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Are laptop cooler pads worth a damn?

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killem2

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2005
Things like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...12&cm_re=laptop_cooler-_-34-999-412-_-Product

34-999-412-TS



http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=13259469

0006503082664_150X150.jpg



From what I understand is they draw hot air from the laptop and shoot out the sides or are they just keeping your lap cool?
 
Generally no. They often reduce idle temps, but not max temps (or reduce max temps by 1-2*c).
Laptop fans are very tightly thermally controlled, if you add an external fan that cools things down the internal fans slow down to reduce noise, and the temps go right back up.
If you usually use your laptop on your lap or on a bed or some other soft surface, any hard surface often helps a lot.
 
I have had good luck with the LapCool2 and 3 models. My emachines AMD was constantly shutting down due to heat problems when playing games. Adding a cooler totally eliminated that problem. The entire bottom of the machine was very hot before the cooler and after it is barely warm. I alos put a LC2 under my PVR unit and set it on low. The internal temperatures fell 10c, and cooler electronics is always good in my book.


I recommend the 3 model for travel/bed work and the 2 for more desktop use.
 
Generally no. They often reduce idle temps, but not max temps (or reduce max temps by 1-2*c).
Laptop fans are very tightly thermally controlled, if you add an external fan that cools things down the internal fans slow down to reduce noise, and the temps go right back up.
If you usually use your laptop on your lap or on a bed or some other soft surface, any hard surface often helps a lot.

I disagree.. It all depends on where you use it...If its on your lap, then yes it will work GREAT! I have a dual fan for my IBM, and my internal fan never goes on because of it, so now my battery lasts longer...
 
I would say they are not worth it at all. They seem to be about keeping your lap cool more than actually improving temps.
 
If you have your laptop on all the time, then I do recommend one. hard drives can get pretty hot, and so can other areas, so having that stuff cool does help.
 
YES! A hundred times YES! Wasn't my laptop but a friend said it kept crashing. Well I hook it up to my G15 to give me real time temps and the CPU temps were up at 89 degrees! I didn't actually buy one of these but I made one with 4 old 120mm fans laying about. Just made a thin wooden box with the back, left and right sides open and the fans blowing air up onto the lappy. I put some foam on the bottom to make it comfy =)

The max temp the CPU got up to now was 73 degrees. Still very hot yes but it hasn't crashed since and it's under the 85 degrees max recommended.

So yeh, if you can find a quality one then go for it. If not then make your own =)
 
Gotta test them against a random hard flat surface for it to be accurate. ANY kind of board beats a lap by a huge margin.
 
Keeping a laptop on a level surface will help with the temps. Based on experience, blocking and and insulating the bottom surface of a laptop(on your lap) traps the heat. keeping the laptop not horizontally parallel also affects the airflow. I think laptops use heatpipes now but still offer pretty low cooling performance. i always use mines on wood, a metal sheet or on top of card board box, unless i set it to power saving mode on my lap.

i'm pretty sure with more airflow you will get less heat trapped but beyond that you won't see too much benefiit(maybe with strong enough fans and an aluminum surface that mounts), I'd like to see some standards so that we can after market mod our laptops, all they need is a fan header or large 12v power source. a custom heatpipe would be nice.

i'd prefer something with a more extreme cooling profile (low, medium, super high)
 
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I would say they are not worth it at all. They seem to be about keeping your lap cool more than actually improving temps.

i would say they are about keeping good air flow under your laptop for less then perfect surfaces (laps, bed and so on)


keeping the laptop not horizontally parallel also affects the airflow

i doubt having the laptop on say a 20 degree angle changes air flow at all the air still comes in the same and out the same way via the fan pushing it.
 
I use one for the simple reason my Alienware lappy can cook my lap.

It helps with lap temps if that makes a difference :D
 
It doesn't change the airflow, but it does change the effectiveness of the heatpipes.
My old Alienware would shutdown in about ten seconds if you tilted it too far to the right.
 
Turn the fans facing down so it cools your lap. Then set the laptop on the bottom of it.
:mad:
Any hard surface will help in controlling the cooling. Stuff around the vents of your laptop = bad.

:comp:
 
i would say they are about keeping good air flow under your laptop for less then perfect surfaces (laps, bed and so on)




i doubt having the laptop on say a 20 degree angle changes air flow at all the air still comes in the same and out the same way via the fan pushing it.

i'm not sure if i'd depend solely on those fans to vent the entire system. (its usually just situated on top of the cpu and gpu heatpipe) probably doing nothing for the hard drive. tilting it so the vent faces downward would make the heated air in the system try to move upwards before it reaches the fan. it sounds like recirculated heat if you tilt it enough.

I also didn't mention heat pipes since not every laptop to my knowledge uses them but they are designed based on the same fluid dynamics and most likely designed to best perform on a horizontal surface.
 
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id say this .. whne your laptop gets warm and you set it on your lap you will notice the heat allot more .. put it on top of one of thos coolers then put it on your lap its cool... but as far as its worth id say they are not worth it ..


but if youd like to buy one and write a review for forums we'd all greatly appreciate it :D ( got your back IMOG lol )
 
It doesn't change the airflow, but it does change the effectiveness of the heatpipes.
My old Alienware would shutdown in about ten seconds if you tilted it too far to the right.

i wouldn't think that would be because the air couldn't get in, perhaps something lose or shorting out....
 
i'm not sure if i'd depend solely on those fans to vent the entire system. (its usually just situated on top of the cpu and gpu heatpipe) probably doing nothing for the hard drive. tilting it so the vent faces downward would make the heated air in the system try to move upwards before it reaches the fan. it sounds like recirculated heat if you tilt it enough.

I also didn't mention heat pipes since not every laptop to my knowledge uses them but they are designed based on the same fluid dynamics and most likely designed to best perform on a horizontal surface.

hot air does rise yes, but i would think the fan should push the air out well enough if tilted even since the air can only go one way.....

would be interesting to know, as you noted, laptop fans arent exactly powerful to say the least.
 
i wouldn't think that would be because the air couldn't get in, perhaps something lose or shorting out....

I could watch the CPU temp go up quite quickly.
Heatpipes are gravity dependent, even the ones with wicks inside.
 
Meh... well I think they work but if you don't why not do some testing with it?

turn your lappy fans on 100% let it sit like that with prime or something for like an hour... then do the same with fans 100% and it on the cooler... then do it with fans 100% on your lap...

for sure the 1st 2 will be the higher but the cooler should make it a little cooler than with out... also I perfer the hand feel check to see how hot... cause the ones in side are only going to be on certain areas... who has a temp prob on their lappy hdds?
 
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