You don’t really need to compare it to anything other than the 0dBSPL reference point. Standardize a laptop setup and environment, pick a listening position, m

You don’t really need to compare it to anything other than the 0dBSPL reference point. Standardize a laptop setup and environment, pick a listening position, measure dbSPL. A good position might be “1m from the center of the laptop base, at an elevation of 45°, while the laptop is on a flat, hard desk”. You know, more or less how people use laptops. Obviously you can go loose or specific with the description of the listening setup. You could standardize the room, you could standardize the desk, etc. I think the desk probably should be there, since it will reflect fan noise, and closer match actual laptop usage. You measure the A-weighted fan noise under different loads and publish something like dB SPL versus W graph.