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Ask HN: Why are there so few fanless laptops with Intel/AMD?

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Re: Ask HN: Why are there so few fanless laptops with Intel/AMD?

#41

I just bought a little HP laptop that has no fans. It was super cheap, too. So what I'm hearing is that you don't want the devices that are already on the market, probably because you think they're underpowered. If nobody is buying the existing devices, why would they make more varieties?

One of those recent Windows netbooks? How are you finding it?

(I got one and Linuxed it. The wifi was so crappy I had to compile a driver from source, for an authentic early-2000s Linux experience. Need to test 22.04. https://reddragdiva.dreamwidth.org/608064.html Love it for writing on, not so great as an actual netbook.)

Re: Ask HN: Why are there so few fanless laptops with Intel/AMD?

#43
It's because most people are trained to prefer larger numbers (which aren't always useful) to peace and quiet.

People preferring fanless/quiet devices are a minority and devices made for them won't sell enough to justify the design costs.

Also, latest Intel CPUs can eat up to 300W for some reason.

Re: Ask HN: Why are there so few fanless laptops with Intel/AMD?

#44
Unless you need something today, I'd wait for the rumored AMD Phoenix-based laptops that are purported to be shipping late this year (2022) or early next year (2023); the integrated graphics are said to be pretty knockout in terms of performance, which bodes well for fanless or infrequently-running fanned designs (NVIDIA discrete graphics being a contraindication for quiet operation).

I don't have any first-hand experience with this (yet), mind you, and am unable to comment on other features :)

Re: Ask HN: Why are there so few fanless laptops with Intel/AMD?

#46

Hmm, did anyone check the assumption in his statement? See: https://www.ofzenandcomputing.com/best-fanless-laptops/ part of the date is rechecking assumptions as sometimes we do not re-check them ourselves before posting.

Some of the computers on that list do have fans though e.g. Dell XPS 9310.

Looks pretty untrustworthy in general.

Re: Ask HN: Why are there so few fanless laptops with Intel/AMD?

#47
Fanless implies low power. The problem with low power is that it doesn't market itself well, because it implies a weak CPU. The biggest marketing claim that laptops tend to have is how fast their CPU is, and that's what most people look at when buying. Making it fanless means that you have to get rid of the heat by making the case heat-conductive, which means making it out of metal instead of plastic, which is more expensive. So, most laptop makers have gone down the route of including as fast a CPU as the price of the laptop will allow, which means including a fan and using a cheaper case material.

I bought my Asus UX305C about five years ago now. It's fanless, and the CPU is definitely a little slow, because it's an Intel atom. However, I wasn't buying it for the CPU - I was buying it for the fact that it was fanless, had a decent keyboard, hidpi screen, enough RAM, and sturdy metal case. I don't need a fast CPU, because everything I do is run on a chunky server somewhere else. It feels like an expensive laptop because of the metal case and nice screen.

I was so pleased with it that I recommended an Asus laptop to someone else, but unfortunately that one does have a fan, and the case is made of plastic, and it feels really cheap. The touchpad stops working properly when you hold the laptop case in a particular way, which bends the plastic and stops it being able to detect fingers.

Re: Ask HN: Why are there so few fanless laptops with Intel/AMD?

#48

For the same reason the macbook pro, mac mini, ... have a fan. > Is it impossible to passively cool i5, i7 (integrated graphics)? Obviously not, but same as with the M1 in the air and in the pro: fan=more power and heat available. Add the fact that in many devices you have to try really, really hard to be even able to hear the fans adding them is a no brainer.

but same as with the M1 in the air and in the pro: fan=more power and heat available The MacBook Air M1 does not have a fan, it's passively cooled. The fan in the MacBook Pro M1 (non-Pro/Max) and Mac Mini M1 spins up very rarely. Add the fact that in many devices you have to try really, really hard to be even able to hear Then you have a lot of ambient noise. Everything from Intel MacBook Airs, Intel MacBook Pro 16"…

> The MacBook Air M1 does not have a fan, it's passively cooled. The MacBook Pro [does have one]

Yeah, that is what I said. Not sure why you are repeating that.

> Once you are used to a quiet machine (like an M1 Mac),

One with a fan or without?

> it can be very annoying

Yup, but you can simply turn that off by adjusting the fan and power. Allowing less fan usage on the M1 Pro just pushes performance down to the M1 air and makes the fan inaudible or even just off. However, you cannot go the other way: the Air is not going to magically grow a fan.

So most companies do exactly what apple does with the pro: include a fan.

Re: Ask HN: Why are there so few fanless laptops with Intel/AMD?

#49
My answer: the mind-blowingly cheap, good and passive Acer Swift 1 with a quad-core last gen pentium n6000.

I've been buying dozens of those for people at work since 5 years now (first ones with n5000) and I still have to hear a single complaint about it.

The only point of failure of that thing is the charging port, proprietary, not usb c.

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