L2000: Nice but warm and noisy (fan)

I got my L2000 on tuesday. It's very nice, but the noise and heat
factor bothers me. Even at 800MHz, the keyboard and touch pad
area gets warm. The fans kicks in atleast once a minute.

Anyone else bothered by this issue on L2000?

Imran

 

I picked the L2005cu up at CompUSA the other day and have no problems. Do you have it on a lap cooler or something? Mine came with the 12 cell battery that props the back up a bit which inturn helps keep it cooler. All laptops get warm, just make sure it doesn't get hot and you should be ok. You could always play with the one on display in the store you bought it at and see how warm that one gets.
Jeremy

 

Not all laptops get warm. My wifes Compaq x1000 centrino never gets warm nor does the fan ever kick in. I love it for that. And now that im shopping for my laptop then i want a similar heat/noise experience. so thats bad news if the l2000 gets loud/hot.

 

Mine doesn't (except for the bottom)

 

Mine is with 6 cell battery. Maybe I should try 12 cell?

It gets warm with fan on when it's on the table.
No blockage of ventilation vent.

I kept dell inspiron 2200 for couple of weeks.
It was super quiet and cool. No heating whatsoever.
Only trouble: Display pretty crapy and 'dull'.

Mine is noticeably warm in keyboard area. I ordered it
online so can't compare.

Imran

 

Imran,

When did you order your L2000?
(how long did it take to reach you?)

 

I've been considering this notebook, but was concerned with the heat. Can anyone give us some objective info, i.e. temp readings from mobilemeter?

I'm also interested in how effective undervolting the Turion will be in making it cooler and reducing fan activity.

 

I purchased my L2000 at CompUSA a few days ago. I can honestly say that the fan rarely comes on while surfing, editing docs, etc. The fan will come on momentarily when creating PDF files, loading a very large PowerPoint presentation, while scanning for viruses. I would hardly call the fan loud.

As for the heat, under the left wrist rest does get warm when plugged-in, but not hot. MobileMeter reports the CPU & HDD temp ~50c for both. I upgraded my hard drive to a faster 5400RPM model. Perhaps mine runs slightly warmer than other L2000 models?

My L2000 came with a 12 cell battery. I'm very pleased with the battery life so far. I used my notebook all day for work and still had juice left when I came home.

As for undervolting, I'm curious myself how far you could go. I would expect the Turion to perform as well as an Athlon 64 to undervolting since they share the same core.

I'm very pleased with my purchase and wouldn't hesitate recommending it.

 

I really think this is a battery issue. I got the L2000 for my wife, with the 12 cell, and the fan rarely turns on and it's not hot at all, even after I installed a bunch of software and used for over an hour straight last night. The extra ventilation must be doing the trick.

 

Hi Mike,

I ordered it by phone on June 27th. Notebook was shipped July 1st,
arrived July 5th. It was way ahead of estimated built date of July 12th.

As for heat/fan issue, I've ordered a 12 cell battery. I hope it helps.

PC Wizard 2005 (loaded from www.cpuid.org) program reports
Processor and CPU temp to be around 50 degC.

Yesterday, I ran DVD for 1 hour on battery with wireless OFF.
The notebook was cooler. I wonder it's related to wireless.

I've 1 512MB stick. I plan to add another 512 or 1GB RAM soon.

Imran

 

Hi Brian,

I didn't get the extra vent with 12 cell battery comment in your post?

I've already ordered 12 cell battery. HP customer service is excellent.
They are willing to take 6 cell back so that I'll pay the different ($50-$10 off
coupon).

Looking forward to testing the notebook with larger battery.

Thanks Guys.

Imran

 

i'm getting really worried about the 6 cell battery. my build date is july 18th, so i can still change my order (cancel it, then reorder), but i'm just not sure if this is an isolated problem on a few notebooks or widespread. i suppose i could just get a laptop cooler too.

 

is anyone putting pc3200 in their L2000?

 

Imran,
Thanks for the info!
I ordered mine from the web site on June 27th, with an estimated build date of 7/12, just like you.
(and same config).

I wonder why you got yours so quick and mine has yet to show up. HP just says "it's in progress"...that is the only update they give.

Oh well.

50 degrees doesn't seem bad at all. I would agree that the 12 cell battery (with the extra tilt and ventilation) should help.

 

More importantly, has anyone done this and seen a performance improvement?

 

I don't think it will give you any improvement.
L2000 doesn't support PC3200. The memory will
operate at 333MHz (pc2700).

Mike,

I ordered mine without true bright (or whatever HP
calls it) screen. Did you order yours with it? I wonder if
it contributes to the delay. It was shipped from China
Mine doesn't have DVDRW as well. For me, it was a pleasant
surprise.

