Cool Hand Laptop: Eight laptop coolers tested, rated, and reviewed

Technology can be a hazardous to your health, and gadget-related dangers come in all shapes and sizes, from BlackBerry thumb to mouse elbow. One of the most common complaints we hear is from laptop users literally burned by overheated systems. While desktop PC hot-rodders have all kinds of elaborate water-cooling contraptions at their disposal, laptop owners are stuck with decidedly more low-tech solutions.

The Xpad is tops for passive cooling.

Many users would never dream of resting a laptop directly on their legs without a pillow, magazine, or some other improvised shield in place. After all, with faster processors, smaller cases, and increased workloads, the modern laptop burns the candle at both ends, so to speak. Even moving the laptop from your lap to a desk won't cure heat-related problems, especially if you're working in a cramped environment with lots of clutter to block fans and air vents.

Naturally, for any problem, there's always someone willing to sell you a solution, and there are literally dozens of laptop cooling devices available. Some are simple, passive, plastic trays designed to keep the laptop from touching your legs, at best providing some additional air channels. Others are complex, powered devices with one or more built-in fans, running off power provided by a laptop's USB port. The right solution for you depends on whether you primarily use your laptop on a desk or on your lap, whether you want a powered or passive device, and how much extra space can be spared in your laptop bag.

We looked at a total of eight cooling options, rating each for its design, utility, and capability to keep laptop temperatures down. To test the thermal properties, we ran our grueling Multimedia multitasking test on a sample laptop--the popular Lenovo T60p--recorded the CPU temperature for each product, and compared it to the laptop's CPU temperature without any cooling assistance.

The dual-fan Antec Notebook Cooler

Among the passive, or unpowered, devices we tested, we were surprisingly impressed by the Xpad Laptop Desk, basically a massive chunk of plastic that looked like a cutting board with a big "X" on it. A more inelegant computer accessory would be hard to find, but the Xpad was inexpensive, could handle large laptops, and was as effective as our fan-equipped laptop coolers. The two LapWorks laptop desks--one for mid-size laptops, one for smaller systems--weren't particularly effective at cooling, but have a textured surface on each end for use with a mouse. For the aesthetic minimalist, BlueLounge's Cool Feet are four simple rubber feet that attach to the bottom of your laptop, but are better for giving your system a more ergonomic angle than for cooling.

If you're interested in a powered laptop cooler, there are several essentially similar devices out there. Each plugs into a USB port on your laptop, which powers one or two fans designed to suck hot air away from the system. They can all be a bit noisy, and only one--the Antec NoteBook Cooler S--is especially portable.

Belkin's Laptop Cooling Stand wins for aesthetics.

All four powered coolers we looked at worked reasonably well. The Antec NoteBook Cooler's twin fans were slightly better than the single fan in the Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand and the LapWorks Ergo Fan Riser. The smaller Antec NoteBook Cooler S (hence the "S") was the only one that operated a little differently, placing the fans behind the lid rather than under the system.

Honestly, none of these laptop coolers radically outperformed the others, as evidenced by the chart below. Personal preference plays a big role here. One of our co-workers swears by the LapWorks Laptop Desk 2.0, for its portability and built-in mouse pad, while I find the subtle sloping grade of a laptop sitting on the Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand to be easier on the wrists.

Note: For a side-by-side breakdown of all these laptop cooling devices, check out our twin roundups, for active and passive laptop coolers.

Laptop cooling device CPU temperatures (Lenovo T60p)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Without cooling device

80.8°C 

LapWorks Laptop Desk 2.0

78.8°C 

LapWorks Laptop Desk UltraLite

78.8°C 

BlueLounge Cool Feet

78.0°C 

Antec NoteBook Cooler S

76.6°C 

LapWorks Ergo Fan Riser

76.6°C 

Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand

75.0°C 

Antec NoteBook Cooler

74.8°C 

Xpad Laptop Desk

74.4°C 

[Rocker452]

Are these temps for real!

I use a Targus Laptop cooling pad and my cpu temp runs around 100 degrees F or less. The ones you posted converted to F are over 175 degrees. Even without the pad mine doesn't get that hot.

[classer]

Alternative laptop coolers

I think of far greater interest than CPU temperature is my lap's temperature. From that perspective, the laptop pads from www.laplogic.com are great. They are lightweight, foldable, cheap, and do very well at insulating your lap from the scolding heat of a laptop.

