Cooling Pads, Your Opinions.

[bayport]

Thinking about buying a cooling pad for a laptop i plan on purchasing.

Figured i would come on here and ask a couple questions before i do though.

1) Are they even worth it? Or am i further ahead just to try and prop it up a bit. Or even worse, are they like intercoolers for consoles that actually cause more problems than solve
2)If so are there any good brands/models that you guys recommend?

 

[danthrax]

I've always wanted to get one for my netbook, but I just can't justify spending ~$30 on one... I reckon they do help keep things cooler though, and some laptops get very hot so any cooling help is good.

I personally just use this "breakfast in bed" style tray that I have, so it's basically like the netbook is sitting on a desk.

 

[bomberboysk]

I'm not a fan of the cooling pads with fans, as i've seen alot of those that exhaust air away from the cooling tray, while the laptop is trying to intake cool air from the same location. My suggestion would be a hard plastic or aluminum one, without fans.

 

[Geoff]

I never really saw the point, unless your laptop is overheating causing it to randomly shutdown or reduce performance, they don't do much.

 

[linkin]

If your laptop is idling very high temperatures and is cuasing issues, get one. make sure it matches your laptops fan configuration. if intake, use an intake cooling pad, and vice versa.

A better idea might be to boost the back of the laptop up with a book or something, and then point a house fan at the laptop. It does help.

 

[The_Other_One]

No no and no.... Most cooling pads are just junk. What people don't seem to realize is that cooling pads pull heat away from the laptop. Laptop fans pull air towards their bottom. Sooo, having a cooling pad and your fan going at once will make things run even hotter. unless the fans aren't anywhere near your laptop fan.

If you get anything, find something that simply props up the laptop and allows air to flow through. Some kind of wire mesh deal. Most laptops are more than capable of cooling themselves unless they are clogged up (in which the pad wouldn't do any good ).

 

[tossy]

I heard about Thermaltake iXoft R15ON02 Notebook Cooling Pad which is good to use. It takes a totally different approach to cooling, and with a quick first glance.