Does the laptop run cool and quite? I don't mind if it gets hot/loud during games, but I need a quit and cool laptop for school notetaking ect.
1482446
This laptop is a very capable machine, and screaming fast if you swap out the included hard drive for an SSD. When under load you can definitely hear the cooling fan, but I've never found it distracting. One thing to note is that the cooling fan is a blower and the exhaust exits the laptop on the left hand side. It can get a little toasty on that side when playing games or doing heavy math processing. If you're wanting to use this for taking notes the one thing I would remind you of is the size - 15.6" laptop is not small and might have trouble fitting on some lecture hall desks. If that isn't an issue, then I would strongly recommend this laptop. This laptop is a very capable machine, and screaming fast if you swap out the included hard drive for an SSD. When under load you can definitely hear the cooling fan, but I've never found it distracting. One thing to note is that the cooling fan is a blower and the exhaust exits the laptop on the left hand side. It can get a little toasty on that side when playing games or doing heavy math processing. If you're wanting to use this for taking notes the one thing I would remind you of is the size - 15.6" laptop is not small and might have trouble fitting on some lecture hall desks. If... » Read More This laptop is a very capable machine, and screaming fast if you swap out the included hard drive for an SSD. When under load you can definitely hear the cooling fan, but I've never found it distracting. One thing to note is that the cooling fan is a blower and the exhaust exits the laptop on the left hand side. It can get a little toasty on that side when playing games or doing heavy math processing. If you're wanting to use this for taking notes the one thing I would remind you of is the size - 15.6" laptop is not small and might have trouble fitting on some lecture hall desks. If that isn't an issue, then I would strongly recommend this laptop. « Show Less
1482447
Yes. It is very quiet and cool unless you're running very resource-intensive software or games.
1482448
As long as the fans on the bottom are not covered, personally i have had no problems with noise or getting too hot, gaming on it has ben perfection.
1482449
It's pretty quite and doesn't get hot...it's even not that loud or hot during gaming. For regular note taking it should be quite as ever.
1482450
It runs remarkably well: if it means anything, I can run Skyrim on 'medium-high' settings with little to no overheating.
911709
hey, i dont use my laptop to play games. But performance wise it is good. Keyboard is not good in the lap.
701697
Nothing significant. When it comes to heat, there's nothing to worry about unless it is slowing down when it gets hot. There have been times where the laptop has felt slightly hot, but nothing slowed down and it wasn't uncomfortable, so I didn't worry about it. Cooling pads are cheap if you think it'll be an issue. This has been a great laptop for me though.
1096954
B Ardell, I got this laptop for a friend of mine as a gift. Can't quiet answer your questions. I just know the basics, it looks excellent, the sound is the best I have ever heard on a laptop, it can play high-end games smoothly. I'm sure the Alienware website would have the answers to all your questions.Good luck!
711678
I run CS 4 on it without a problem. When I try running programs that are more graphically intensive, it gets hot and the battery life is greatly reduced. It's not a high powered GPU. All that said, it's been a solid laptop. I've been pleased.
74063
I'm about to put a review up, but I've had it for 3 weeks and it does get VERY hot. Much hotter than a 17" I had and hotter than a 15.4" I had. I mean like I didn't know it was safe for it to run this hot, and this is straight out of the box. However, I game for significant periods of time and I haven't had an overheat. Someone in newegg said this thing gets to 64 degrees C with a cooler, and that is accurate. If you buy this for gaming, I would reccomend a cooler (that shoots air to the front of the computer, since that's where the vents are) and u shud be fine. It comes with a free 2 yr accidental dmg warranty (if you register it w/ asus by mailing them a small slip that comes w/ the computer), so send it back if it does overheat.
1386951
I believe every hardware gets hottee as they get more stressful tasks. As far as I have used, it doesn't get noticeably hotter than any other laptops I have used. All you need is a decent laptop cooler.
