Quiet and cool Macbook vs. my fan-almost-always-on dv6000t

I walked over to my daughter's fiance who was doing some internet surfing with his Macbook a week ago. He had been online for a good while, yet I never heard the fan kick in. I felt the palm rest and found it cool.

On the other hand, my dv6275us, while not too warm, has the fan going almost all the time. I'm no techie, but is this a matter of different CPU's (I have no idea what's in his Macbook, but it's only about three months old) or different makes of computers?

I must admit to being impressed by that cool little white machine.

Bill

 

When I had my iBook G4, the fan never came on. Never. Even while I was playing Halo it never even made a noise. My new Compaq's fan comes on every once in awhile but when it does it makes some noise. Not a whole lot, but noticeable enough to where you would say something about it. To be honest, i'm not sure how Apple designs there notebooks because very few of them have the fans come on. Apple uses the same Core 2 Duo's as the other manufacturer's, so it must be their design.

 

Hardware is only part of the issue ... it's also a matter of OS.

Windows (particularly Vista) is ALWAYS doing something that is tasking the processor, RAM, hard drive, or video card. Since the OS is making the hardware work harder it produces more heat ... which has to be vented.

Mac OS and Linux aren't as tough on hardware.

That said, if heat is an issue for you then you might consider an external notebook cooler/fan. If it's just the noise of the fan that bothers you, you can set your power management settings to "Power saver" which reduces performance but also reduces the heat your notebook produces. You can also adjust the fan setting in BIOS so it isn't running all the time ... but that can be dangerous if you aren't careful because it can cause hardware to overheat.

 

That's why the Mac costs more than the HP. You're paying for the design. I.e. things like a very quiet efficient cooling system. The HP laptops OTOH are designed as "cheap computing for the masses" and don't bother with niceties like that.

I have an iBook G4 and even when CPU is pegged at 100% for a while, there is no loud fans, no noise. And that's even with the full hardware-accelerated 3D desktop effects enabled. I love it.

Having owned several HP laptops and several Apple laptops, the Apple laptops are FAR better in terms of their design and asthetics. For example, Apple laptops don't have any fans or vents on the underside - so you can use them in bed without overheating. Also, the apple battery has a 5 led indicator on it, so I can see how charged the battery is without booting up the machine. The Powerbooks have always had back-lit keyboards so you can see the keys when typing at night. Nice little things like that are what you pay more for when you buy an Apple.

It's like comparing a Chevy with an Audi. Sure, they both have four wheels, four doors and a trunk, and they'll both get you from point A to point B, but one is very basic and sort of schlepped together, while it's obvious that the other is smoother, more comfortable, more refined, and just better engineered in general. The Audi costs a lot more, but you get what you pay for.

 

Broadus

If you're fan is almost always on, It could be you're power management settings. If you change you settings around correctly, It should kick in intel's throttling and run your cpu at a lower speed and lower temperature when you don't require the processing power. Thus, the fan won't always be on.

My computers' fan rarely go on while im just surfing the internet

 

Could you be a bit more specific? What exactly would you change?

Thanks.

Bill

 

If you go to your control panel -> power options. You should be able to switch between balanced, power saver, high performance, and hp's recommended. Choosing anything besides high performance should help

 

Thanks. I'll do it.

Bill

 

You never mentioned the configurations on both notebooks you compared.

Does yours have a higher performing, heat generating discrete graphics card versus the embedded graphics on the mac?

What about the processor?

I'm quite sure you could have configured your HP to be as quiet and underperforming as the Mac.

Is that Mac capable of running Halo 2? I didn't think so. Be careful about what you wish for, you might be getting a mac.

 

Good questions, which I somewhat acknowledged in the OP. My signature shows my configuration. I suspect it's a little higher config than my future son-in-law's MacBook. Still, I don't think my fan's cut off all afternoon.

Of course, in this heat, I'm not sure the AC has cut off either!

Bill

 

Well I agree that the hardware is much more expensive. I purchased an iBook G4 back in April for $549. It was a 1GHz G4, 512MB RAM, 30GB HD, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, Airport Extreme, and ATI Radeon 9200 32MB graphics. In the Mac world, that is a steal. However, in PC world it sucks. My Compaq was only $379. It's a much better computer than my iBook. However, the iBook was a beautiful computer. The Compaq, while not horrible looking, has nothing on that iBook.

 

Since you have a dedicated graphics card, that fan is always on. So it could be the graphics card. Although it's not as loud as cpu fan. Macbooks don't have dedicated cards so they will be quieter.

 

That's interesting, and I probably don't even need such a card. It seemed like a good idea when I bought the notebook, but I don't do gaming or really anything graphics intensive. Still, the fan runs on "low"; rarely does it kick into "high."

I guess a more apt comparison, then, would be my HP and a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook.

Bill

 

Each notebook is different.....with different specs. Just google "Hot Macbook" and see what you get. Or "Hot Macbook Pro". There have been LOTS of stories about Apple Laptops overheating, especially about them using to MUCH heat compound. Here is one....

http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2006/07/7000/

Funny stuff.