I agree that the tilt from 12 cell battery provides more room
for hot hair to vent out. I didn't order mine with 12 cell cuz
I was lured by 5.35lbs...I guess 6lbs notebook isn't bad either.

Imran

 

imram,

how do you know that the L2000 only supports pc2700? i've been looking EVERYWHERE for relevant information on this, and the few bits i've found lead me to believe that it CAN support pc3200. i guess the most credible one is amd's own site, where it says that the turion's integrated memory controller supports pc3200. whether or not this makes a huge difference on sytem performance is unknown. the ati xpress200m integrated graphics also borrows from the system memory, so i would imagine that it'd improve graphics performance slightly.

 

PC3200 is supported because unlike Intel notebooks, the CPU, not chipset, determines the compatible memory. All socket 754 CPUs support PC3200 memory.

 

Thanks for the info Blksnake. Don't keep me in suspense.. when can you undervolt?

Have you tried to control your fan? Does speedfan work? I'l like to keep it as cool as possible, maybe have the fan on low most of the time.. you know, to avoid testicular cancer Sorry, bad joke, but couln't resist.

 

Just got mine this morning. Impulse buy at Sams Club. $999 for a 1.8ghz, bluetooth, dvd+/-RW, ultrabright screen thing, 6-cell battery. So its everything i wanted for a few hundred less. Beeeautiful.

Im one of those worrying about heat. I formatted and installed stuff for the last 5 hours. It gets warm but nothing unreasonable. Ive had laptops that feel like theyd burn your skin off. This is an acceptable amount of heat considering the amount of time used installing.

As for Sams Club. Wow. Online they have it and its a 6month return policy. No restocking fee or anything. Thats pretty much what got me to impulse buy this thing. I definitely wanted to try it out and have no penalties if it stunk. Well im trying it and its not so bad so maybe i'll keep it. The warranty too at Sams club is only $79 for 3 years so its something im considering. Take a look.

The only gripe i have is scrolling doesnt work in firefox. Help?

 

That's good to know about Sam's, I may just have to try one out for a 6 month long test drive.

Try undervolting, and let us know the improvements in temp and battery time.. that is if I don't get one first.

 

You'll need to update your Synaptics driver (manually) to this:

Version 8.0.6 for XP home/pro

Version 7.12.6 for 64bit users

It'll work like a charm...guaranteed.

 

Both COSTCO, & SAM'S are exclusive to this policy.

 

Yeah. And its not something im saying so it will be abused. Its just great that there still are companies out there that dont rip you off with restocking fees. Its really not fair to the consumer to have a demo notebook bolted to a table so you cant any sort of feel for the machine before you buy.

Anyway, here's something to think about. If you buy the l2000 and they give $50 of it to livestrong. What happens if you return it?





Okay. Now for my day 2 impressions:

-heat-
its warm. not cool like my centrino x1000 and not hot like a cheap computer. left wristpad warmth may be an issue. my wrist isnt sweaty, but it feels like it is when typing too long. yesterday i was just installing so it wasnt in constant physical use. today im doing updates while actually using the thing and im feeling the heat.

-fan-
okay. it does turn on alot. ive used notebooks for a long time and the only one i had fan issues with was a cheap sub $500 system. its forgiveable there because i paid for a computer i expected would be cheap. im not sure if i like hearing a fan on this system since its going to be my main computer. again, im updatng alot so hopefully when i get back to basic use it wont be so bad. but right now its annoying and these things usually start quiet and 6mo down the road get louder. this is starting louder than id like.

-battery-
im only getting about 2hrs so far. but then im updating so thats alot of motors running.

 

Oh. And just a tip for those who dont know it. If you want a volume control meter on screen then just download microsofts intellitype software and say you have an MS multimedia keyboard. It gives you a nice headsup display that doesnt use much resources.

Download intellitype software

 

KrispyKreme50!

You got me thinking. You are right about memory controller on
turion. They do have integrated north bridge. Last night, I chatted
with HP tech guy. Here is what he says:

"Imran, your Notebook supports PC3200 memory but HP does not recommend to
upgrade the memory from PC2700 (333Mhz) DDR memory to PC3200 (400MHz)."

I'm not sure if the different will be noticeable, so I'm sticking to 2700 for now.
But the mystery is no more. PC3200 is supported.

Thanks for correcting me.

Imran

 

Imran,

did the HP tech guy say WHY they don't recommend the upgrade to pc3200? seems kind of odd since the hardware supports it and the price difference between pc3200 and pc2700 is like $5 per 512mb so-dimm.

 

Heat... or rather the lack thereof. I'm obsessed over this issue. The guys at best buy must laugh when they see me looking at their machines , trying to look underneath, and standing there just holding them from the bottom. I like going there because the machines are not bolted down, just tethered.

