x61s palm rest is getting uncomfortably warm/hot

Anyone else having trouble with their x61/x61s getting too hot for comfort in the palm rest area? I mean it's somewhat tolerable in that I'm not going to stop using it but this thing seems to be getting rather warm. It has an Hitachi 160gb 7200rpm drive in it. Everest Home Edition is reporting 41C (196F). What steps have you taken to resolve this problem on yours?

 

None...my fan is ALWAYS on too...the only exception is when its unplugged and is on power save is my laptop quiet. I have a 5400 RPM HD so its probably not as hot as yours, but mine still gets very warm at times. No resolution as of yet.

 

its ure HD thats causing the excess heat

 

I have a X61 with 5400 HDD and it doesn't warm that much. And I read on this forum that it gets hot from wi fi card.

 

Yes. The heat is coming from the Wi-fi card. There seems to be some difference between Intel Wifi and Thinkpad Wifi (Atheros-based). I heard that the Thinkpad Wifi generates more heat but it gives you better receiption. Intel one does just the opposite.

 

I have the ThinkPad card and it doesn't run hot at all.

 

I also have the Thinkpad atheros card and it runs very cool to me

 

JabbaJabba, yea you're right, I am referring to my T61. For a moment there I didn't think it mattered since it's probably the same Atheros card but the build of the T and the X series are different.

 

There have been many threads on the warm/hot palmrest of the X60(s) and X61(s). Although it seems to have been improved with the X61(s) there are still issues.

To rectify this Lenovo has added an extra fan for the models with WWAN card installed as well as the air vent at the right bottom corner.

The general consensus is that the WLAN (and WWAN) card does increase heat and make the palm rest noticeably warm. However Eyecon is also right in that the excess heat from the hard drive also is transported to the right side of the palm rest and hence making it warm.

In fact, if you turn off the WLAN card manually the palm rest will still get warm if the hard drive is very active.

For reference, I have attached a picture of a X61s with the extra fan and a X61 without it.

But unless I am mistaken you are both referring to the T61, which needless to say is not as cramped or as thin as the X61.

 

My harddrive only gets lukewarm on my x61s.

How much ram do you have? Perhaps you can max it out to minimize harddisk swapping?

 

I purchased X61 without WWAN option on Nov. 3 2007. When I opened the case, I found the second fan installed. I don't know Lenovo installed by mistake? or install it to fix the heat problem. Anyway, I have the second fan installed without WWAN card.

 

What do you mean by the hard drive only getting lukewarm? Unless you physically pull out the hard drive you will not be able to tell the actual temperature. You can however use a temperature measurement tool.

Needless to say, the (hard drive) temperature depends on the room temperature, as well as how much stress you are putting on the hard drive and the system in general.
I only start getting a bit annoyed with the heat of the palm rest, when I have turned off the air con and the room temperature is quite high, around 29+ degrees celsius (Southeast Asia). However at normal room temperature the right side of the palm rest only gets lukewarm.

Interesting. I am not sure if they have started to install the extra fan per default, but it definitely does not hurt. Maybe it draws a little bit more power and might increase noise levels slightly when stressed, but I didn't notice any noise increase on a X61s with WWAN.

 

Well I think I'm going to send my x61s back to Lenovo if i can talk them out of the 15% restocking fee because this heat is just unbearable with a 160GB 7200rpm drive in there. The left side of the palm rest is getting quite hot after prolonged periods of use and the thing seriously about burns your legs trying to hold it on your lap. I've never had any laptop that got this hot before. I'm also not that happy with the screen. Going down to 12" 1024x768 is a big drop from 13.3" 1280x800 widescreen and the screen isn't nearly as nice as an LED.

 

I have the CTO THINKPAD X61S (bought 12/15/07) configuration with 160gb 7200 HD / Intel Wi/Fi with no heat issues on the pad rests.

 

Due to its slim size, the x61 does give out some heat but not to the point that it's uncomfortable to put on your lap since the fan is constantly running. Perhaps your laptop has been defected. First of all call IBM Easy Serv tech support and get them fix it for you. IF still the same result call lenovo. It's easier to talk to the LENOVO people if you have some prove of a defected laptop. Just for you to know it's not that easy to get a replacement for your laptop.

IF you want prove here's my little story:

I love my thinkpad but Lenovo costumer service is just horrible. IBM tech support is alright if you get the right person. I sent my x61 twice to get tech support fix the fan noise and hard drive clicking noise. No help, returned the same states. Call Lenovo (many phone calls in two days), finally someone has been able to get me file a replacement, BUT... yes always a 'but'. I have to reorder a new one in order to return the old one and get credit back.

I mean, come on, I'm a college student, where the heck am I going to get that kind of money? I tried to tell them that I need to return the defected X61 first and get my money back in order to buy a new one but no one could give me a straight answer.

I ended up ask my parents to pay for the new one. I sent the old x61 back to Lenovo and hopefully they could give me my money back soon.

 

if it is really getting that hot, something is wrong with the unit. the faster HD's do get a little bit warmer than the 5400 rpm ones, but just slightly

I would do a return and let them know it is defective, this way they can waive the return fee

 

That's weird, my x61 hasn't ever gotten hot with the exception of me running CS to see how it ran and at that it wasn't unbearable, everything else has been lukewarm, wireless always activated *mind it being Atheros*. Also, I have the 7200RPM 100GB HDD from Hitachi and it's still running silent, never warm.

 

My X61 gets warm when i do normal tasks such as web surfing, email, word etc but i can hardly hear the fan on at all.

But it gets very hot at the palmrest area and at the bottom when I do something more intensive like converting video files or playing a game e.g. WoW and the fan is on constantly.

 

I think people need to define hot. Also, as I've mentioned in a different thread, ambient temperature can make a significant difference in the temp of the palmrest and system in general.

For instance. When I am in a hot area like Southeast Asia (without air con on) the palmrest will get noticeably hot. But we are talking about room temps of around 30+ degrees celsius.

Now that I am in Europe (Scandinavia) the temperature of everything is drastically lower. My hard drive temp went from an average of 40°C to only 33°C now. And the palmrest is hardly noticeable at all even after 2 days of being turned on non-stop. At best, the right side gets close to lukewarm.