x60 tablet and x60s noise (and heat) issues

[jkat]

Hi! I've been trying to research how quiet of a machine the x60 tablet (and/or x60s) is and would love to get the input of anyone who has one of these. Here are some specific questions, but any thoughts on this general topic are welcome!

1. How often does the fan go on and when it goes on, how long does it tend to stay on? Does it seem loud to you? (Some things I've read say the fan hardly ever goes on, while others say it is often on but quiet - maybe even unnoticeable in a quiet room unless you put your ear down to the machine.)

2. What about the hard drive - is it relatively audible? It seems this is true of many of the new thinkpad models and surprises some users from what they have had in the past. In fact, many mistake this hard drive noise for an "always-on" fan at first. From what I've read this noise may be more of an issue with the Hitachi drives than the Fujitsu drives (has anyone noticed that the Fujitsu ones are quieter?), but it sounds like when you order a Thinkpad, you don't get to prescribe which type you get and it's just luck.

3. How about heat? I've read some users/reviewers indicate that the right palm rest gets pretty warm, but not unbearable.

4. Strategy to keep the machine quiet: Would you recommend going for a lower level processor e.g. 1.6 Ghz instead of 1.8 (for the X60t or X60s) and not upgrading to VISTA if one wants to keep the fan off more and have a cooler, longer battery lasting machine? Or, would you say keep the power management settings on low and that will keep fan activity and heat down to a minimum?

5. Comparison - Anyone know how the x60 tablet's (or x60s's) fan volume and fan level of activity (length of time on) compares to the T60? to the R60? I've learned from this forum that the R60 tends to run much quieter in terms of fan (if you put it on lower power settings) than the T60 and wonder where the X60 tablet fits in on that scale (e.g. quieter than the R60 or somewhere between the R60 and T60).

Thanks for any feedback! Actually, I'm looking to choose between an X60 tablet (or X60s), an HP TC4400 tablet, or maybe just an R60 -- the T60's fan noise/activity level is a bit much for me.

[ibear]

i have the X60 and i mainly use it on battery, so my observation might not apply to your situation, but here they are:

1. the fan VERY rarely goes on when running on battery, because the processor speed is lowered to 1GHz.

2. the hard drive is VERY audible, even from 1 meter away in a quiet room. I have a Hitachi 80GB. My roommate have a Hitachi 40GB and it's much quieter. I heard that Fujitsu ones are quieter. Also, 40GB ones should be quieter because of only one plate inside.

3. when running on battery, the palm rest is a little warm. just a little. totally ok for me.

4. i guess if you set your power management to low (that's the case of running on battery), the fan will rarely start.

5. no experience.

[tomh009]

Thanks for any feedback! Actually, I'm looking to choose between an X60 tablet (or X60s), an HP TC4400 tablet, or maybe just an R60 -- the T60's fan noise/activity level is a bit much for me.

I have an older X31 (for now!) rather than an X60, but I will note that my Hitachi 7K100 100 GB 7200 rpm is very quiet indeed. This is also the same drive that Lenovo will use when you select the 100 GB 7200 rpm option -- fast and quiet, an excellent combination.

And, really the T60 doesn't need to be bad, either. Yes, there are many complaints on these forums about T60 (and T4x) fan noise. However, I set up a T60 (2 GHz Core 2 Duo, 1 GB, 80 GB 5400 rpm) for my dad and it was very quiet. The fan went on a few times while running on external power, but at a low enough speed that it was barely audible. The big difference? GMA 950 integrated graphics. Still well Vista-capable, but generate far less heat (and use less power) than the higher-end graphics options.

[ThinkMon]

I just got my x60 (not x60s) two days ago:

1. The fan does not seem to come on often, and when it does, it's very quiet, I hardly notice it.

2. I have a 60gb 5400 hard drive and it is definitely audible. It is constantly whirring or buzzing. It literally sounds like a needle spinning in the grooves, at a tiny high pitch--maybe like a mosquito buzzing by your ear. It's not bad, however in a quiet classroom I notice it way more and wonder if everyone around me does also (probably not).

3. I've run it for several hours both on just the battery and plugged in. I think it's slightly warmer when plugged in, but it's not "hot" at all like some people have described in other threads. My sister has a dell 700m and hers is probably warmer all around. It feels warm under your right palm but I would say a few degrees higher than body temperature.

4. I have the 1.8 processor running windows xp. I'm not sure that changing this would affect the noise. According to what others have said here, it seems the hard drive itself is to blame.

5. I used an R40 for the past 3.5 years and in comparison, it's dead quiet, it never gets warm, and the fan is equally quiet. My new x60 honestly does not seem much faster (my R40 is a pentium M 1.4), however the size difference is HUGE. The front part of the x60 is as thin as a pinky finger and I don't feel its weight in my bag (with the 8-cell battery). I would highly recommend the 8-cell, it lasts forever and you wouldn't need to carry the a/c adapter on most days.