I was so tempted to get the L2000. I'm trying to hold out for the MT's to be available. I think 50 degress is too hot for me. My desknote with a pentium 4 1.8ghz (desktop processor, not mobile) stays around 46-48 with light surfing and wordprocessing.

As far as laptops, had a dell 700m for 3 wks which ran ~44 with wifi on and light work. With undervolting and fan control, it was a cool 39. So far nothing I''ve encountered in a similar form factor comes close to this.

 

If your system is pc3200-compatible, that may only mean that pc3200 stick will work, but at 2700 speed (as opptite to non-compatible, when it wouldn't work at all).
You'll have the advantage only in systems that are pc3200-compliant.

Keep in mind that not only speed matters, but clock latency too. CL2 RAM will be faster than CL3. Most PC3200 sticks are CL3, whereas PC2700 CL2.5. If you install PC3200 with CL3 in system that clocks at 2700, you may see downgraded performance/no change rather than improvement.

 

If it's like other HP notebooks, the BIOS is configured to leave the fan off until the CPU hits 55C and shut it down when it's back to 50C. A desktop machine never shuts its CPU fan off so it has less of an excuse to break 50C. I wish the BIOS allowed you to modify that behavior.

The MT series would be a help under heavy CPU load but in average use you shouldn't notice too much difference over a ML. Both chips have the same speed and voltage settings in low-speed mode. I suspect you'll be able to undervolt the Turions a bit though, I'm surprised no one's tried that yet? The biggest annoyance is that, according to the (PCMag?) review, HP used smaller cells in the 6-cell battery than they did in their Intel notebooks. The 12-cell battery doesn't have this problem so you get well over twice the battery life of the 6.

On PC2700 vs. PC3200: near as I can tell, HP doesn't test for PC3200 compliance so the motherboard and BIOS may not cooperate, even though the CPU is perfectly capable.

 

Hi Edsa,



I'm not alone!! I'm exactly like you when it comes to heat.
I tried dell inspiron 2200...the coolest (temp wise) and quietest
notebook I've ever tried.

I'll give L2000 a shot wit 12 cell battery (on it's way).
If fan still comes on often, it's going back.
Overall, it's a very nice machine.

I won't bother upgrading to pc3200. I don't do gaming
or any other intensive apps, so pc2700 is perfectly fine
with me.

Imran

 

According to my math and hp.com that's a $120 savings, which is good esp. 'cause you dont have to wait 2 weeks for it! The same spec v2000z from Costco would be $1077 - $50 rebate, so about the same.

 

Add sales tax, the cost of membership, and no use of discount coupons and we are back at square one. The fact that he didn't have to wait may make up for that though. Definitely a great deal.

Still looking for a definite response on the 6-cell battery life...anyone?

Also there was a post by someone who said the screen looked 'washed out'? Can someone verify this? All of the HP's and Compaqs I've looked at have had fantastic looking LCDs, even without brightview.

 

You save 3% through FW if buying from HpShopping

 

Hehe, that's good, we're not alone.

I'd like to know if anyone is successful with controlling the fan. Undervolting shouldn't be a problem, but I'd like to be able to run the fan at low speed most of the time, rather than it coming on intermittently.

 

With 6 cells, I got 2 hours.
Screen looks good. I've the regular LCD, not the
bright view one. Compared to dell, it's quite nice. I had
to adjust brightness and contrast in ATI Color tab though.
The factor default didn't look nice.

Imran

 

DOH! I forgot to do that on my order!

 

Don worry, brightview is the same LCD but just some pasting on the screen. doesn't make much of a difference indoors anyway

 

What's FW, please?

 

FW is an AMAZING site!!

Http://www.fatwallet.com

Sign up for free & every time u click through one of their list of stores for your purchase @ dozens of etailers, they'll PAY YOU (after a couple months by check) anywhere from 1%-15% depending on the site.

 

Thank you. it helps alot!!!

 

Update:

I ordered 12 cell battery. It arrived yesterday.
The heat problem is less significant with 12 cell.
Left side hand rest is still warm and fan still comes on
but it's not as bad as with 6 cell battery.

I'll keep the notebook for a week or two before
deciding what to do. Adding a 12 cell battery has increased
to the weight (the main reason I configured it with 6 cell).

Imran

 

Good, so that confirms it. As for heat, you're going to get that, it's not totally unavoidable, especially with an AMD chip.

 

ok... now I know I dont have the same HP laptop but have serious heat issues. i used HOT CPU and it got up to 74. i have more than one 'cooling pad', none of which work. What exactly can I do with the battery or with the voltage or SOMETHING so that I dont fry out my computer?? Thanks

 

Is that right? I read somewhere that the L2000 uses a turion but its not the low power model so thats why they run a bit hot. Supposedly, when the low power version comes out then it should run cooler.