| Comments on Saturday 12 June 2010: |
I've gone through two cheapo "laptop cooling pads" which, upon arrival, turned out to be "desktop cooling pads for notebook computers", in that the fan blades were exposed underneath so you couldn't use it on your lap or any soft surface because the fan would catch on things. Both of these pads also swiftly fell to pieces, foot-pads de-gluing, plastic cracking, fans falling out completely. So this time I did a bit more research and didn't buy anything that didn't have someone reviewing it saying "this actually works on my lap", which led me to this one (Amazon referral link, might as well, it's where I bought it):
Targus Lap Chill Mat AWE55US (Black with Gray) It was only about twice as much as the ones that didn't work (or the same amount as the both of them together), and it is exactly what I'd been looking for - the underside is even slightly cushioned, rather than the previous "two sharp edges that cut into your legs, and a fan-frame that prints a circle on you" design. When I plugged the USB cable in for the fan I thought there must be a switch or something, because I didn't hear a fan coming on, but putting my hand on it, yeah, there is air-flow, it's just really quiet. Not a lot of air-flow, but you don't need a lot of air-flow, a laptop is supposed to be able to work okay just on a hard surface after all. It's also lightweight and relatively low-profile. So if anyone's been vaguely looking for a good thing to stand their laptop on to prevent their legs being set on fire, like I have for a while, this one does the trick nicely, and at a reasonable price. [13:47] |