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hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,832
1,266
Lenovo found that my Yoga C930 requires repairing with a possible faulty touch screen. Since it was within the return period, I just returned it. Now, I am back to giving X1E another chance or waiting for the X1E Gen 2. Any other good laptop that has the following specs:

- 1.8kg or below
- 14-15" screen with 4K resolutions.
- about 7 hours battery life
- fast charge
- 350-400 nits screen (300 nits 4K screen on C930 is OK for normal use but not under sunlight. The WQHD screen of X1Y3 is 500 nits. It is a bit overkill even under sunlight. So I guess somewhere around 350-400 nits may be sufficiently good)
- quiet for basic productivity work
- Based on experience with the C930, i7-8550U is OK for normal Office and Youtube use but slow for even basic Photoshop work. So I need something faster.
- ideally with dGPU but if the machine could be quiet without dGPU, I would consider that.
- has built-in HDMI port. Connection via USB-HDMI adapter may be a possible issue of unstable connection with external TV/projectors.


Note:

Based on experience with X1Y3 and C930, letters on a 14" 4K screen are sufficiently comfortable to use as long as scaling is about 225-250%.

I compared the 1.1kg X1C6 of my friend with my 1.4kg Yoga C930, I could not tell the difference in weight. However, I could tell the difference between 1.8 and 1.9kg. The 15" SB2 and MBP feel very heavy compared with 13" SB2 and 1.8kg X1E.

- The color and paint of the C930 is beautiful. No fingerprint magnet at all. Same for the X1Y3.


Given my review on these laptops and the change in behavior of the X1E after 1.19, do you recommend me to give the X1E Gen 1 another chance or wait until the X1E Gen 2 is released in August and buy it right away. Based on experience, after waiting for 2 months to get the reviews on the X1E and discovered the jet engine that no reviewer but real users mentioned, I found reviews are pretty much useless. Real personal experience counts the most. So, I won't wait for reviews to come out before placing an order.
 

TSE

macrumors 68040
Jun 25, 2007
3,996
3,388
St. Paul, Minnesota
Given my review on these laptops and the change in behavior of the X1E after 1.19, do you recommend me to give the X1E Gen 1 another chance or wait until the X1E Gen 2 is released in August and buy it right away. Based on experience, after waiting for 2 months to get the reviews on the X1E and discovered the jet engine that no reviewer but real users mentioned, I found reviews are pretty much useless. Real personal experience counts the most. So, I won't wait for reviews to come out before placing an order.

To be honest - from my research and now personal experience - PC Notebooks tend to need to have weird issues ironed out with BIOS & software updates over the first few months after release.

The only REAL reviewer I trust is Mobiletechreview on YouTube. I like some of the other reviewers as well - Dave2D is very good for surface level stuff, and Linustechtips has some good reviews and insight as well. They're out there. But I feel you - lot of them just probably get paid by the manufacturers and get told behind close doors those issues are going to get resolved with an update and to gloss over them.
 

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,832
1,266
If I recall correctly, we were waiting for about two months before reviews started coming out. The first few reviews came from users rather than reviewers. I heard reviewers saying that their units had not arrived which some of us felt strange. People contacted Lisa via Twitter but the review was late. At that time, I posted and suspected that there could be something wrong with the laptop so reviewers probably delayed the review until Lenovo fixed whatever issues. It turned out to be this jet engine issue that some users got annoyed and returned their x1e. I think Lisa and Dave did jot mention thermal nor noise issue. If I recall correctly, it was notebookcheck review that mentioned these issues?
 
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TSE

macrumors 68040
Jun 25, 2007
3,996
3,388
St. Paul, Minnesota
If I recall correctly, we were waiting for about two months before reviews started coming out. The first few reviews came from users rather than reviewers. I heard reviewers saying that their units had not arrived which some of us felt strange. People contacted Lisa via Twitter but the review was late. At that time, I posted and suspected that there could be something wrong with the laptop so reviewers probably delayed the review until Lenovo fixed whatever issues. It turned out to be this jet engine issue that some users got annoyed and returned their x1e. I think Lisa and Dave did jot mention thermal nor noise issue. If I recall correctly, it was notebookcheck review that mentioned these issues?

