Right palm rest heat in T41

[philspec]

Hi everyone,

I am hoping that people might be able to provide some advice for this problem.

I recently purchased a T41 (2379DKU), and within hours noticed that the right palm rest heats up to a level that varies from very substantial to barely noticeable. The heat is strong enough at times to be a borderline deal breaker on the computer. The heat occurs both with and without using the wireless connection.

For the last year, I have used a T30 that was given to me by my old employer. I never noticed any palm rest heat with that computer (perhaps because it is thicker, leaving more room between the hard drive and the palm rest). I need to return the computer because I have left my job, but wouldn't be averse to simply buying my own T30.

I have reviewed the handful of palm rest heat postings in this forum, and it sounds like the consensus is just that some people notice the heat, others don't, and you just have to deal with it.

My questions are: Is it possible that this is due to some sort of manufacturing flaw, such that if I returned this computer for another 2379DKU, it might somehow have less heat? Has anyone noticed if other models are less likely to have this problem (as people have noticed with the fan noise problem, for example)? How did others with similar heat problems address them?

Assuming that one way to solve the problem is moving back to a larger computer like the T30, how would people recommend that I purchase such a computer? It isn't offered through IBM (at least not online), and I am somewhat reluctant to purchase a used one, sight unseen, with no warranty. Could Bill help out here?

Thank you so much in advance for any help you can provide.

[stgreek]

It is not a manufacturing flaw. The hard drive is underneath the right palm rest, so if you access the HD often it will be hotter than when idle. The reason you feel it more than the T30 is that the T40 is much slimmer so the HD is much closer to the palm rest than on the T30, as you yourself suggested. Personally I don't find palm rest heat an issue and I definitely wouldn't take the (Ugly) T30 over a T40 for that reason, but YMMV. Adding more RAM will reduce disk access and should make things more comfortable, so you might want to try that. Also, I don't know if the hd protection thingy adds to the heat so that is another thing you could try (I have a T40 which doesn't have it)

Stavros