help, my sony pcg grt916z is very noisy when I use the internet and the machine gets incredibly hot (it's kinda cooking my legs when I use it for a while). The power supply is also extremely hot where it plugs into the back of the machine.

The machine is normal temperature / much quieter when I use it without the internet.

Any thoughts ? The machine is about 3 years old now.

How do you connect to the Internet?

Internal network card or modem?

They tend to be power hungry and might cause the extra heat and the fan to kick in.

oh dear, I'm not very technical I'm afraid.

I connect to the internet wirelessly, so not sure that I use either of those.

help, my sony pcg grt916z is very noisy when I use the internet and the machine gets incredibly hot (it's kinda cooking my legs when I use it for a while). The power supply is also extremely hot where it plugs into the back of the machine.

The machine is normal temperature / much quieter when I use it without the internet.

Any thoughts ? The machine is about 3 years old now.

Wireless sounds like BB!

Can you define 'noisy' ?

Mechanical fan noise, Hard disk seeking noise?

Have you used the lappy over the years mostly sat on fabric, a duvet, carpet?

definitely fan noise, very whinney (sp?), goes up and down in intensity a little.

Mostly used on my knees, sofa ... occasionally on duvet.

oh dear, I'm not very technical I'm afraid.

I connect to the internet wirelessly, so not sure that I use either of those.

If it's a built in wireless adapter they can still draw a fair amount of current,so it might be the issue.

Also,are you keeping the 'grills' on your computer unblocked?

vents to side & back are unblocked, but there is not much ventilation getting to the underneath.

My brand new Toshiba is the same. As JoeP says, must be the wireless adaptor drawing a high current.

i'd recommend cleaning in and around the heatsink to the CPU. I do this to my laptop every 2 month as it dose increase the temp by 20+degree's if i don't.

I'd also recommend you getting a USB powered Fan cooler board. It's basically a plastic board with 3+ fans installed that blows cold air on the underside of the laptop. they set you back about £5 on eBay from HongKong , well worth the cash.

definitely fan noise, very whinney (sp?), goes up and down in intensity a little.

Mostly used on my knees, sofa ... occasionally on duvet.

Sounds like it could be a fan and fluff issue ;) What sort of Wifi card (PCMCIA/Builtin) are you using? Does the lappy have a P4 type processor?

Do you leech hard? Over wireless oops do you use alot of your bandwidth over wireless?

What sort of average CPU usage are you getting while browsing?

Has the sound of the fan(s) become notably louder over time? (from new)

I recently got as a present a lappy cooler it's gorgeous and doubles as a cheese grater :P, I have had a couple of the cheap chinese ones and they will do the job but are pretty nasty in build quailty and may even be noisey.

Antec Notebook cooler USB Powered With Passthrough Connector Included 2 X Fan - Knocked a good few degrees of my lappy.

You have to love the marketing people

Quote
"So you're catching up on a little work at your favorite outdoor cafe, enjoying the scents of summer. Like the mouthwatering aroma of freshly-grilled burgers. The bracing scent of newly-cut grass. But your nose twitches as the smoky odor of overheating electronics reaches it. Then your trusty laptop locks up, leaving you thoroughly in the lurch. You see, heat is your laptop's most dangerous enemy. And Antec's notebook cooler is the answer."

You don't want this to be you!!! :P

... and then you realise it's not freshly grilled burgers at all. It's your thighs :hihi:

... and then you realise it's not freshly grilled burgers at all. It's your thighs :hihi:

Or your testic...!! hahaah although it may be a cheaper alternative to sterilization! :P

Don't use it on your legs, many Sony's (and others) draw in air from underneath which is how people kill laptops, using them on the duvet or on a carpet or their legs. They should really be on a solid surface. As other people have said you probably need to clean the vent's / fans, turn it upsidedown and it you can see a grill with a fan behind it undo a few screws, take the plastics off and make sure the fan is clean. Get some air duster from Maplins and blast that into the vents keeping the can upright. How old is the machine? have you got any pets? Also make sure it's not full of spyware and other crap that can use up processor time and make it work harder.

pcg grt916z you say :) very nice machines are the Sony's

all of the pcg-grtXXXXXX machines need there fans cleaning about every 4 months and new transfer paste on the heatsink (i only did the paste once though on my grv616s)....

once the fans and the paste is done it will go back to normal temps and the noise will go aswell

thank you all very much for the advice. Looks like a spring clean is in order :)

definitely fan noise, very whinney (sp?), goes up and down in intensity a little.

Mostly used on my knees, sofa ... occasionally on duvet.

your cutting off the air flow!
turn a tray or similar hard surface upside down and place it on that,if your using it on the bed

Good advice that, thanks.

I just assumed it was normal when mine behaved like this, but I've now noticed it's much worse when I'm surfing in bed.

Also, the content you're viewing on the net will make your lappy hotter. Flash and other graphic intensive applications and web content will make your laptop heat up like an eskimo in California (is that PC?)

Interesting how we're advising against using a 'laptop' computer on top of a lap. What fools we are to think thats exactly where its meant to be used!

Maybe we should change the name - 'flathardsurfacesuchasatabletop' computer?