Thinkpads Forum

I have questions (at the bottom of my post) for the x100e owners that are experiencing overheating problems with their machines.

I have seen the OVERHEAT of the X100e problem reported in forums and reviews but not one comment from Lenovo addressing the problem. Neither a Bios update nor a recall with specific remedies.

Reading throughout the archives of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) I saw that at least two laptop manufacturers made recalls of their machines due to burn hazards (because of overheating problems).

With that said, I believe that the overheating problem I am experiencing with my machine is serious enough to take into consideration reporting the problem to the CPSC. I would probably do that after complaining to Lenovo since I believe that is the correct course of action.

I truly believe that machines should be tested extensively before rolling out models with such an overheating problem. I don't even want to have my 2-year old girl touching the bottom of my x100e by accident and have a minor burn injury. I believe that Lenovo is not responsibly taking any action to the various claims in forums.

With the above said I would like your opinion.
1. Would it be useful/worth to report this issue to the CPSC?
2. Am I OVER-reacting and there is no way to have a burn injury with the overheat that the x100e generates?
3. and/or it is just me that feels myself a bit ripped off with my x100e due to the overheating problem.

larango wrote:I have questions (at the bottom of my post) for the x100e owners that are experiencing overheating problems with their machines.

I have seen the OVERHEAT of the X100e problem reported in forums and reviews but not one comment from Lenovo addressing the problem. Neither a Bios update nor a recall with specific remedies.

Reading throughout the archives of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) I saw that at least two laptop manufacturers made recalls of their machines due to burn hazards (because of overheating problems).

With that said, I believe that the overheating problem I am experiencing with my machine is serious enough to take into consideration reporting the problem to the CPSC. I would probably do that after complaining to Lenovo since I believe that is the correct course of action.

I truly believe that machines should be tested extensively before rolling out models with such an overheating problem. I don't even want to have my 2-year old girl touching the bottom of my x100e by accident and have a minor burn injury. I believe that Lenovo is not responsibly taking any action to the various claims in forums.

With the above said I would like your opinion.
1. Would it be useful/worth to report this issue to the CPSC?
2. Am I OVER-reacting and there is no way to have a burn injury with the overheat that the x100e generates?
3. and/or it is just me that feels myself a bit ripped off with my x100e due to the overheating problem.

Overheat is a word that describes a pathological condition when a component reach a temp over the project specs.

Is not the X100 case, normally.

The x100 can overheating in extreme conditions, something like compiling a linux kernel on a hot summer day, in that case it simply shuts down.

What you are calling overheating is simply the normal condition with the current AMD platform, and everyone was aware of that before buying that notebook.

The x100 doesn't fits your needs / your preferences, but this has nothing to do with burn hazards.

Thank you very much for your input and point of view.

As you can tell I was very naive with the x100e. I learned my lesson then.

larango wrote:Thank you very much for your input and point of view.

As you can tell I was very naive with the x100e. I learned my lesson then.

Just to add something I've just noticed that you live in Bogotà.

Being an high altitude place can be affect the temps also: lower air density, lower heat transfer capability.

Maybe not a huge effect but can be enough to past the threshold from comfortable to uncomfortable.

Uhmm. interesting suggestion. But I believe there is no much of an effect.

As a matter of fact I have been in the USA -Florida- (sea level) for the last 2 weeks and the uncomfortable feeling is just the same and high temperatures of the bottom of the case remains the same or perhaps a bit worst.

larango, I believe submitting a complaint to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) would be the correct thing to do. I don't know if the x100e overheat problem represents a safety hazard, I would let the CPSC decide that. There is no doubt that the heat problem in the x100e is a design issue and that Lenovo by their silence plans to do nothing about it. Perhaps submitting a complaint will get Lenovo off their duff and maybe they will actually do something to correct the problem. IMO I would not let the comments of others deter me.

what are the drawbacks of a complaint?
If there are none, why not complaining?

My thoughts exactly howto.

steveg47 and howto:

Hey, great to know your thoughts about it. Don't worry about any drawbacks for now.

By saying that I learned my lesson I wasn't saying that I am not going to complain.

