New X40 - 3 quests: runs hot, HD noise and...?

[jhoover]

Hi all,

Just got my X40 (1.3 GHz, 512 MB, 40G) yesterday from IBM and love it. I also had a T41 and construction wise, the X40 seems to be more solid and less flimsy. Overall, I am very, very pleased. However, I do have three questions that I was hoping you all could help answer:

BTW, if first 2 questions are normal (i.e. not a malfunction/prob) I can live with them. I just don't want the lappy tanking out on me during school.

1. Seems to run hot - In comparison to the T41, the X40 seems to heat up quicker on the left palm rest area as well as the left keyboard area -- in fact, heat seems to radiate from the KB. Is this normal for the X40?

I plan to download that heat check program that people have posted earlier but if anyone can give me their own experience on whether their X40 gets hot quickly that'd be swell.

2. HD noise - In addition to the regular spinning sound of the HD, there seems to be a continuous but intermittent "clicking" noise reminscent of crickets scratching their fiddles coming from the lappy. Based on others' posts about annoying but harmless noises, I am hoping its on the annoying but harmless scale.

However, do I suspect that the airbag system may be working overtime based on some malfunction. I plan to turn off the airbag system and see if this noise continues.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Perhaps is this particular model of the X40 series that has this defect?

3. Cloth/Felt-based screen/KB cover insert - I'm planning on inserting a felt cloth or cotton cloth over the KB and between the screen whenever I close the lappy so that the keys and pointer don't prematurely scratch up the LCD.

Does anyone have a recommendation on any material to use that's superior to felt or cotton?

Thanks in advance.

[sktn77a]

The active protection system should not be activating under normal use (ie on a table, etc). If you use your laptop on your lap, it may kick in if you move around a lot, but this isn't a good measure. Place it on a stationary surface. If the Active Protection is kicking in with normal typing, there's a problem.

[DavidNZ]

The clicking you're hearing is likely just Windows sorting itself out and re-allocating files, etc. It's pretty normal for a new machine. Mine did that for a few days. Every few days, windows optimises its file structure, from what I've read.

Also, I've noticed intermittent hard-drive 'clicking' when i'm plugged into our network at work. But not when I'm at home. I think it's just negotiating packets. Doesn't do it all the time, but usually for the first little while.

As for the heat, mine runs fairly cold. However, our house is generally cold (no central heating) and we're just coming out of winter here. When I have it at the office, however, where there is substantial heat, it doesn't run that hot. The fan kicks in when it needs to - is yours running at all?

I don't think you need to worry about a cloth to protect the screen. If, after two months of use, you screen is scratched, i would think a case could be made to IBM that there is a design flaw.

As you use it for the next few weeks, let us know how your keyboard is. A few of us have had intermittent problems with a bit of flex and an associated popping noise. Curious to see if you get this as well.

Welcome to the forum! And enjoy that new machine!

David

[jhoover]

Thanks for your replies.

Re: the noise -- I'll let the lappy run a bit longer. Hopefully, Windows will optimize itself on the HD.

Re: the heat -- The FAN! Of course...I don't believe it's turned on yet. On the T41 I could definitely tell when it was on and blowing. How can I check the fan operationability on the X40?

[jhoover]

Downloaded the mobilemeter...

Over the last 15 minutes, the "temperature" section (I'm not sure if this is the CPU only, or the laptop as a whole) has hovered between 34 and 36 degrees Celsius. Under the "HDD" section, the temp has hovered between 34 and 36 degrees as well.

The fan has not turned on yet and based on other postings, it appears that the fan should not generally turn on unless certain temps are exceeded and during booting up.

what is the generally acceptable range of temps for X40's or laptops in general?

[DavidNZ]

not sure what an acceptable range is. Re: the fan, see if you have an application or programme that is know for being a resource hog. One way is to apply some dithering effects in something like Photoshop. The idea is get that processor working, if only to see if the fan kicks in when it should. If it doesn't, probably needs a quick warranty repair.

[jhoover]

re: clicking noise: it appears that the HD has finally stopped making that annoying clicking sound...I still have the airbag system operating...so I believe that, per your suggestions, that the HD had to re-allocate files and sort itself out as a newly operational HD -- quite a relief.

RAM issue: as others have already mentioned, the 8MB diff is due to the shared VRAM issue -- quite a relief.

heat: I think that the lappy was running hot while the HD was re-allocating itself. Now it's not that bad -- moreover, based on web research, it appears that if the X40 is running between 30-40 degrees Celsius, it's okay.

Thanks for everyone's help. I love this board!