[kjim9]

Install Gentoo linux test

Might I propose a another test of cooling effectiveness. Try installing the Gentoo Linux distro from source code. This means the laptop is doing a heavy workload of both compiling and installing an operating system. Gentoo installs from source has caused some laptops to catch fire from heat. I WOULD ONLY RECCOMMEND THIS ON LAPTOPS UNDER WARRANTY AND WHEN THEY WILL BE ATTENDED FOR THE TIME IT TAKES TO DO THE INSTALL. If you try this do it on a similar speed desktop toget some idea of how much time it will take before you do it on a laptop

[joker5667]

so out of these that were tested

A passive cooler actually did better than the active coolers??

[TexasViewpoint]

Was told by computer repair person:

My video card fried on my Compaq. I was told by a computer repair person that the video cards on most all laptops will basically fry over 95F (35C). Your ratings for all the laptop coolers were much higher, almost 100F higher. Did I misunderstand the computer repair person? Or are your listed temperatures off a bit?

Also, I used my Compaq laptop outdoors in the middle of summer for archeology dig photography downloads and event photography downloads. How do these coolers rate outdoors in the middle of a Texas summer when it's upwards of 95-100F in the shade? And does a Toshiba laptop operate cooler?

[TexasViewpoint]

Any results for external power to fan coolers?

Since the fan coolers that use USB ports generate more heat that they then have to dissipate, how do they rate when externally powered using something like those AC to USB converters for IPOD charging? Does the removal of the heat generating factor then raise the fans ratings above passive ratings?

[Rich.Carpenter]

TexasViewpoint - I would guess they meant 95 degrees celsius (though I've heard it to be around 90). 95 degrees Farenheit isn't even as hot as your body runs. ;)

[harlandave]

does anyone have any experience, positive or negative, with the chill pak? it's kinda like an ice pack that goes under your laptop to cool it down and (supposedly) speed it up. i've heard about it but haven't heard anything about its merits. www.chillpak.com is the website for it.

[jazjef]

DO NOT USE 'CHILL MATS'!

Here's why;

manufacturer says: "They pull hot air AWAY from your laptop"
your laptop: Pushes hot air OUT of you laptop----put your hand in front of your fan port if you don't believe me.

When the chill mat pulls air away and your laptop pushes air out it creates a VACUUM inside your computer that has no air circulation.... THIS WILL INCREASE THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OF YOUR COMPUTER.

BUY A PORTABLE QUITE SMALL FAN AND POINT IT DOWN AT THE BASE OF YOUR COMPUTER ON A SMOOTH AND HARD SURFACE TO BLOW/CIRCULATE AIR UNDERNEATH IT.

[micro-geek]

i use a vaio-vgncr23g and i knw its not much but guess what, evn without extra fan it runs as low as 46 degrees.. though im buying 1 tmrw, just to test both my laps. and wats with these techno geeks and their hideous looks! seen the chill-pak fellow Dean Hugland!!

[micro-geek]

i bought 1 today, some e-power-chinese-24-bucks crap but it works just fine, also has this dazzling blue lights around a large fan but make a bit whirring noise though. it lowerd my core clock temp down to 44 degrees and takes it further down to 37(!) if i lower my room temp down to 21 degree. i use this RightMark clock utility so don knw for sure if it reads exact..

[Krackcode]

When buying a "cooler", whether it be passive or active, the most important factor is that you get the correct size. Most active coolers you can purchase in a retail store are less then 10"x12". This means, that if your laptop/notebook is larger then that, it's "feet" will not sit the proper distance away from the fans (or pad).

Having that 1/4-3/8 of an inch difference in distance that the laptop's feet provide, can make all the distance in the world.

So when buying a cooler, first measure your Laptop/Notebook accurately. Then hit up Newegg, (no you don't have to buy from there, but it's great for research and feedback), and find a cooling mat or station that is bigger or at least big enough for the laptop's feet to sit on it.

Other things to consider:

The location of the fans, in relation to your HDD bay(s), RAM bay, CPU, GPU...etc.

You will often find that your RAM bay will get very hot. On a hot day, you can easily fry a stick if you are using an improper sized cooler; or a cooler that does not have a fan near that location.

Hope this information helps. I learned the hard way :).

Take care,

Krack

[newPCgadgets]

We just designed a new product called Laptop Smart Feet at www.newpcgadgets.com. The product raises your laptop and provides a cable organizer. It snaps on and off for easy use.