For the past few months, I’ve been enjoying the experience of using a Fujitsu Stylistic Q704 Ultrabook computer. This is one of the new breed of multi-purpose devices defined by the word ‘Ultrabook‘ that are coming from a wide range of vendors to offer a compelling mix of computing power, contemporary usability and portability.

I’ve written quite a bit about the Q704 as a “Fujitsu Insider,” part of the Master Your Business blogger programme I’m in that’s run by Fujitsu.

The Q704 is a terrific device that I’ve found extremely useful and enjoyable to use especially when out and about, as I’ve said in some of my posts on the programme blog. All the independent reviews I’ve read agree – it’s a great device. Yet there’s one thing many reviewers also agree on, especially those who dive deep into the technical characteristics of the device, and a point I’ve been aware of too – the noisy fan.

Not only noisy but also loud: obtrusively and annoyingly so, to the extent that it could well be a show-stopper when you add up the pluses and minuses of a device you’re thinking about whether to purchase. The only easy way to reduce the noise is to enable an eco power plan that also severely throttles the Intel Core i7 Pro CPU.

This is not a device to use in a quiet workplace. That’s hardly acceptable and it’s the only major negative I felt about the Q704.

I’ve thought that the solution to this surely must be in the hardware somehow. Maybe a hardware fix that involves a recall (hardly likely) or a firmware fix in the form of a BIOS update (more likely).

And so a pleasant surprise happened on Friday when I discovered that a “fan improvement tool” was available that included a BIOS update, bringing the version to 1.28.

The Q704 was running BIOS version 1.22, shown on the Fujitsu product website as the latest version. Running the update flashed the BIOS to the new version.

And running the Q704 since then, I’ve not once heard the fan, certainly not any noise at the high levels before. I’ve not noticed the device feeling hotter to the touch than usual, nor have I observed any noticeable difference in performance using the business-focused programmes I typically run on this machine, whether docked when in the office or in pure tablet mode when out.

The Windows Experience Index as measured by the Winaero WEI tool for Windows 8.1 shows a processor score of 7.2, the same as it was before the update. All other elements in that index are similar to before as well.

So with this BIOS update, I reckon Fujitsu have solved this niggling problem of high fan noise. Thank you!

If you use a Fujitsu Stylistic Q704, I strongly suggest you install this BIOS update. If your system hasn’t notified you of it yet – it was published only on January 20 – you can manually download it from the Fan utility for STYLISTIC Q704 vPro page. As the update is specific to this Q704 model, be very sure to check it’s for your machine and that it runs a supported Windows version.

Show-stopper eliminated!