Which Thinkpad is coolest on your lap?

[ibmdell]

Since the Centrino associated CPU's got into Thinkpads, all of them run too hot for me to be placing them on my lap for extended period of time.
I remember never having heat as a problem when I was using my T30 on my lap.
Which model should I get to avoid the uncomfortable heat on my lap?

[christopher_wolf]

I am suprised; the T30 has a far greater chance of running hotter if you just look at the CPU used in it alone. There are, however, other factors. All the laptops I have used with the same chipset as the T30 could have easily scorched your lap after 10 minutes of being on.

The X Series is pretty low on temps even when pushing the workload high. So has been my T43 and so would a T42, T41, or T40. However, I have seen some T4X Thinkpads get hot for no real reason; not as a chronic problem, but more of a transient issue whilst idling or running a job.

For the most part, it will depend on the luck of the draw for ~25% or more of the overall probability that you will get a hot system for what you want to do.

Is this a T Series machine you are thinking of? (My T43 hovers around 39°C to 43°C) X Series? (Easily the Thinkpad series that has some of the coolest temperatures) Z Series? (Note that I haven't felt high temperatures on the new Z Series, but I probably need to feel more of them ) R Series? (Similar in terms of noticed thermal properties to the T Series).

I would also recommend that you take full advantage of the SpeedStep and dynamic clocking abilities on the Pentium-Ms. I have yet to see one of them get hotter, at the same workload, than the Mobile P4M which can be found in the T30.

[dsigma6]

i would steer clear of the R40. at the drop of a hat the thing would shoot up to over 60C. i always used it with a targus coolpad, so i should hopefully be having children some day.

[christopher_wolf]

i would steer clear of the R40. at the drop of a hat the thing would shoot up to over 60C. i always used it with a targus coolpad, so i should hopefully be having children some day.

Hopefully be having children someday....

[dsigma6]

Hopefully be having children someday....

you never know..the hd hit 80C on a few occasions, that couldn't have been good!

[christopher_wolf]

No....no that should have killed the HDD in it. There aren't many standard 2.5" laptop form factor HDDs out there, non hardened or specialized, that have critical temeperatures over the max of 55 degrees Celsius; a max at which point the HDD will shut down instead of operating any further. This is probably the third case I have heard of high HDD temps in the R40. I really wonder why.

What did you measure it with?

[dsigma6]

What did you measure it with?

i used nhc and mobilemeter. that number is totally off the wall, but i tell you that i couldn't keep my finger touching the bottom for more than half a second without going OUCH!!!

i later ran the hitachi drive fitness test and it failed miserably. ibm sent out a new one.

the hd often ran in the low 60s for extended periods of time, even after being on for merely 10 minutes, with light use. in nhc, it listed the critical settings as 85C and up...i think it was confused.

i can't really say i miss the r40.

[jdhurst]

Of all the Thinkpads I have used (going back to my old 365 and going forward to the T4x series) my T41 is the coolest. It never gets really hot, but occasionally I will put it on a book on my lap (especially in summer). And that is more to keep the computer cool than me. ... JD Hurst