I don't know about X1e situation specifically - I have a competing product that has issues of it's own.

I'm glad you mentioned it, because Notebookcheck is a very good site too.

There are good reviewers out there - find ones that you trust, and compare their reviews to each other alongside customer experiences.

I will say though, after doing my own research and having firsthand PC Laptop experience now, it's a damn shame what happened to this design of MacBook Pros. No other laptop manufacturer could compete on design, performance relative to size & weight, battery life, screen, and reliability. Now the only one I would say it is ahead of is design and maybe performance relative to size and weight.
 

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,832
1,266
So the reality is that thanks to Apple's thinness fetishism, other manufacturers follow the same trend. Even we have new i9 CPU and RTX GPU, thin cases do not allow these components to reach their advertised full potentials. Thin laptops just look good but not thermal-wise. Thick laptops also cannot be quiet. So just get something decent and focus on work and hope that 3-4 years later, something magical will happen and change the laptop?
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,627
43,630
Even we have new i9 CPU and RTX GPU, thin cases do not allow these components to reach their advertised full potentials.
I'm not sure how or why you can such a sweeping and generic assessment . The 15" Razer is blazingly fast and does not thermally throttle. The new 17" Razer Pro hasn't been reviewed nor is it available yet to buy. There are other laptops that are not thick but manage temps. Granted the i9 represents a CPU that runs hot and can be ill suited in some enclosures. I'm thinking the Dell XPS for instance. The Razer Pro on the other hand has more clearance and should be able to handle the heat.

I think you're a bit too focused on quietness and expect many computer makers to share the same philosophy and that simply isn't the case. Fans are used for a purpose and for many computers they are very successful at managing the temps. It may not be to your liking given the noise factor but that doesn't bother everyone. Gaming laptops are a great example that show the hardware being pushed heavily, and the cooling methods needed.
 

Queen6

macrumors G4
So the reality is that thanks to Apple's thinness fetishism, other manufacturers follow the same trend. Even we have new i9 CPU and RTX GPU, thin cases do not allow these components to reach their advertised full potentials. Thin laptops just look good but not thermal-wise. Thick laptops also cannot be quiet. So just get something decent and focus on work and hope that 3-4 years later, something magical will happen and change the laptop?

Other OEM's tend to me more balanced with their performance notebooks there are many that offer strong performance, sensible portability with reasonable noise levels. If you want this level of performance one has to expect the associated fan noise regardless if the notebook is 18mm or 28mm thick...
3100CB (No Taskbar).jpg

Thinner notebooks will just have more aggressive fan profiles, to remove the excess heat faster. TBH it's more about the expectation. Apple and others employing the i9 in such "thin" performance notebooks is just about sales & marketing little else, as can be seen above even the base i7 8750H is tremendously performant with the right chassis.

Apple's issue is the cooling solution is simply inadequate for the CPU and GPU to see full potential, only having two heat pipes to serve both, heat exchanger's have too little surface area and fans spool up too late. Apple values the aesthetic and the user experience over performance and likely see's from it's metrics that the vast majority rarely use their Mac's in anger..

Q-6
 

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,832
1,266
Tried the Yoga 730 15" with i7-8550U (1.8 GHz to 4.0 GHz) and Nvidia 1050 GPU for an hour. It has coil whine. When the fans are on, it is like the machine playing moose codes. Is this a confirmation that the machine has coil whine? Just like the X1E, when plugged in to AC adapter, it has noisy fans. Disconnecting the adapter takes longer for the machine to become dead silent when compared with the X1E.

So even the machine has U-processor, the machine still has noisy fans. Does that mean it is the GPU that causes the fan noise of these machines? Does that mean unless I go for the SB2, I should avoid any laptop with Nvidia GTX/RTX GPU?

Cinebench R20 results:
X1E: 2374 cb.
Yoga 730: 1584cb.

For strange reason, the Yoga caused strange vibrations on palmrest area when the fans are on. The coating on the screen also makes it difficult for the fingers and pen to slide across. Its AC adapter is also heavier.
 
