x1c seems nice. I thought I can find something cheaper and nice (Sony T13 was a close hit, but out owing to its always running fan ....).

I also found notebookcheck recently. It's a great resource about noise / heat. Thanks!

I got a SONY VAIO SVT13112FXS. very good price (~650), great specs, quick. reasonable screen/keyboard, very cool/no heat in normal loads. However, the fan is too often running at high speed unnecessarily, making it not quiet at all! What a disappointment. Tried two units and both have the same issue...