2131763
I've had mine for a while and occasionally use it on my lap. I find the heat very tolerable. This Think Pad is cooler than my T41. IMO this one of the best laptops. I may be biased because this is my fourth Think Pad.
20605
it's a beast of a computer. easily runs the newest games without a hitch. build quality is really really good. the only problems are that if you do play the latests with high/ultra gra[hic quiality... it gets hot. very hot. and the fan tends to get noisy. personally, would buy it again.
82418
The fan is not loud at all, it's a very quite Laptop. The Laptop will get warm if holding in your lap for a long period of time.
1241199
The laptop is fairly quiet general. When doing light tasks like email and MS Office work it is very quiet. It isn't silent but I wouldn't consider it loud as normal office/home noise will easily drown it out. When working on more demanding tasks the cooling fan kicks in and the noise is a bit more noticeable. Really at no point have I thought the noise excessive or distracting.
252463
Graphics on this Laptop are probably too limited. It is a nice, mid-size, LT, but the uses would be more for doing Power Point, Excel, database, email, et al. I do run Visio (for engineering) and it handles it acceptably well. If the games are not too graphically demanding it could work out. I would highly recommend getting the lit keyboard though. I had one, but the one I bought had stock keyboard and the front light from the display keeps the keys in the dark in less than optimum lighting. I had to break out my USB LED. I will probably change the keyboard. I am sorry to not know games to handle specific examples of what might work or not, but that is where you might not get what you want. Graphics on this Laptop are probably too limited. It is a nice, mid-size, LT, but the uses would be more for doing Power Point, Excel, database, email, et al. I do run Visio (for engineering) and it handles it acceptably well. If the games are not too graphically demanding it could work out. I would highly recommend getting the lit keyboard though. I had one, but the one I bought had stock keyboard and the front light from the display keeps the keys in the dark in less than optimum lighting. I had to break out my USB LED. I will probably change the keyboard. I am sorry to not know games to... » Read More Graphics on this Laptop are probably too limited. It is a nice, mid-size, LT, but the uses would be more for doing Power Point, Excel, database, email, et al. I do run Visio (for engineering) and it handles it acceptably well. If the games are not too graphically demanding it could work out. I would highly recommend getting the lit keyboard though. I had one, but the one I bought had stock keyboard and the front light from the display keeps the keys in the dark in less than optimum lighting. I had to break out my USB LED. I will probably change the keyboard. I am sorry to not know games to handle specific examples of what might work or not, but that is where you might not get what you want. « Show Less
1578960
[LOL!] LoL runs wonderfully! I play all the time. Main jg/fidds and sup/thresh. Hit me up after you buy this bad boy and we'll play a round! I haven't changed any of the default graphics settings, and I'm running with no visible lag. As with all Alienware laptops, expect it to get warm while you play though - you might want to pick up a cheap cooling pad. I got one for ~$15 and it dropped my CPU/GPU temps about 25F each.
1145416
It's very quiet and the fan only revs up when the CPU is really cranking. If you're just taking notes during class, then it will work very quietly. Just don't tax the CPU and RAM and you'll be perfectly fine. I love my Acer Aspire S7 ultrabook and even Mac-heads have been asking about it.
354617
Not sure if it only has one fan. It has a button I push when I want the fan to blow faster when gaming. The air coming out is pretty warm when gaming but I don't know the exact temp. To me it doesn't matter. I really like this laptop and it performs awesome.
683736
Hi Sara, the colling works fine. But you must have in mind that if you use high processing softs or games for more than 3 or 4 hours non-stop it will be hot. The real problem is not the heat, is where the heat comes out from the laptop, is to close to the hand if you use mouse on right hand, just this. I hope I heped you. bye!
1771878
Yes this laptop runs fast you just have to wait a few seconds extra but you don't have to worry about it loosing what you were doing. The big thing is just learning how to run Windows 8 but you get a free download manual for that. I haven't had any issues with it sense I have been using it with my gaming or doing the basic document.