I didn't notice a whine at all, and it didn't seem to irritate the dogs at all. Whining can occur on any of the units I think, but it's related to the pan thickness. This is what Fagor says: 'During cooking, some cookware, especially pieces with a thin or non-uniformed bottomed surface, can emit a very low noise and vibration. In this case, there is no risk for the cooktop or for the cookware. However, cookware with a thick flat base will help to avoid such noise or vibration completely.' The Magma stuff i use is very heavy duty. I havent had any problems with low/medium heat, but I haven't used it extensively enough to compare heat settings on a wide variety of pans, like cast iron. Not being able to use it for dry camping is a trade off, I suppose, but the Fagor unit only uses 1800w to allow you to Sear and Stir Fry. The other wattages are Melt=300w, Warm=600w, MedLow=800w, MedHigh=1000w, Boil=1300w. The other things I like about the unit are the built-in timer, and also that it turns itself off if no cookware is detected.
-Mike
