Sorry for asking such a basic question, but I'd really appreciate some feedback. We just bought a Fry's Signature Multimedia System. The fan unfortunately sounds like a jet engine. Is this normal? There's a lot of power in here, but the sound really drives me nuts. This is our first high-end media system. Are they all so noisy? It's hard to tell in a store. If we return this system, we might buy the Sony Vaio RZ26G in its place. Does anyone have an opinion on the sound level of that one...? Thanks.
The power of a (ordered or store bought)system and the noise it produces have a direct corrolary. This is unfortunate because if one put care and thought into more than the power of the system, then the noise problem would be solved imediately. This is not to say that this is in any way your fault, the contrary, it the fault of the manufacturer for buiding th system. The noise is most definately the sound of the fans, this noise can be dimmed in may way, buying aftermarket fans that are specifically designed to be quiter, or buying a fan controller. The noise you hear is most likely from one or more small, high rpm, fans, in short of replacing the fans with those specifically designed to be quite, concider just using a fan that is larger with a slower rpm, and less fans overall. the lower the rpm of a fan, the quiter it will be. I cannot help you about the return or not, my systems are all built by me and my brother, so we are able to tweak any parts necesary, I would only recomend returning the system if it is entirely unbearable, I would doubt that any other high end system bought from Fry's will fair any better based on noise. Sorry for your circumstance and situation, good luck. Oh, I have just remembered, look up computer noise absorbing mats, these can absorb noise and vibratoin and may be just what you need to silence that new computer.
Thanks for the detailed response, msb. I think we're going to make the move to a Vaoi instead. In the meantime, may I ask you another question? My wife and I just tested the DVD burner in the Fry's system and experienced good imagery -- except for two very bad phenomena: 1) When the camera or person in the shot moved, a kind of blur occurred, almost a double image, stabilizing only when the camera and subject were still; this effect also happened during zooms; and 2) Image and sound were periodically interrupted, like freeze frames in film. This just doesn't seem right for today's higher quality DVD burners. Are we doing something wrong? Or did Fry's sell us a lemon...? Thanks!
Uh-oh. Thanks for the tip, comwiz. We've had good success with Vaoi in the past, but that was a simpler PC, and we'll do some more basic research...
