LG T1: Anyone else noticed the whistling noise?

Just wondering if anyone's T1 does this. It doesn't seem to start immediately when I turn on the computer, but after awhile I can hear what I can only describe as a "whistling" or "windy" sound coming from the front bottom edge of the laptop. It sounds to me like it's coming from the speakers; but its possible I guess that it's just coming from the front of the laptop. It's not really loud, and most noticable for the person sitting directly in front of it actually using it, but it is definitely audible if I were to point it out to someone. I've fiddled with the sound settings and nothing changes it; sounds the same whether or not I have my external speakers plugged in.

Anyone else know what I'm talking about? I'd appreciate if you posted a "No" reply if not just so I know the problem (?) is unique to mine.

 

I get it too, but with my S1 (I had a post about it). I've found that if I unplug the power and run it on battery power, the sound goes away. I think it has something to do with the power adaptor but I'm not too sure :/

 

Hi, I'm a new member to this forum (first post and all!) and a rather proud owner of a T1 for some twelve hours or so. I have to say that this has been a very silent puppy right from the start, so no really obnoxious sounds to report as of yet

Of course the hard drive does emit slight head parking clicks from time to time but I don't find it in any way annoying or different from other notebooks I've encountered (like Fujitsu B, C, E, and S series at work) during the years.

Additionally, I do notice a somewhat funny sound when the fan kicks in during battery mode. It seems like the fan is occasionally driven/accelerated with discreet electric pulses which happen with one and half second intervals. I don't know if this is an energy-saving strategy but the sound of it might annoy some people even if it's barely audible. This happens at least with fan control (Ctrl-F11) in normal mode.

@emmzee: It seems I have a once more different/newer sub-model of the T1 from the one you reviewed because mine has a different model number (T1-72JWV) and slightly different specs. The processor is a regular Core Duo T2500, not a low-voltage one like yours. Personally, I hope this won't come with a too disappointing battery autonomy (interestingly, at this very moment Battery Miser says: 4 hours 31 minutes @ 97% capacity, with screen brightness set at 5/9). Anyway, the hard drive is now a Toshiba MK6008GAH, so I'm sure that explains the lack of plunk/click noises which "plagues" your sub-model which employed a Hitachi 1.8" hard drive with this peculiar feature.

Btw. I bought this baby from Verkkokauppa.com, a Finnish e-tail outfit. The model in question (T1-72JWV) may well be meant for Swedish/Finnish consumption only. Come to think of it, these sub-models seem to change real quick, so mind your specs when considering something from LG's line.

Cheers,
--Jarkko aka. jibun

PS. I forgot to thank you emmzee for your review! It was decidedly a major influence in my purchase decision -- I was procastinating between Tablet PCs and regular notebooks for one thing, but once I had to make the decision (coz my bank account was starting to run dry ), I was left with Sony VGN-SZ1M and LG T1 because none of the Tablet PCs were really elegant looking (although its's hard to tell from pictures alone) yet these two were in their own league in the looks and the features department without being exotic vaporware or products hard to get in Finland. Your review made me believe that LG was onto something with their Battery Miser thingy so that gave this product a positive glow in my mind at the very start . I was just so hung up on wanting to have a Tablet PC that it was only after I had to dump that alternative as something to research during my next notebook upgrade round, that I understood how short my shortlist had really become.

For one thing, I would have loved the ThinkPad quality but I couldn't stand their bland looks. On the other hand, I was originally considering the MacBook until I read about the over-heating problems which became a big turn-off for me (in this respect the T1 definitely rules!). Yet one candidate was the Asus W5F but it got a wide range of opinions which simply confused me as to what the truth really was (there were some build quality misgrievances that were aired in the blogosphere). I'm shamed to say but my quest for the perfect notebook computer was at some point even influenced by numerological ideations

But at last I was swayed to the LG's side and against the Sony SZ1M, because the latter was only available on Sonystyle, and with a bit more basic configuration (512MB against the T1's 1GB of system memory) only at the same price. Sonystyle would've also required me to register to their web store and I had no knowledge of their delivery times or the quality of their customer service, so I took the well-trodden path with my trusted e-tailer. So, this is how the stork delivered my little LG baby. Sorry for the rant. I will go now to bed. Cheers once more, --Jarkko. B)

 

Thanks for your posts kensuke & jibun ... I usually run my T1 on AC power, I'll try using it on battery for awhile tomorrow to see if that changes things. Thanks again!

Oh, re the HD noise, I don't really notice it anymore; just got so used to it I suppose. It does seem that the LG models change quite frequently; the one I ended up buying didn't match the specs on the MilestorePC.com website, but since they were better than listed I didn't complain

 

You're welcome emmzee. Just doing my doo-tee as a noo-bee (Just remember to hit me with a blunt object when I start ranting )

Warning, off-topic:

I'm just wondering about the processor caveat lying there amidst the changing specs -- I mean if the CPU is at one point a low-voltage version (L2xxx) and then all of the sudden becomes the regular type (T2xxx), you know, that might adversely affect the battery life ...

I've noticed there aren't so many makes and models with the low-voltage Core Duo in the first place, so the question becomes: is this really an expensive, hard-to-get part for the notebook makers? And why would a manufacturer trade down to the regular version without making that clear to the intended audience by explaining the difference in their advertising material? If the T2xxx series is really that much cheaper and/or easier to get than the L2xxx, it seems to me that LG is trying to have the cake and eat it, too, because this issue has some of the markings of bait-and-switch, don't you think?

I'm probably over-reacting based on theory alone because I just unplugged the AC adapter and now get an excellent prediction of 5 h 41 mins from the Battery Miser! This with a regular T2500. Am I missing something here, fellows? Is LG running with the other core shut down while on battery power or something? I have to run a real world test some day, for sure.

With confused regards,
--Jarkko aka. jibun

 

i think the noise is just comming from the air that is pushed from the fan out through the fins and out the side.. moving air cause turbulence = noise. i hear the noise too, but its not loud at all. only when i am in the library working on my papers.

 

"Additionally, I do notice a somewhat funny sound when the fan kicks in during battery mode. It seems like the fan is occasionally driven/accelerated with discreet electric pulses which happen with one and half second intervals. I don't know if this is an energy-saving strategy but the sound of it might annoy some people even if it's barely audible. This happens at least with fan control (Ctrl-F11) in normal mode."

I have that too - started doing it after 2 months... great to hear that it's not only mine. Hopefully it can befixed via driver/bios update then...

But I looooooove my baby. I still consider this a fantastic notebook after 3 months use

 

I get both problems, haha, so it is a major relief to hear that other people experience these. Anyway, yeah, it's not that much of an issue, but hopefully they'll fix it up sometime soon.