how much heat does a 'netbook' put out compared to a notebook / laptop?

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indokyne

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my dell d630 gets a bit toasty on my lap after a while even while i do basic tasks like surf.

how do netbooks compare in terms of perceivable heat production?
 
The Atom processors run ridiculously cool compared to today's standard fare like Core 2 Duos and Turions. I've yet to see anyone really lodge complaints about any of the Netbooks on the market today that "it runs too hot..."
 
I hardly notice my Wind when I use it. At best it could be described as luke warm.
 
My Aspire One which I only owned for about a week seemed to get very hot compared to other computers I've used, especially if I tried to do anything besides using Office or web surfing. I'm not sure I'd say it was too hot to be comfortable, but I can tell you that it got warmer than I'm used to with my Apple laptops.
 
TheLordsServant said:
My Aspire One which I only owned for about a week seemed to get very hot compared to other computers I've used, especially if I tried to do anything besides using Office or web surfing. I'm not sure I'd say it was too hot to be comfortable, but I can tell you that it got warmer than I'm used to with my Apple laptops.
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Really? Seems odd. Mine is very comfortable. Lukewarm as another poster mentioned.
 
Harkamus said:
I hardly notice my Wind when I use it. At best it could be described as luke warm.
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This.

Though if you've ever used one of the Eee PC 701s, that thing used to get damn hot. Anything with an Atom won't get nearly as close though.

I must say this, if you get a hard drive model like I did, your real source of heat is going to be obvious. :p
 
interesting. thx for the comments.

i'm looking towards the 10 inch EeePC w/ an Atom and standard hard drive.

any experience w/ the 10 inchers or are they relatively the same based on internal components?
 
my 901 doesnt put out much heat....

my old P M dell latitude was super hot comparatively....

but i dont have A HDD, i have heard that even a 1.8" HDD drastically increases heat output... this from the eee pc owners forum where people have been putting 1.8" samsung HDDs in their SSD 901s
 
Asus N10J doesn't even bother me at all, I don't think i've ever really noticed it either. Just felt the bottom of the laptop and the warmest part is the hdd, and its not really that warm.
 
At full CPU load and with the screen at max my wind draws 14W at the wall.
 
stormshadow said:
interesting. thx for the comments.

i'm looking towards the 10 inch EeePC w/ an Atom and standard hard drive.

any experience w/ the 10 inchers or are they relatively the same based on internal components?
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most of the current model netbooks have the same base internals so just buy based on what features you really want and i'm sure you'll find something.
 
I've got the Acer Aspire One. It barely gets warm at all. This review of the unit has a section with surface temps:
http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=14349 (Note that newer BIOSes have lowered the fan speed so it isn't as annoying as that review unit anymore)
At the hottest spots, it will reach about 90F or 32C. That is the mechanical harddrive version. I've got the SSD version which probably runs even cooler. It wouldn't surprise me if the chipset and any mechanical harddrive you have installed (maybe even additional SO-DIMMs) put out more heat than the Atom CPU itself.
 
The AAO in my configuration (platter drive) can get just as hot as a lot of normal sized notebooks, although the reason is that its fan is so crappy (and yet so noisy) that it doesn't dissipate heat as well as it should, not that its parts generate much heat.

I would definately not characterize several areas on the bottom or the areas just to the right and left of the touchpad as "lukewarm" under using conditions where you're using less than 50% of the processor (surfing etc). Hot would be a better term, again, for my configuration. Not very hot, but hot.

Temps will vary according to room temp (since it's air cooling, the starting temp of the air makes a big difference in the running temperature) and use. Brighthand's numbers look low enough I wouldn't be surprised if their tests took place in a nice chilly room, or possibly that they didn't have it running long enough to get it up to normal heat.

Even if you got a unit running in the warm category, for the purposes of fertility, you're best off not using it directly on your lap. Studies are not kind to men who do. Use a book or something and keep you proceative options open.
 
What's your configuration that causes your AAO to become "hot" as you say?

If you're using it for stuff that netbooks are not intended for, then that (along with the crappy fan you mentioned) are the reasons your netbook feels hot.