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TSE

macrumors 68040
Jun 25, 2007
3,996
3,388
St. Paul, Minnesota
Dude. ALL laptops with a discrete GPU will have noise. All of them. Who knows if it's coil whine. Who knows if it's a fan. But they will all make noises. And you will keep purchasing or using them. And you will keep returning them. And please keep coming back. We can keep responding with the same information every time.
 

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,832
1,266
Dude. ALL laptops with a discrete GPU will have noise. All of them. Who knows if it's coil whine. Who knows if it's a fan. But they will all make noises. And you will keep purchasing or using them. And you will keep returning them. And please keep coming back. We can keep responding with the same information every time.

rMBP 2014 15" had discrete GPU and mine had no noise. Thinkpad T21 had discrete GPU and it had no noise. MBP 2010 17" had discrete GPU and it had no noise.

You don't have to follow my posts nor reply to me. Thanks.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,627
43,630
rMBP 2014 15" had discrete GPU and mine had no noise. Thinkpad T21 had discrete GPU and it had no noise
Dollars to donuts, you tried to push 4k content on a 2014 MBP, and you'd hear fan noise. My 2012 had fans and I'd hear them ramped up. You're comparing legacy hardware that ran a lot slower and cooler and was expected to less. You cannot do that, no matter how you slice it, modern laptops with dGPUs and high core counts is going to have fan noise.

How many years have you been searching for the elusive perfect laptop that is perfect?
 

hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
7,832
1,266
Dollars to donuts, you tried to push 4k content on a 2014 MBP, and you'd hear fan noise. My 2012 had fans and I'd hear them ramped up. You're comparing legacy hardware that ran a lot slower and cooler and was expected to less. You cannot do that, no matter how you slice it, modern laptops with dGPUs and high core counts is going to have fan noise.

How many years have you been searching for the elusive perfect laptop that is perfect?

Thanks. I used the 2014 rMBP 15" for doing basic office task and CAD. Screen was retina but no fan noise at all. I guess due to the trend in thinness and more powerful cpu/gpu, I end up with noisy fan issue. I wonder if laptops with MX150 also has noisy fan.

If I recall correctly, somebody here recommended me to use the U CPU if I want to avoid noisy fan. However, even the Yoga 730 has a U CPU, there are fan noise. So, could be the GPU?

I have spent too much time on this already. I am trying to decide between Yoga C930 or Yoga 730 15". Since I posted last night and under volting, the Yoga 730 became quiet even it is plugged to an AC adapter. From yesterday experience, it could get as loud as the X1E. X1E performs slightly better and have more RAM/SSD slots but I like the tablet conversion and case of the Yoga line.

I will try to install Linux on Yoga 730 to see if the fans also become loud under Linux.
 
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TSE

macrumors 68040
Jun 25, 2007
3,996
3,388
St. Paul, Minnesota
Thanks. I used the 2014 rMBP 15" for doing basic office task and CAD. Screen was retina but no fan noise at all. I guess due to the trend in thinness and more powerful cpu/gpu, I end up with noisy fan issue. I wonder if laptops with MX150 also has noisy fan.

I have spent too much time on this already. I am trying to decide between Yoga C930 or Yoga 730 15". Since I posted last night and under volting, the Yoga 730 became quiet even it is plugged to an AC adapter. From yesterday experience, it could get as loud as the X1E. X1E performs slightly better and have more RAM/SSD slots but I like the tablet conversion and case of the Yoga line.

I will try to install Linux on Yoga 730 to see if the fans also become loud under Linux.

I’m excited to hear what you report back.
 

cube

Suspended
May 10, 2004
17,011
4,972
I want to see 8-core laptops with a hard drive and 4 RAM slots that don't weigh more than 3kg.
 

Queen6

macrumors G4
An interesting upcoming Acer portable - Concept D9
Fast, quiet and expensive. Apparently Acer observed that many professional's are using gaming notebooks as they offer the performance that they need, I do myself. Concept D9 is supposed to offer all the performance of a high end gamming notebook with a maximum nose level of 40db and many other features for pro design use...

Q-6
 
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