Not so common question: Which Dell laptops are most silent?

Hi guys,

I tried to search but could not find any old threads regarding my question.

I'm looking to get a new Dell 15 inch, and most of the time I'm just surfing the web, streaming HD vids or doing word processing. I was just wondering if you guys with experience with the various Dell models, know which ones run more quietly and don't have the fan spinning too much when doing these things? I currently have an XPSM1530 and the fan is on pretty much all the time.

I'm currently looking at the Inspiron 15R, XPS 15 or Vostro 3550. I won't really be using it for much gaming (can't believe I'm saying that, I must be getting old!)

Thanks for your time!

 

To me the Vostro 3550 seems kind of noisy but it's probably because I'm used to my x230t so that's probably why.

 

I've found the default fan control on most recent Dells to be pretty poor. Until someone gets i8kfangui updated or something equivalent created, I'd say buy a ThinkPad with tpfancontrol.

 

My L702x is a noisy nightmare. Lots of other L702x owners have same issue. Fan goes from low to high several times a minute at random intervals when browsing the web and using an external monitor. I have sent an audio recording of this to Dell.

If you want me to email you of what to avoid, PM me and I will.

This is maddening issue; I have spent many many hours attempting to resolve this, and found the only solution by using noise isolating headphones or earplugs.

There is no way of getting fan to spin at a constant slow speed, which would be less disruptive than crazy oscillating from silent to noisy a few times a minute. At high, it's so noisy it's hard to concentrate, but it's the random rapid intervals that get me because it's much harder to ignore a randomly changing noise than a constant drone.

Some people on this forum have suggested L702x can't handle data throughput of a SSD which is why this happens.

So if you need it to be quiet enough to, for example, record audio with good quality, AVOID DELL.

There is one of many threads about this issue here:

And 10,000+s of pages in google referring to this if you google L702x fan noise :

Dell Reps, if there are not fundamental design issues with L702x, why *are so many* people citing fan noise as an issue with L702x? Why is the onus on customers to go mad attempting to resolve these issues? Is your testing process completely faulty? Are the people who test wearing earplugs or do they not care? Why land us with ridiculously noisy computers?

@DGNR, if you need a quiet computer for purposes such as recording decent quality audio with low background noise, to do, say a camtasia screencast, or if you don't want to be driven mad by loud fans (when you are not gaming or doing CPU / GPU intensive fans) save your ears a world of pain and avoid Dell XPS L702x. I have audio recording projects I have totally stalled because my Dell machine is too noisy to have in the same room. In my experience, despite Dell's slogan "the power to do more" what they have delviered with my most recent computer is "the disempowerment - to do less"

 

Thanks guys. I'm currently leaning more towards the Inspiron 15R Special Edition; does anyone have any sound issues with this one?

I've looked at ThinkPads, but they seem to be out of my budget at the moment and Dell looks like it can give me the best performance for my price range.

Thanks Turbot, I definitely wasn't aware of that issue with the L702x. Certain Dell models do seem to have model-specific design/manufacturing issues. I've experienced this with the M1530 overheating GPUs as well.

 

Insprions are worse than Vostros.
My Vostro 3550 is silent when it's idle and is pretty quiet during light load.
Opening 20 tabs with Flash in the background in Firefox makes the fan stay on though.

 

A bit of topic, but I thought I'd ask as I've always wondered: what do the vostros have over the inspiron laptops? I was quite interested in the 3550 as I like the design, but I couldn't justify paying the same price as an inspiron for a lower spec-ed vostro. Does it have better battery life? The only difference I can see is that it has Win 7 Pro and might be better optimised for the workplace? Thanks!

 

The warranty is definitely better. Next Business day service is standard with the Vostros. Also all the Vostros I've used feel slightly more well built than the Inspiron counterparts. Also the interior electronics seem to be of higher quality ( lower rate of motherboard failures).
Honestly the minimum I would buy from Dell is a Vostro. I've had too many bad experiences with their Inspiron line to buy one of them again.

I bought a brand new Vostro 3550 for $270 with a 2nd gen Core i3 after tax and shipping about 8 months ago on the Dell Outlet so price shouldn't be an issue if you shop around.

If you really want a quiet computer you shouldn't buy a Dell though. All the affordable Dells are relatively noisy. Lenovo makes quieter computers overall.

 

I do not own one, but didn't I read that the Vostro 3350 was pretty quiet? but I would take seriously the note above about poor fan control'ware.

you mentioned Thinkpad: the budget friendly X120E is my daily work partner - I do tech work so pretty picky. its cheap and rugged - I bought one on ebay and reworked it with max'd ram and SSD - it is silent. combination of not needing fan much, fan is exceptionally quiet, and TP fan control is well coded.
I cannot vouch for the X130E - it is a whole different build and so far the x120e lovers do not love the x130e. x220 is worth the money also as many have pointed out.

 

Lenovo is good, just don't ever order it off their main page, find a reseller unless you are prepared for the worst service you will ever had.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Alright, so the consensus seems to be that the Lenovos have quieter laptops. Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it.