Intended use: websurfing, word processing, watching videos on youtube, maybe watching 720p vids of your own, powerpoint.
 
good info so far. so platter HD's really blast out the heat huh? i always thought it was the processor but i don't really know the internal configuration of my notebook.
 
good info so far. so platter HD's really blast out the heat huh? i always thought it was the processor but i don't really know the internal configuration of my notebook.
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Well in normal laptops, the CPU is probably what puts out the most heat. The Pentium-M in my old laptop put out nearly 25W while the Atom only draws 2W and that's at full load so that's a huge difference. Power draw (and the resulting heat output) of other components like the chipset, RAM, harddrives etc. hasn't changed as dramatically over the years.

The AAO in my configuration (platter drive) can get just as hot as a lot of normal sized notebooks, although the reason is that its fan is so crappy (and yet so noisy) that it doesn't dissipate heat as well as it should, not that its parts generate much heat.

I would definately not characterize several areas on the bottom or the areas just to the right and left of the touchpad as "lukewarm" under using conditions where you're using less than 50% of the processor (surfing etc). Hot would be a better term, again, for my configuration. Not very hot, but hot.
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Maybe it is the mechanical harddrive that causes your netbook to run so hot. I've also read posts from people who say the netbook runs hotter after installing an additional So-DIMM. I've got the SSD version and haven't yet upgraded the RAM. A 2.5" drive can use 4W or more while the Atom CPU itself only uses 2W full load. The area around the touchpad on my AAO is barely warm. The area immediately around the cooling fan and vents gets slightly warm but I wouldn't call it hot. I tried to meassure the temperature of the air that comes out of the cooling vents on the left, and I came up with 40.5C (It might not be totally accurate but should be reasonably close). That was with 100% CPU usage using Orthos.
 
my Aspire One doesn't really get that hot. using wireless generates the bulk of the heat in my opinion. unless i'm watching a high res video or streaming a heavy amount of video, it doesn't get that hot. the keyboard gets a bit warm to the touch, but in this cold weather I don't mind a bit. that said, netbooks aren't really laptops. you can't use them in your lap b/c of the weird angle of the screen and the small keyboard.
 
Yeah, Netbooks aren't as ergonomic as Laptops. Some have called them Kneetops. It's lighter so you can actually hold it up while working with it, but that's not comfortable for long periods and you can only type with one hand. If you cross your legs you can kind of put it on your knee or something, but that's not very comfortable either. It's pretty comfortable to work with on a table, though. You don't really have to lean any closer to the screen than you do with a normal laptop, because the dot pitch isn't that much lower than a bigger, high resolution laptop screen.

If you're planning on writing long essays or doing a lot of reading, maybe you should look at getting a 12" - 13" ultraportable instead. For casual Internet use, email etc., they're fine however. I was able to touch type on the Aspire One keyboard after a few hours of training.
 
Harkamus said:
If you're using it for stuff that netbooks are not intended for, then that (along with the crappy fan you mentioned) are the reasons your netbook feels hot.
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Fortunz wrote:
I would definately not characterize several areas on the bottom or the areas just to the right and left of the touchpad as "lukewarm" under using conditions where you're using less than 50% of the processor (surfing etc). Hot would be a better term, again, for my configuration. Not very hot, but hot.
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fortunz said:
Fortunz wrote:
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That still tells me nothing about your "configuration."

Anyway, I just ran Battery Eater Pro 2.7 which makes a laptop run at full bore with 100% cpu utilization and basically everything enabled that can be enabled. My Wind still felt lukewarm during the test. Heck, even the fan exhaust was cool (not even warm at all).
 
To add to this question, how does the c7-m and the nano compare to the atom in heat buildup? Of course, the different cooling systems in netbooks doesn't rid of any variables here...the cumbersome fan grills in the 2133.
 
commissioneranthony said:
To add to this question, how does the c7-m and the nano compare to the atom in heat buildup? Of course, the different cooling systems in netbooks doesn't rid of any variables here...the cumbersome fan grills in the 2133.
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Not sure about the other CPUs, but there was a guy here a few months ago that got a 2133. You might be able to find his thread buried a few pages back and ask him.

EDIT: I found it. http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1309513&highlight=2133
 
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