Anyhow I just went into a Apple Store maybe two weeks ago...thinking about making the switch. I was looking at a Macbook Pro on the counter the new ones. I put my hands on it like I was going to type and the left palm rest was WARM.

I finally got a new HP....that is not as warm as that Macbook Pro. My fans almost never go high....but I dont have dedicated graphics.

Apple has different plastic/metal and the same guts as most notebooks....Quanta makes them at the same plant....as HP and others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quanta_Computers

Basically you pay more for style...as far as the hardware being better....blow some more sunshine up my ar$e...cuz I aint seeing it right now.

There is good and band from all makers. You just pay less for non-Apple.

 

When my daughter sold her business earlier this year, I almost kept her white 13'' MacBook (hope I'm getting the name right...it's the less expensive one). The thing was cool and very quiet, especially compared to my husbands 12 inch Averatec.

BUT, the way I type, the edge of the Mac computer always dug into my hands. It was the absolute most uncomfortable keyboard I've ever used. When asking about it, I was advised to sand the edge with an emery board. HUH? My daughter paid well over $1000 for a notebook and I'm supposed to run an emery board against the edges.

I sold it.

A few weeks ago I bought an HP 14" Verve, which has the latest Intel processor and graphics card. I bought the slowest of the new processors, primarily because I heard it runs cooler.

I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase. The fan hardly runs and the notebook is so quiet I often have to check to make sure it's on.

I don't know much about notebooks at all, except to say, I really lucked out with the dv2550. It's one great notebook; a real pleasure to use!

 

I do understand the logic of that argument BUT mine does NOT have a dedicated graphics card, and the fan is pretty much Always ON ! I think to a large extent, it's hp design....

 

The logic is simple. A Macbook has an Intel GMA950 intergrated video card with NO video RAM. It uses system RAM. For games it basically sucks because its way under-powered. Especially compared to a dedicated video card that has dedicated Video RAM.

It sucking at games because its low powered play to its advantage when it comes to heat and power usuage. It runs alot cooler and needs less power (think battery life).

So if his notebook he was comparing had a dedicated video card....it will heat more because of it...and the fan will come on.

I will say HP and its BIOS updates change the way the FAN works almost every update. I have read posts here that say my fan never kicks on and my temps are real high....and then I have read some that say the fan is always on (usually low) and never stops....and usually its after they update a BIOS.

My dv6426 is always on...but so low you have to put your ear next to the fan area to even hear it. When I am ripping a movie or something high CPU...for more than 10min straight I will get bursts of higher fan noise.

 

I don't blame you. Notebook design and manufacturing processes are something that are only familiar to an experienced user. Most newbies look at two machines and can't tell the difference between them. Don't worry, in time, as you learn about computers, you'll spot these design and quality differences on your own.

My iBook G4 has a magnesium (that's a metal, FYI) frame with a polycarbonate shell (that's a very strong synthetic plastic, fyi). That sure beats the chintzy plastic-frame Dells and HPs that I've seen. It's construction is so solid, it was one of its marketing points when it was new! The Powerbook line was similarly well designed with titanium and aluminum outer shells. You just don't find anything like that from any other vendor.

The new Macbook Pro runs just as quiet (much quieter than my dv9500t), and it's equipped with an 8600M-GT - a much more powerful GPU than my hp laptop has. So yes, it could easily handle a high-end game and then some.

 

I bought new MacBook Pro few weeks ago.
Yes - Macbooks are made so their fans run on low speeds all the time and kick-in only when system gets really hot.
In a consequence you would rarely hear fan, but you would always have a HOT laptop, which you would not be able to put on a lap (unless you are wearing some kevlar pants).
It is nothing to do with operating system (OSX or Windows), but it is to do with design. And I can say this is **** design. I prefer HP to run fan loud when needed - but notebook to be cooler at all times.
So when you see some quiet MacBook - just think - "oh I am so sorry for that guy - he can not have his MB on his lap - it runs so HOT"
And it is not exagerating - HOT is burning HOT if you put it on a bear skin.

 

Whoa there. Elitist/Patronizing much?

 

My hp dv2500t is dead quiet. I don't have dv600t, so i can't really tell.

 

Dont worry.......in time you will realize your getting ripped off for the same hardware. Lots of PC notebooks use metal frames....Dell Latitude, IBM T series so like the typical Mac/OS X user...Apple did not event that.

All that great metal only means anything if you hit the top of the notebook, or drop it. I have owned many notebooks over the years going to back to my Dell that had a 486DX-75mhz CPU....none of them I have ever dropped and none of them where hit. In fact all of them worked perfectly well when I got rid of them for a faster notebook.

Mine could have been made out of Iron or paper it would not have mattered. But go ahead make your self feel better for paying more money for the same components. Unless of course you could not afford the Super Drive and in that case you paid more for less!

 

My friend just purchased a Mac book pro. He said that his fan doesn't come on that often. However, the heat from the laptop is very bad. He says that he can feel it through his wooden desk.

So... im not sure what some of you guys are saying.... lol

 

mine does it too fan is always on but it isnt that loud so it doesnt bother me