Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: notebook, cooler, pads | Themes: Business Notebooks
3. Coolermaster Coolpad
Coolermaster Coolpad
The Coolermaster Coolpad is much like a typical CPU cooler. It is all-aluminum and acts as a big heat sink. Two 60 mm fans near the center blow air downward to dissipate heat. There are no rubber pads here, but the back is higher than the front, which causes the notebook to incline naturally and comfortably.
Coolermaster opted for a very simple design, so there are no additional features.
The underside of the Coolpad.
The overall look of the unit is very stylish; the Coolpad is really an eye-catcher and it is almost a pity that it has to be covered with a laptop.
Since it is all-metal it is of course sturdy, but handling it can be problematic. First of all, the fans are not fixed in place firmly, so if you abuse the Coolpad, they will shift position and might move close to the protective grate. This in turn will cause you to hear an annoying noise. You then have to set the fans back in their proper place again.
Fashion Pad. Pay attention however, you could scratch your notebook cover.
Another concern is that this unit has many relatively sharp edges, so you should always handle it with care, lest you scratch your notebook. However your fingers are safe; we tested it on ourselves and came through without damage.
The Coolpad is bulkier and heavier than the Vantec Lapcool 2. The widths and heights of the two units are similar, but the Coolermaster product is thicker than the Vantec. Transportability is not a huge problem though, assuming that you take care while handling it.
The fans could fixed in place better.
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Here is my situation, I like to lay in bed at night and surf and play games. I have an Acer Aspire 5100 (which I think is a well designed laptop). I noticed a tiny spot on the top panel by the space bar, just above the power supply where the plastic had actually softened and began to melt a little. Yikes!!! Obviously it was from setting the laptop on the covers and blocking the air intakes. I think my solution will be to buy both the aluminum model for home use and the thin plastic model to carry in my bag. I also have fabricated a very thin an lightweight 1/8" piece of birch wood to set the cooling pads on. This should solve it. Now I just gotta go look around and find them and buy them.
Birch wood?
who are you grisley adams?