[Hidden-tech] Anyone in the area have equipment for measuring PCnoise levels?

[B. Kimo Lee]

Cody's right. When those things go, they make an awful racket! You  
could try blowing it out with a can of dustoff first. One drive  
manufacturer recommended putting a drop of oil on it, though I can't  
say that would be recommended for a laptop.

Good luck,
Kimo

On Mar 17, 2006, at 10:20 AM, W. Cody Anderson wrote:

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>
> Michael,
>
> The noise could be caused by a bad cooling fan bearing.  I had a  
> Dell laptop
> that went through no less than three of these fans over seven  
> years.  Each
> failure was predicated by a great deal of noise, then the machine  
> would get
> hot and start acting funny.  The good news is that the cooling  
> assembly was
> cheap ($30) and easy (for me) to replace.  You may want to explore  
> getting a
> replacement part from Sony, if you were planning on  ditching your  
> laptop
> just because of the noise.
>
> Best,
> Cody
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net
> [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of  
> Michael
> McIntosh
> Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 1:05 AM
> To: Hidden Tech
> Subject: [Hidden-tech] Anyone in the area have equipment for measuring
> PCnoise levels?
>
>    ** Be a Good Dobee and help the group, you must be counted to  
> post .
>    ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
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>
> Hello Folks,
>
> My current "desktop replacement" laptop that I use extensively for  
> work
> and occasionally for gaming generates a LOT of noise. The amount of
> noise it generates is having a negative impact on the mental health of
> both my wife and I since I work from home and the noise is a constant
> irritation.
>
> There is always a collective sigh of relief in our household when the
> laptop is finally turned off. Unfortunately, being the techie that  
> I am,
> it doesn't get turned off too often.
>
> I am currently investigating building a high-performance PC that runs
> very quietly, preferably something that generates less than 25 dB of
> noise from ~2 feet away.
>
> I have found some articles that discuss how I can build a quiet  
> desktop
> PC (such as http://tinyurl.com/faota) or the differences between  
> typical
> noise levels (http://tinyurl.com/2q7vz).
>
> For sake of comparison, I need to determine the amount of noise my
> current laptop generates and I do not have the equipment to do so.  
> I've
> considered buying sound level measuring equipment for the task, but
> realistically I'd only probably use it a couple times before it  
> would be
> shelved and begin to collect dust.
>
> I suspect that my current system generates around 40 dB worth of noise
> when "idle" and as much as 60 dB when running a modern computer  
> game or
> playing a DVD movie. If someone has or can direct me to someone who  
> has
> sound level measuring equipment that I could borrow, I'd greatly
> appreciate it. Then I'd have a better idea of how much effort is  
> needed
> to restore peace and quiet to our home again. (er, 7 month old  
> daughter
> not withstanding) :)
>
> Thank you for your time. :)
>
> -Michael McIntosh
>
> PS: My laptop is a Sony Vaio PCG-K25. Its a nice machines that has a
> beautiful display and works very well despite the noise/heat problems.
>
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