Fanless laptops?
April 25, 2009 11:37 AM   Subscribe

Which laptops on the market currently have no fans whatsoever?

Hi, I'm in the market for a new laptop or netbook and am trying to find one with no fan at all (I'm very skeptical of a laptop being relatively quiet).

I've considered the Dell Mini 9 or 10 as they don't have fans but there are other technical considerations with those laptops that leave me a little concerned.

For the sake of argument, if you use a laptop that you cannot hear while you work on it (even if it does have a fan), please list it below to give me a sense of what's out there. If it truly does not have a fan, please state that.

Thanks for any help.
posted by fantasticninety to Computers & Internet (20 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Although I don't have one myself, reviews of the Macbook Air seem to indicate that you really can't hear the fan at all. But if the technical concerns of a Mini 9 or 10 are an issue, the MBA might be, too. When it comes down to it, it's going to be hard to find a powerful laptop with no fan--the more advanced the electronics are, the hotter they get, which requires fans. Laptops aren't really big enough for passive cooling. Theoretically, a laptop made of aluminum would provide a greater heatsink area, but I know both the MacBook and MBP have fans, so that won't work for you.

I personally have an Alienware laptop, and while it does have a fan, it's very quiet. The downside is that the laptop gets so hot that I have to put a USB-powered cooling mat underneath it for extended use. There may not be an easy solution here.
posted by DMan at 11:46 AM on April 25, 2009


A full-featured notebook will need fans to keep it operating within the specified temperatures. Netbooks can operate without a fan due to the lack of powerful CPU and/or GPU that would need to be kept cool.

My MacBook Pro has fans which you never hear unless you're doing something CPU intensive like transcoding a video. Even then it makes far less noise than my work Fujitsu and previous HP and Dell notebooks would when they'd be doing little more than working at an idle state.
posted by birdherder at 11:51 AM on April 25, 2009


I don't have one either but a search for "macbook air fan" turns up various fan issues, from not running at all to running constantly at full tilt. I do know there were some fixes from Apple and other users relied on third party programs, like Coolbook, to get the thermal management under control. I don't know how many of those issues have been fixed in the current model but I'd suggest the OP check one out in person doing something processor intensive before purchasing one.
posted by 6550 at 11:57 AM on April 25, 2009


Modern computers will idle their CPU when they're not doing anything. So, if you're just browsing the web, the CPU will only be "Active" for a small amount of time (just a few microseconds when you scroll the page or something) But if you have a slow CPU those moments when the CPU does need to do something will take longer, and your machine will seem laggy and unresponsive.

On the other hand, computers might need to use the CPU at 100% in order to do some things like play a 3D game, or encode a video, etc. (even playing intensive flash games can peg the CPU) If you have a fast CPU, it will get hot while doing that, and you'll need the fans to run to keep it cool. On the other hand, a slow CPU might not get that hot, and might not need fans.

So basically, the fans are just there as insurance in case you need to do something really intensive with your laptop. They won't need to be used most of the time (My laptop has fans and I never hear them when I'm using it).

On the other hand, if you get a machine with a slow CPU, it may seem laggy a lot of the time (also, machines with slow CPUs tend to have slow hard drives and less ram, further slowing you down)

So my advice is to not worry about the fan.
posted by delmoi at 11:58 AM on April 25, 2009


And not on preview, my MacBook Pro's fans run loud more frequently than I like, even when doing things that don't seem to be particularly processor intensive.
posted by 6550 at 12:00 PM on April 25, 2009


I bought the Mini 9 specifically because it's fanless, and love it - for me there is a big difference between quiet and silent. It boots up in 30s or so and is perfectly fast enough for internet things including streaming video (at least with disk compression off, don't know how it performs with it on). I use a portable hard drive for extra storage when I want to use it for actual work. Obviously it has its limitations but I'm happy to have it as my only laptop and use my beefy desktop machine for the odd things that need more power. My hands are quite small though, I could imagine the keyboard being harder to get used to for a larger person.
posted by tomcooke at 12:04 PM on April 25, 2009


While netbooks can be cooled without fans, to my knowledge the Dells are the only ones that actually put this theory into practice.
posted by box at 12:09 PM on April 25, 2009


Hmmm. One person has a MacBook Pro which has super quiet fans, and one has a 'Book that runs too loud.