If you can afford it, I'd say get the tablet. Now that I see just how tiny the x60 is, it seems like it'd be perfect in tablet form. I find myself wishing I could use it as a tablet, since it's lighter than my books and so easy to hold in one hand when it's closed. The R40 is quiet, but probably because there's so much space in the case for noise to be muffled.

[duffy]

I have an X60 tablet with 1.83 GHz CPU. I also owned an X60(s) 1.83 GHz for a couple of months. I also currently own a few month old T60 1.83 GHz. Here are my impressions of the X60 tablet.

1. While plugged into A/C the fan runs pretty much all of the time. Good news is that it is essentially silent. I am very sensitive to fan noise so this is a touchy subject for me. In a dead silent room at night the only thing I hear is the hard drive spinning. If you want to hear the fan running you have to place the fan outlet on your ear.

2. I have an 80 GB / 7200 RPM Hitachi drive. I've had it for a year or so and just tranfer it from machine to machine. It isn't loud to me...just a faint whoosh sound. I much prefer the whoosh to some other drives constant clicking sound. Though as you suspected noise level depends on what drive you get. Some drives are quieter than others. I believe Seagate 7200 RPM drives are a bit quieter than Hitachi drives. Fujitsu doesn't make a 7200 RPM drive but their other drives, at least the ones I've owned, are dead silent. Though keep in mind the faster the drive spins the more noise it is going to make. It's a trade off.

3. The right palm rest does get warm though not unpleasantly so. The palmrest on my tablet does not get as hot as the palmrest on my X60s. This is mainly due to a large copper plate mounted under the right palmrest. The plate sits in-between the WiFi card and the palmrest. It essentiallly spreads the heat out instead of concentrating the heat into a small spot above the WiFi card. My X60s was one of the first machines out the door from Lenovo. So the newer machines may have incorporated something similar to the tablet.

4. You don't have anything to worry about concerning the fan noise.

5. The X60(s)(t) fan runs much quieter and slower than my T60. I have the fan speed control app running on my T60 to slow the fan down to the lowest speed. At that speed the fan noise is not intrusive but is still noticeable. Compared to the T60 the X60(s)(t) is dead silent. That is without any modifications or fan software on the X60 machine.

The X60t is a very nice machine. I have the SXGA screen so I'm in heaven. Keep in mind that the X60 tablet is larger and heavier than the X60s and X60. So you don't quite get the ulta small package in tablet form, but it is still small. I look at the X60t as a mini-me version of my T60. It is just as powerful in a smaller package. Since I never use the cd drive in my T60 I don't loose out on any functionality with the X60t. If I could suggest one thing to make the X60t perfect it would be to shoehorn in a touchpad. As much as I love the trackpoint I still like to use a touchpad in certain situations.

[guo8050]

1. i think my x60 fan goes on every 5 minutes ,even i only view some pages using IE .

2 .there are some noises of the hard dirve ,it is audible coparing to my seagate hard dirver .

3, the right palm rest gets pretty hot . but i turn off access connectin sofware , it becames cool .

[jkat]

Hi – Thanks everyone for the feedback. While "results" (which I summarize below, along with excerpt a from published review) are mixed on how much the fan runs (perhaps depending on what model people have), it sounds like the X60 tablet fan is going to be much quieter than the T60's, while the hard drive noise will be similarly noticeable. If anyone has additional input on (1) how frequently the x60 tablet's fan runs (e.g. all the time on AC as in Duffy's case? None of the time on battery as in the case of ibear's x60?) and (2) what they think about the volume of fan and/or hard drive noise, would love to have a few more cases to add to the great input below. Thanks!

Summary on X60t noise and heat issues:

Fan
X60 tablet (duffy's 1.83 duo) – on AC fan runs all the time, but essentially silent (have to put ear up to outlet in dead silent room to hear it)
X60 tablet (tabletpcreview.com) – fairly silent; heard only if put ear to machine
X60 (ibear's)- rarely goes on when running on battery
X60 (thinkmon's 1.8 duo) – doesn't come on often; when it does, hardly noticeable
X60 (guo8050) – fan goes on every 5 minutes, even w/light surfing

Hard Drive
X60tablet (duffy's 80 GB/7200 hitachi) – faint whoosh
X60 tablet (tabletpcreview.com) – some clicking
X60 (ibear's 80 GB Hitachi) – very audible
X60 (thinkmon's 60 GB 5400) – definitely audible, whirring/buzzing; not bad
X60 (guo8050) – some noise

Heat
X60 tablet (duffy's 1.83 duo) – warm right palm rest, but not unpleasant
X60 tablet (tabletpcreview.com) – warm but never really hot
X60 (ibear's) – palmrest just a little warm
X60 (thinkmon's 1.8 duo) – warmer plugged in, but not "hot"
X60 (guo8050) – pretty hot – remedied by turning off access connection software

[gunston]

Model: 1702-4EA
X60s

Fan:
Turn on all the time using AC, and intermittently which using Battery. Hardly heard the Fan noise unless ear directly expose to the Air Vent

Hard Disk:
60GB Hitachi 5400rpm, Hardly heard,

cheers.

