and 6 cell battery) = 3.2 lbs

Or am I missing something?

What you are missing is that most X60s users don't carry the ultrabase with them on the road. They leave it behind so that they can travel light. If I really want to travel with an optical drive, I would get the Panasonic W5, which has a built-in DVD burner, 12" display (versus the P7120's 10.6") and only 2.64 lbs, and their battery is supposed to last for up to 12 hours. See http://dynamism.com/w5/main.shtml

[snife]

The only drawbacks are that it uses a 1.8" HDD which limits its storage to 60GB for now, and its support in India is not quite as reliable as Lenovo's.

That is a very big drawback and was the reason the X40 systems were rotten (IMHO), the HDD is one of the biggest bottlenecks in modern notebooks so if its a choice between a 1.8 60GB 4200 drive or a 2.5 100GB 7200, there is no contest.

Most ultraportable users very rarely use an optical drive when travelling and for the stuff you might need you can easily store it with the extra HDD space.

But above all (if i haven't stated it enough in other posts) - input devices make or break a notebook, I cringe when I have to watch people use touchpads and operate at about a third of the speed I can with a TrackPoint

Plus its way thicker than an X60s - I think as a comparison the X60s kicks [censored], its much closer to being as good as a Lenovo V100 than a ThinkPad but then again I don't easily get annoyed by the noise of a fan (the X60s is not generally a noisy machine though).

[madana]

What you are missing is that most X60s users don't carry the ultrabase with them on the road. They leave it behind so that they can travel light. If I really want to travel with an optical drive, I would get the Panasonic W5, which has a built-in DVD burner, 12" display (versus the P7120's 10.6") and only 2.64 lbs, and their battery is supposed to last for up to 12 hours. l

Pianowizard, I agree that P7120 may not be the limit of perfection, and I agree that Panasonic W5 is lighter and more long -lasting, but -- is it fanless (withi is the real issue here)?

If yes, you may suggest it to the author instead.

[madana]

That is a very big drawback and was the reason the X40 systems were rotten (IMHO), the HDD is one of the biggest bottlenecks in modern notebooks so if its a choice between a 1.8 60GB 4200 drive or a 2.5 100GB 7200, there is no contest.

Agreed.

Most ultraportable users very rarely use an optical drive when travelling and for the stuff you might need you can easily store it with the extra HDD space.

Not agreed -- I travel a lot and use it all the time. HDD is no replacement for in-built DVD-RW as you can reckon.

But above all (if i haven't stated it enough in other posts) - input devices make or break a notebook, I cringe when I have to watch people use touchpads and operate at about a third of the speed I can with a TrackPoint

I guess this is where we enter -- and stay -- in the realm of subjectivity. I prefer touchpads but do not loathe eraserheads too much. They are OK.

Plus its way thicker than an X60s - I think as a comparison the X60s kicks [censored], its much closer to being as good as a Lenovo V100 than a ThinkPad but then again I don't easily get annoyed by the noise of a fan (the X60s is not generally a noisy machine though).

I do not know whose [censored] X60s exactly kicks here. "Way thicker" is mere .33"-.36", but if you want to compare functionally equal laptops, than add ultrabase onto one of them, remeasure and watch the kicking of [censored] reverse.

Once again, my choice is X60s for now, but once Fujitsu gets a
2.5" HDD ultraportable machine out again and fixes up their service here in India, I would be hard-pressed to choose between Fujitsu and IBM.

[snife]

Once again, my choice is X60s for now, but once Fujitsu gets a
2.5" HDD ultraportable machine out again and fixes up their service here in India, I would be hard-pressed to choose between Fujitsu and IBM.

All I can say is that Siemens (of Fujitsu-Siemens) use ThinkPads internally - there must be a reason why they don't use there own systems.

I can see the appeal of a fanless system, but passive cooling is never going to be suitable for the latest performance machines in the forseeable future.

I understand that some people like touchpads (which is why they had to be added to the ThinkPads to stop people moaning) but I honestly cannot understand why - even fans of them seem to be so slow at navigating round a system with it compared with someone who has gotten used to a trackpoint.

[asiafish]

The X40 series were definitely not rotten. Yes, the 4200 RPM drives are something of a bottleneck, but not as bad as many will make them out to be.

As for ultraportable users leaving the ultrabase at home, that depends entirely on the situation. For my daily use, I have an ultrabase at home, another at work and at both locations enjoy a full-featured laptop. Everywhere else I love that my X41 only weighs 2.7lbs and still can run for three hours on the four cell battery. I really don't need anything more when out around town.

For longer trips, however, the ultrabase usually comes for the ride. A pair of 8 cell batteries and the ultrabase make for my own in-flight movies for the entire trans-pacific flight. After that the ultrabase stays in the hotel room for DVDs without headphones or even background music while reading. Its no audiophile system, but its adequate for my use.