What I wanted to point out is that I wasn't smart enough to get the real picture of quite a few reviews that expressed concerns about the x100e temperatures and that I didn't pay attention to.

With this post I am looking for the opinion of x100e owners. Specially the ones having double core machines. I believe that their thoughts will enrich my view and eventually my arguments to file a complain.

As a matter of fact I don't want my 2-year old daughter to touch the bottom of the laptop's case and that is a good reason to file the complain for what I consider a poor design-made netbook. Either because a cooling system design flaw, the CPU is exceeding its specified power draw, something else or a combination of different circumstances.

According to what I have seen at the CPSC files, just with a few claims that probe to be true, it will trigger enough and serious actions from that agency to protect customers and make Lenovo act accordingly. The thing is that just one complain may be not enough.

Sadly the few dozens posts at this and another forums, at Lenovo's forum and other few reviews regarding this topic -high temperatures on the X100e-haven't call the attention of Lenovo to act on behalf of perhaps hundreds of customers that bought the X100e and are experiencing very uncomfortable overheating problem with their laptops. They can make a bios update to undervolt or perhaps make a recall and replace the cooling system or the processor or just give a big discount on the purchase of a x120e for old x100e users (or receive back their machines). Well, I guess I am being naive again.

Let's see if there are any other thoughts about this post and see how it goes from here when filing a complain.

regards and thanks again for your thoughts. They are very encouraging

I think you should accept the fact that the x100e gets hot under some conditions. It's not hot enough to do harm. But, if you don't like/can't accept this aspect of the machine, then I suggest you sell it and buy something else. Don't bother with complaints or legal action. They won't get you anywhere or anything. I base this advice on these facts:

1- You admitted in your last post that you wanted a discount on an x120e. If that's the real reason for you "threatening" to tattle to a government agency then I think you are being very naive. Why? Let's move to Fact 2.

2- The x100e does not get hot enough to actually cause physical harm. Testing scenarios that led to the product's certification for sale proved that fact. Lenovo is not selling a machine that bursts into flames or which burns skin while the product is in use. I do have to say that your imaginary scenario of a 2-year-old being harmed by your hot x100e was another revealing (and naive) comment. Not to mention alarming. Who would want to actually risk a small child's well-being in order to "prove" some harm is being done by a "hot" laptop? Huh? Is that what you meant?

3- By the time a complaint to any agency could do any good (and I assert that it would never do any good for the reasons I've stated above not to mention the weight of Lenovo's legal staff), you will have wanted to move onto something else. Your machine's warranty will be over and your interest in blackmailing Lenovo into a discount on another machine will be all that you're left with. I have to say that the word "naive" is a polite word for your questions. I would use the word "exploit" to describe your real intentions.

I have an x100e with the top processor. I use it all the time on Max Performance setting. Yes, it exhausts hot air. Yes, the bottom gets warm. I even use an app to display the temperature of the internals. And, I've even measured the output of the air coming out of the exhaust vent. Guess what? I have a 5-year-old T690 that in some situations, gets just as hot as the x100e. Surprising? It's not. Many laptops get uncomfortably warm when in use, even when not in "stressed-usage" scenarios. Get yourself a laptop cooler mat (there are dozens of products on the market) if you want to cool the bottom of your machine while in use. That's why those products are sold---to make using laptops on one's lap comfortable/acceptable.

To summarize, in my opinion the real issue behind your question is you want something for nothing (i.e., to exploit Lenovo). Why don't you just sell the x100e if you don't like it? I bet you can get a good price for it. Just don't explain that you are selling it because you've threatened to burn your baby's face with it if Lenovo won't pay up.

[Disclaimer--Please take my comments in the spirit they were intended: to be more or less objective answer to your question. I don't mean to offend, just to give you some realistic facts in response to your question.]