[lev]

model 1705-44u
x60s

fan: on most of the time, when I'm usin the machine (I do mostly processor heavy stuff). Nearly always at very low speed, very quiet, if you want to know if it's on, it's easier to put hand near vent to feel for warmth than to listen for fan noise. At higher fan speeds (only under heavy load, like 2 copies of prime95) fan is obviously louder, but never actually what I'd call "loud", or even really audible, under normal circumstances. I can't hear it when my fridge is running at home, for example, nor can I hear it over the background noise at work (fans from a desktop PC, noises from the office heating/cooling system). Even at the highest fan speed it is much much quieter than most other laptops. I can hear when my office-mate's dells and apples, or my girlfriend's apple, are doing something processor-intensive, from accross the room, while I need to put my hand in front of the vent to get the same information about my own

HDD: I have 7200/100Gb. The general sound of it spinning is very low, less than the lowest fan speed noise. It really has to be a silent room to hear it. I find it hard to believe that anyone could be disturbed by it. The clicking noise the heads make when you actually access the disk is, the only really audible noise the laptop makes. It's still quiet. Much quieter than the quietest I could press the keys, for example. Quiet enough that the HDD activity LED is a useful thing.

Heat: The laptop is comparitively very cool on the bottom, so I can use it on your lap without discomfort (even when doing running scientific calculations), unlike several other laptops I've used. The right palmrest is noticeably the warmest part of the machine that you have to touch. Sometimes I wish it were cooler, but it's never been painful.

[heisenberg77]

When I have the x60 on either the ultrabase or ac adapter, the fan starts spinning quite fast in defined intervals. (fan on - 1:13 min., fan off - 50 seconds). I have tried various settings in power management but this does not change anything. However if I just run the x60 on the battery the lowest power setting then it it not a problem. Has anyone else experienced this? And does anyone have a solution?

[gunston]

When I have the x60 on either the ultrabase or ac adapter, the fan starts spinning quite fast in defined intervals. (fan on - 1:13 min., fan off - 50 seconds). I have tried various settings in power management but this does not change anything. However if I just run the x60 on the battery the lowest power setting then it it not a problem. Has anyone else experienced this? And does anyone have a solution?

using the Battery can hardly get the right palm rest and bottom chassis of X60s Warm.

[jkat]

hi all - i'm still shopping and today had the chance to try an X60 tablet (1.86 GHz LV multitouch) in a store in hong kong. of course lots of ambient store noise, but it seemed very quiet on AC. however, on battery there is a slight hissing sound. had to get pretty close to hear it in the store, but not sure how it would come out in quieter environment. on the web, i've seen one reviewer complain about a hissing with the tablet, so am wondering if it varies by model or is a battery problem.

[smvp6459]

The hiss happens to the X60/s as well. I believe it's the frequency of the processor that you're hearing when it switches to battery. I think (for the X60/s, at least) some of the BIOS upgrades correct the noise by slightly turning up the processor speed at idle.

[jkat]

that's interesting to know about the x60s and hissing noise while on battery. i checked the x60 tablet bios updates to date and saw one update about eliminating noise from pen use while on battery, though nothing about general hissing while on battery. perhaps these issues are related, though? or perhaps the document describing problems fixed by bios updates does not mention each and every problem being fixed? do you know someone who had the problem on the x60s and got fixed by the bios update? anyhow, i'm still not sure how audible it will be in a quiet room. the shop i was in was very noisy, but one could hear the hiss clearly with "head to machine" ; )

[ThinkMon]

I know exactly what everyone means with the "hissing" noise. That's the perfect word to describe it, and that is the noise I was referring to when I wrote "whirring" in my previous post.

It is extremely high-pitched, not very loud, but definitely catches your attention when you're in a quiet room. It's not something I would say should prevent you from purchasing the machine. The only thing that truly is bothersome to me is the screen, which is somewhat dull in brightness compared to my old R40 (not sure why, the R40 is also xga).

I ran the "thinkpad update" tool and it didn't suggest a BIOS upgrade for me. Does anyone know what the latest BIOS name/type is? I have an X60 that was built in December '06, running XP Pro.

Thanks!

[smvp6459]

It should be up to 2.06 (for the x60 and x60s...I'm not sure about the tablet):
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-63144