I'm one of the Macbook Pro owners who is amazed at how quiet the 'Book is. I barely even know it has a fan, unless I'm running several intensive programs, and even then, it's barely a whisper.
posted by newfers at 12:16 PM on April 25, 2009


I disable the main case fan on my Lenovo x61 & just monitor the temp. Under heavy loads the CPU temp gets up to 60C-65C (case temp ~ 40C), and I try not to do too much heavy lifting with it (I have a desktop for that), but under idle it sits comfortably around 30C-35C cpu, 20C case. Without that fan it's essentially silent.
posted by devilsbrigade at 12:44 PM on April 25, 2009


Maybe mine is a noisier specimen than average or maybe acceptable fan noise is simply a subjective issue. But compared to my old 12" G4 PowerBook I'm definitely not amazed at the sound of my MBP and it would not be a machine I'd recommend to someone looking for a laptop they cannot hear.

Anyway, to get back on track. Have you considered the Dell Mini 12? It's also fanless. Or give us a clue about what technical concerns you have for the Minis? As far as I can tell the 12 comes with a standard keyboard layout, unlike the others.
posted by 6550 at 1:14 PM on April 25, 2009


Response by poster: Are you certain that the Dell Mini 12 is also fanless? I thought only the Dell 9 and 10 were. I'll have to look into that.

The main reason why I liked the 9 was that it was fanless and also the hard drive made no sound. But I could probably handle the hard drive making a sound.

The 9 has a bad keyboard layout although there is an international one that I'm seeing if it can be installed on.

I had read some bad reviews about the Mini 10 which is why I wasn't considering it.

Thanks for the tip about the 12, I'll check that out right now.
posted by fantasticninety at 1:18 PM on April 25, 2009


Best answer: I checked out a tear-down of the Mini 12 and it is fanless.
posted by 6550 at 1:32 PM on April 25, 2009


Don't beleive the OLPC XO-1 has a fan. May not meet your other needs, however.
posted by Rash at 1:32 PM on April 25, 2009


I have an MBP with two fans that are very quiet (according to PC users in my office) but it's still a bit much for me when I'm, like, working at night in the absolute quiet. I use SMCFanControl to turn them down, or even off. Yes, that is conceivably dangerous long-term, but worth it short term sometimes.

I'm surprised that any of the netbooks have fans. That just seems wrong.
posted by rokusan at 1:57 PM on April 25, 2009


My Macbook is usually silent. But, when it gets going, it sounds like a jet turbine.
posted by Netzapper at 2:54 PM on April 25, 2009


FWIW, the Dell Vostro A90 is exactly the same as the Mini 9 but it has a better keyboard layout, you may want to look into it.

Also, Mac notebooks are all fairly quiet but when the fans kick in they are obnoxiously loud.
posted by wongcorgi at 3:45 PM on April 25, 2009


Response by poster: Thanks for that tip about the Vostro A90. Unfortunately it's not available in Canada yet. Still, interesting to know about it.
posted by fantasticninety at 4:10 PM on April 25, 2009


Dell latitude D400's fan is essentially noiseless, but I can't recommend it because *everything* broke in the after the first year. Hard drive, cdrom, "rubberhead", something else I don't remember and the screen is very dim even after adjustments. Fan is quiet, though, and these are cheap if still available. The case design is very nice-looking, too.
posted by rainy at 4:44 PM on April 25, 2009


I have a Latitude D600 and a D830- both have fans that are pretty much noiseless if there's any other sound in the room. Very quiet. Yes, you can hear them if the room is silent.
posted by gjc at 4:52 PM on April 25, 2009


the MBA is very very quiet (silent, more or less) unless you're running an external browser or pushing video. For web browsing etc it's effectively silent.
posted by cmyr at 2:07 PM on April 26, 2009


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