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    Noise of Z11

    Discussion in 'VAIO / Sony' started by exe163, May 10, 2010.

  1. exe163

    exe163 Notebook Guru

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    How loud is the new Z under normal, everyday use? My sister has a pre-unibody Macbook pro, which is pretty quite. I can only hear the fan when the room is completely silent. Can the Z match that?
     
    exe163, May 10, 2010
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  2. Zoobzone

    Zoobzone Notebook Guru

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    I have a Core i5 Vaio Z and a 2010 MBP 13".

    I'd say the MBP is slightly quieter, but the noise shouldn't be a problem for the Vaio Z.
     
    Zoobzone, May 10, 2010
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  3. kvnchg

    kvnchg Notebook Guru

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    No, the only reason the Macbook Pros can be that quiet is because those geniuses at Apple decided its okay for your laptop to overheat and melt your balls off as long as its quiet.

    The Z was not designed to be a quiet laptop (A less than an inch thick 13" laptop with an i7 and a 330M... really doesn't have too much room in there for heat sinks and what not). If you are one of those people that can't live with a bit of fan noise, then the Z isn't for you.

    I personally switched from 3 generations of MacBook Pros to the Z and I am very impressed by how well it manages to cool itself, and much rather have a bit of fan noise than having a my laptop overheat on a laptop cooler.

    However, if what you are talking about is wasting $2000 on a performance laptop and using it as a netbook, then sure it can be real quiet as well. Put it in stamina mode and switch on Silent Mode (in VAIO Control Center), and you won't hear a thing.
     
    kvnchg, May 10, 2010
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  4. Steve78

    Steve78 Notebook Evangelist

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    It's very quiet unless you are really pushing it, then the ran ramps up a bit.
     
    Steve78, May 10, 2010
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  5. lastrebelstanding

    lastrebelstanding Notebook Evangelist

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    If you just use it for general tasks, it is very quiet.
    The new Vaio Z has a huge power spectrum.
    It can consume as low as 6.2W which is amazingly low but it can go up to 81W if you push it.
    Accordingly the noise emissions are usually around 29.3dB (30dB is considered quiet) but can get up to 53.2dB under full load.
    40dB is considered to be clearly audible and 50dB is definitely irritating.
     
    lastrebelstanding, May 10, 2010
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  6. FrinkTL

    FrinkTL Notebook Evangelist

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    I concur. It is very quiet for all tasks but gaming or serious number/graphic crunching.
     
    FrinkTL, May 10, 2010
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  7. exe163

    exe163 Notebook Guru

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    Thanks everyone, especially Zoob for comparison the two models I am looking at, I am pretty sure I will be the new owner of the Z very soon :).
     
    exe163, May 10, 2010
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  8. foxalopex

    foxalopex Notebook Enthusiast

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    When idling the fan sounds a lot like a laptop hard drive to me. It's interesting because the Z11 has an SSD so naturally there's no HD sound to begin with. Under high loads the fan sounds like a video card fan on a high end graphics card going at full tilt. You'll definitely notice it.
     
    foxalopex, May 10, 2010
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