hi, thinkin of buying a powerbook some time soon... just wondering how noisy are they, as in have they got a fan,? cheers
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noisy powerbooks?
- Thread starter student7018
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student7018 said:
i don't use mine for strenuous activity.. i've heard the fans go on like... twice.. doing video editing stuff with imovie... otherwise it's virtually silent unless you're using a cd.. the cd drive is loud as hell.. kind of annoying if you ask me....
student7018 said:
On occasion I can barely hear the harddrive churning away. My CPU fan turns on maybe 5% of the time, but it is very low noise.
The loudest thing is the Superdrive when it first spins something or when it is going full speed. Not even noticeable when watching a DVD.
Overall, my 15" AluBook has been one of THE quietest notebooks I've used....and I've used many. To get anything quieter, I think you would need to get a PC with a Cyrix processor in it, that has no CPU fan (which are crap). I really don't think you need to be afraid of noise.
vampirepiggy
macrumors newbie
Logik said:
Laptop CD drives are always loud.
When I'm in a room with other people who have PC laptops, it's really easy to tell that the PowerBook is significantly more quiet. And mine is a titanium model, so I'm guessing the newer ones are nearly silent.
cluthz
macrumors 68040
vampirepiggy said:
The CD-rom is a bit noisy when you insert a cd or do heavy cd reading/writing.
If you have an external monitor on it be prpared to hear the fan sometimes (especially when you have both the internal plus the external screen on.. i've got a 12", which have the weakest GPU so I guess the 15" and 17" is a bit better)
The powerbooks is quiter than 99% of all pc laptops out there.
I find the noisiest thing about mine is actually the "sluriping" noise that it makes when it takes a CD into the slot, or the "spitting" noise, when it ejects one.
Silent
I have a Powerbook G4 15" 1.5 GHz right now and it is nearly silent. I am in college and use it during a 3.5 hour lecture that I have. It is silent the entire time. The fan never ever comes on for me in that situation. The processor is always set to automatic or reduced performance mode to reduce heat. Doing web browsing, instant messaging, taking notes in Word, and playing the occasional game (not full blown 3d gaming, just Snood like stuff) never activates the fan.
In contrast there are students in the class with PC notebooks that have loud fans and they are VERY noticable and ALWAYS on. The powerbook is completely silent.
Also, even when the fan does turn on it is a very very quiet one. It is so small it doesn't have the whir of a larger fan. It is more of a quiet clicking type noise. (Unless that is just because my fan is broken.)
Sorry such a long post, but I hope it helps answer your question.
I have a Powerbook G4 15" 1.5 GHz right now and it is nearly silent. I am in college and use it during a 3.5 hour lecture that I have. It is silent the entire time. The fan never ever comes on for me in that situation. The processor is always set to automatic or reduced performance mode to reduce heat. Doing web browsing, instant messaging, taking notes in Word, and playing the occasional game (not full blown 3d gaming, just Snood like stuff) never activates the fan.
In contrast there are students in the class with PC notebooks that have loud fans and they are VERY noticable and ALWAYS on. The powerbook is completely silent.
Also, even when the fan does turn on it is a very very quiet one. It is so small it doesn't have the whir of a larger fan. It is more of a quiet clicking type noise. (Unless that is just because my fan is broken.)
Sorry such a long post, but I hope it helps answer your question.
The cd rom drive is always noisy. But regarding the fan, it goes on rarely. Other than that, the laptop is so quiet that the loudest part will be the hard drive clicking.
I had a 17"powerbook that I did heavy video editing on, and the fans would come on for a little bit, but it was really not noisy at all. it stays very quiet for most things, besides the cd/dvd drive. the same goes for the 12"powerbook i have. the powerbooks is everything you could ever want in a laptop(realistically).