What an angry bear that wally

Heat problem on dual core laptops has been around for a couple of years now, not just on Lenovo laptops. As manufacturers try to reduce weight on a laptop, more metal is taken out of the case leaving mostly plastic to sluff off the heat. Unfortunately that heat can become execessive, especially on young tender hands such as your daughters. There are ways to combat this however. I responded in another forum to a somewhat similar question. I don't know if TPFanControl a free software tool will work on your laptop, but it is worth trying, at the most it will work and cool your laptop down as low as 43 degrees C. This utility was written to quiet down noisy fans in laptops. Some of us now use it for just the opposit. The other option you have is to throttle down your processor when you don't need all the power. Mine typically is set at 5% minimum power on or off battery and between 45 and 55% for normal stuff. I only run Max power up to 100% when I am running processor intensive programs, editing some video or streaming more than one program at a time. I copied the Power Option icon as a shortcut to my desktop and go to Advanced power settings processor power management to throttle down when I don't need to fry an egg. I strongly suggest you try both and setup max power to somewhwere between 45 and 55% Setup TPFan conrol so that your fan is noisy for your little girl!

Foodog

wallybear wrote: 1- You admitted in your last post that you wanted a discount on an x120e. If that's the real reason for you "threatening" to tattle to a government agency then I think you are being very naive. Why? Let's move to Fact 2.

Please read again. I didn't want a discount. I made suggestions of different course of actions Lenovo could take -including offering a discount-after reading many posts and reviews talking about the same topic in order to make up to their x100e customers. I read my post again and I didn't see the part where I actually asked for a discount for my self via a threat.

wallybear wrote: I would use the word "exploit" to describe your real intentions.

Me versus Lenovo. Me exploting Lenovo or Blackmailing Lenovo looking for a discount for a new x120e.
I don't see how I can blackmail them for a discount with my arguments. Again, I have never asked for a discount (for my self).
My real intentions were to have some input from x100e users with double core processors on this HOT topic.

wallybear wrote: Why don't you just sell the x100e if you don't like it? I bet you can get a good price for it. Just don't explain that you are selling it because you've threatened to burn your baby's face with it if Lenovo won't pay up.

Hey my friend. I believe you are a little bit twisted here to come up with that conclusion about burning someone's face. If you are totally in love with your x100e I respect that. In my case, I feel a bit ripped off with the machine -because of the heating problems-. And I also want to see if the heat problem is serious enough to take the issue one step further. I believe that if customers complain when bad products are out in the market, actually some companies take the comments seriously enough to make corrections. If no one complains, nothing happens. So far what I have done is: complaining, getting the facts, asking about everyone's experience, making the issue visible for the public to see -with facts-.

And regarding this CPSC issue, it is just one angle of the whole problem that I wanted to take into consideration.

Saddly many companies with flawed products take actions only when government forces them to do, not before. As for my self, I believe that the X100e has a serious cooling system design flaw that may be considered a potential burn hazard.

I won't sell my x100e without warning the buyer about the heat problem. I am not going to do what Lenovo just did to their customers.

wallybear wrote: I don't mean to offend, just to give you some realistic facts in response to your question

No offense taken. Thanks for the disclaimer.

Update:
I bought a new laptop to replace the x100e. More expensive but with almost same portability.
Price is what you pay if you want a better machine overall. I missed the size and weight of the x100e but not the heat.

Next steps with the X100e. Take it to a Lenovo service center to see if my machine -specifically- has a more severe heat problem and look for a solution. If the heat level is by design, I would see if it is worth it to submit the case to the CPSC for them to decide if the heat problem is something they need to seriously address.

Foodog: Thank you very much for your post. I have tried in the past what you have mentioned with no real changes. Only thing that has really worked out is unvervolting. However probably not enough for what I am expecting. Thank you very much again for taking the time to write your suggestions.

Hi all, I've having a HUGE overheating problem with my x100e and it is constantly just shutting down every time the system gets too hot. It is shutting down at least one a day. Usually something as simple as having just one external device plugged into the USB will cause a shut down in about 10-20 minutes (sometimes less), and if I'm in a warmer climate, it will just down after a little while of being plugged in and charging!! The effort I have to make it keep it cool is practically contradicting the benefit of a small portable laptop! I'm pretty sure it's overheating b/c the bottom of the laptop is always extremely hot when it shuts down and when I make the effort to keep the bottom cooler, it doesn't happen. Please let me know what I should do. Shouldn't there be some kind of warning system of the systems temp to tell you when it is getting too hot, rather than just shut down? This cannot be good for the system! Look forward to any suggestions
Thanks!