For long workdays I use the 8 cell and the clip-on extended battery, which together are worth about 9 hours, 10.5 if I really push it. The extra 8 cell or 4 cell (or both) go in my bag if there is any chance I'll need more.

The X60s can duplicate and excede that performance, and the only noise difference would be the hard drive and production variance. My X41 is dead silent.

[madana]

All I can say is that Siemens (of Fujitsu-Siemens) use ThinkPads internally - there must be a reason why they don't use there own systems.

I guess, just to drain the market of the rival product: "I am a vegetarian not because I love animals, but because I hate plants"

[pianowizard]

The X40 series were definitely not rotten. Yes, the 4200 RPM drives are something of a bottleneck, but not as bad as many will make them out to be.

Agreed. Most people, including myself, really don't need the fastest hard drives, gigabytes of RAM, or the fastet processors. I have set up my X40 to always run at only 600MHz to reduce the temperature of the palm rest, and it's still fast enough for almost everything that I do on this computer.

]For longer trips, however, the ultrabase usually comes for the ride. A pair of 8 cell batteries and the ultrabase make for my own in-flight movies for the entire trans-pacific flight.

I would rather use a slim USB DVD drive, which is much lighter than the ultrabase. For example, this one is only 0.9 lbs:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... u=A0354638

[snife]

OK maybe I shouldn't have said the X40 series were rotten as I know a lot of people like them - but anything less than 512MB of RAM and the boot times are horrendous, do any sort of heavy hdd access (like downloading from newsgroups) and it grinds to a very slow pace where multitasking is not much of an option.

The new preloads for X41 (with google desktop and symantec crap suite) actually make a system with 256MB of RAM unusable (even more so on a Tablet), not that i'm saying i would ever use a system with 256MB of RAM these days but it is a configuration that is sold.

[asiafish]

I would rather use a slim USB DVD drive, which is much lighter than the ultrabase. For example, this one is only 0.9 lbs:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... u=A0354638

I never liked external drives. With the computer in the X4 it is a bit bulky, but its one self-contained unit. More importantly, when I'm in the hotel I can elect to not use headphones as the ultrabase has a pair of speakers that will actually get loud enough to use for movies and music. Headphones sound better, but at times are quite annoying.

[Saml01]

There is a bunch of bios options for power and performance optimzation. have you tried toying with them?

If you are on battery and everything is set to performance that will explain the noise.

[FredFromNYC]

All I can say is that Siemens (of Fujitsu-Siemens) use ThinkPads internally - there must be a reason why they don't use there own systems.

Could you please offer any evidence in support of your statement. In and of itself this is like saying "The parking lot at General Motors is full of Toyotas - not one Chevy or Pontiac in sight." Amusing story, but is it true?

[archer6]

This x60s is driving me nuts. Does anyone have any recommendations for another machine that would be quieter?

I think perhaps you simply got a machine that's out of spec. Try using your warranty, to have service take care of the issues.

I have purchased a quantity of over 40, X60 & X60s for my company. We have found them to be very quiet, cool and fast. This is the first time I have personally used an X series ThinkPad and I am very impressed with how quiet it is. Working on the X60s late at night in my very quiet home office, I cannot hear anything objectionable at all. When I take it while traveling by airplane, I get many comments about how quiet it is, how bright the display is and how nice it fits on the tray table. Other business people that have not seen the X model ThinkPad are very impressed by the full size keyboard and build quality. When placed side by side with the other brands, the ThinkPad makes them all look like lesser machines.

[asiafish]

As a very frequent flyer whose used laptops on airplanes for 13 years now, I've never used anything as pleasant as my X41 on a flight. The X60s is the same size and weight, and so will share all of its good points.

I agree with the last poster, get it serviced for noise as ThinkPads, especially low voltage models are famous for their quiet.

[spaznrq]

I have owned an HP ZD7000 desktop replacement laptop (I know it's not an ultraportable as this topic revolves around) and it has an amazingly NOISY fan that never turns off. When I received my X60, I was absolutely happy that it felt completely silent to me. Or maybe my hearing threshold is raised due to the noise I've had to deal with all these years

It's a big change for me for going from a 17" noise and heat generating 10lbs beast to a minuscule 12" feather-weight 3lbs critter. The only similarity is that they're both quick animals.

[archer6]

I do however have another issue, whenever I type on the keyboard the keys move down as I press on them.....

[asiafish]

Better than an old Toshiba Tecra I have around where three of the keys DON'T go down when I press them.

[archer6]

Better than an old Toshiba Tecra I have around where three of the keys DON'T go down when I press them.

I concur.

Actually as I'm sure you noticed, I was just joking. I enjoy the fact that on this board there are a lot of other picky people like me, that report on the smallest of "issues". It makes me laugh at myself and some of the things that I tend to obsess on....