This picture was taken this year and not in 2003 (my old digital camera seems to have a life of its own).Anyway, a few months ago, I bought a laptop cooling pad online, this is a quick review of how I discovered it and what I think about it now that I have one of my own...
My laptop had been overheating quite badly and I was worried that the central processing unit (CPU) would burn itself out. Also, I use my laptop on the bed a lot of the time and I was worried about it overheating so much that it would set fire to the bed. Therefore, the hunt for a laptop cooling device was on....
I was sitting in the library at my University one day a few months ago when I saw a guy setting up his laptop and other equipment. He pulled out a perspex looking device, connected the whole thing up and switched on his laptop, I sat and watched him. A few minutes later, he was all set up and had a blue light under his laptop, at this point I got up to ask him a few questions as I was curious....
After talking to the man for a little while, I learned that he was using a notebook cool pad and it was a simple device, which he had plugged into one of the USB ports on his laptop, immediately the device was up and running without the need to install any other software. It was also a very handy device as it coiuld be carried around quite easily, it fit perfectly on top of the laptop in a laptop carry bag, I must say I was really impressed.
The laptop cooling pad has three built-in fans which blow cold air on the underbelly of the laptop keeping it cool and allowing the laptop to function efficiently. It has four rubber points or grips in each corner allowing the laptop to rest comfortably onto it and gives the laptop a little lift, which is slightly slanted forwards but very comfortable for typing. It is made of perspex or acrylic and is completely transparent.
The fans are powered by plugging in the USB cable into the laptop's USB port where it uses power directly from the laptop to function, so you do not have to worry about plugging the device into the mains, using a power adapter or buying additional batteries as it is powered directly from the laptop. This is a true plug and play device. Additionally, the fans each have four blue coloured light emitting diodes (LED), which give out a nice neon blue light once the device is activated.
The laptop "three or two colour fan cooling system pulls heat away from the notebook and prevents overheating during use", these are the words from the box and the cooling pad does exactly what it says it will do. It keeps your laptop cool and prevents it from overheating. The fans function efficiently as long as they do not get obstructed in any way.
One last point to note is that the device is quite noise free, it sounds a little like a fan blowing during the summer, but this is not the kind of noise that will distract your attention or cause you to shout while talking over the phone, it is quite a handy and very useful device. It will certainly help to prolong the life span of your laptop by preventing burnout.
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