Proper Computer Care - Cool Your Laptop

Unless you have one of those underpowered netbook computers, it is important to regulate the temperature of your notebook computer.  Heat is your worst enemy.  If you've ever experienced your computer suddenly shutting down on you or perhaps you experienced a adrupt reboot, more than likely your computer overheated and it took precautionary steps to prevent physical hardware damage.

The bigger the laptop, the more important cooling becomes.  Larger notebook computers have faster processors which generate more heat.  Additionally, larger notebook computers have faster graphics cards which generate tremendous amounts of additional heat.  Generally speaking, these days processors and graphics cards are better cooled by computer manufacturers, but back in the early 2000's graphics cards were not sufficiently cooled and caused motherboards to burnout, thus it never hurts to help out the computer so that you don't over work the internal fan and keep the overall internal temperature of a notebook computer down.  It's easier to replace a cooling pad versus the internal fan of a laptop.  I, myself, have had a HP Pavilion zd7280us notebook burn out on me and have had notebooks that suffered from frequent spontaneous reboots and shutdowns.  Older notebooks become susceptible to overheating because newer software, for example Adobe Flash, latest encoded movies, mp3's, requires more CPU processing causing the CPU to become pegged at 100% CPU utilization for long periods of time and eventually, the computer will shutdown or reboot.  Also, they're very useful if you're the kind of person that leaves laptops on continuously and use them like desktop computers.

I personally own 2 different kinds of chillpads.

Evercool Notebook Cooling Pad EC-NP-101

(view it on amazon.com)

External Dimensions:  325 x 263 x 18 (mm)

Fan dimension: 60m x 60m x 10m
Voltage: 5VDC(USB)
Current: .40A
Power: 2W
Fan Speed: 1900 - 2600rpm
Air Flow: 40CFM

Noise: 24dBA

The Evercool NC-NP-101 cooling pad has 4 fans, looks like a piece of junk, feels like a piece of junk, and sounds like a piece of junk.  It has a wheel that lets you set the fan speed from loud to jet engine.  The great thing about it is that it has a lot of airflow, but it's not the best choice for all notebook computers.  The primary downfall is the position of the fans.  All 4 fans are place generally in the center.  Some notebook computers have the processor and the graphics card positioned towards the back of the computer, so this particular cooling pad doesn't properly cool that area.  I was using the Evercool NC-NP-101 for an old Dell SmartStep 250N and it didn't help at all, it suffered from constant overheating when playing mp3's continuously (I know, mp3's!).  However, I use them for all my other computers and it works just fine, just gotta tune out the noise, but it's nothing compared to the fan in the Dell SmartStep 250N.  Finally, the Evercool cooling pad fits a typical non-widescreen 15" notebook computer perfectly, but fails miserably when it comes to the newer widescreen notebook computers.  That's not to say that it doesn't do the job, it just looks awkward.

So you you ask, what did I use for the Dell SmartStep 250N instead?  Introduce the Targus Chill Hub XC for Laptops.

Targus Chill Hub XC for Laptops (AWE01US2)

(view on targus.com)
Exterior Dimensions:  10.25" x 14.13" x 1"
Weight:  1.66 lbs
The Targus Chill Mat/Hub XC has its 2 fans positioned towards the back of the cooling pad to provide the right amount of cooling to right location on the old Dell SmartStep 250N.  The Targus Chill Mat/Hub XC definitely feels better and sounds better than the Evercool cooling pad, but it's priced higher, so you pay for it.  Also it's a lot wider than the Evercool NC-NP-101, so it's definitely an improvement for the widescreen notebook computers.

Targus HD3 Gaming Chill Mat (AWE57US)

(view on targus.com)
Exterior Dimensions:  12"H x 16.14"L x 1.14"W
Weight:  2 lbs
Just noticed, 2011-03-16, the Targus HD3 Gaming Chill Mat.  It looks cooler and is wider than the Targus Chill Mat/Hub XC.  Nice, but it's a little taller and heavier.

More information on Notebook Cooler Pads (December 16, 2004) on tomsguide.com.