Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler

Well, the fans aren't quiet, and it doesn't cool off my computer. In fact, the fans were as loud, or louder than my notebook's fans. It also isn't very smart. You have to turn it on and off manually, instead of having a sensor that detects heat. The fans are loud, the internal design is lacking, and it really doesn't cool off the computer that much. In fact, it just blows warm air towards you if you're sitting next to it. About the only thing that's good about this is the aesthetic design. It's cool looking, but not worth your money or your time.


Great overall design with sufficient cooling. Another great Antec product!!!   August 29, 2007
Mark (NY, NJ, CT USA)
45 out of 46 found this review helpful

This unit stacks up very nicely against the competition in the laptop cooler market. There are improvements to be made, but overall this is a solid product.

Notebook cooling has become essential with today's hot-running processors and video cards. It can potentially improve a computer's performance and useful life.

This pad is made from better plastic than most. It has a nice shape, though it may be small for a 17 inch laptop.

Pros

- The nice alluminum top spreads head and is durable
- The USB cable is pass through and has an extra port for other USB devices
- The cable is short and there is a small compartment to tuck it away under the cooler after use.
- The fans run quietly relative to other units
- The rubber feet are solid and provide nice stability

Cons

- The 2 fan heads are poorly positioned in the center of the pad; The grated top makes it appear like air flow is being pushed through the entire top. It's more obvious on the pearl version. Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler (Pearl)
- Air flow seems like it could have been improved.
- The list price of $50 seems unreasonable

The Antec notebook cooler has a more durable aluminum top, ergonomic shape, and more quiet design than the competition.

This unit is superior in almost every way to the Targus Chill pad.Targus PA248U Notebook Chill Pad

This cooler is a great deal at $21 or less.

Happy Shopping.



Quiet and Cool   August 31, 2005
Scott M. Kruse (Fresno, CA USA)
44 out of 66 found this review helpful

The cooler sits under my 43 cm (large monitor) Macintosh Powerbook. The Powerbook is often on for 8 to 10 hours a day and keeps everything very cool. The cooler powers from the left-hand USB port. The pass-through USB plug enables the USB port to be used by a printer and other peripherals. There are two fan speed settings, high and low. I only run on the low setting. A good, solid, cost-effective choice.


Matthew Sai is right!!!!!   February 20, 2006
William Lau (Stockton, CA United States)
36 out of 46 found this review helpful

I always thought Antec products are well made and designed. Because this unit is made of high quality materials, I had assumed it was cooling my laptop, but I always had an unease feeling about it. After reading Matthew Sai's review, I finally realize my fear was right. He is right on the money! This cooler pulls the air aways from the bottom of the laptop and exhaust the air through the underbody of this product. If you have a laptop that has cooling fans, this is probably NOT the ideal product for you. Most laptops with fans actually suck the air from the bottom of the laptop and exhaust the air throught the sides or back of the laptop (I have a Compaq V2000 series and a IBM ThinkPad, both pull the air from the bottom of the laptop) This creates a vacuum as a Matthew Sai has indicated. The underbody of my ThinkPad is flushed, having the laptop fan and this cooler's fan fighting for air has caused the ThinkPad to run hotter than without this cooler. The underbody of my Compaq is grooved, so vacuum problem doesn't hurt as much, therefore it cools my laptop a little bit, but not enough in my opinion. If this unit had a switch to change the direction of airflow, I would give it a 5 star rating...

To summarize: if your laptop has no fan at all, this should help cooling a lot. If your laptop has grooved bottom and also has its own fan(s) drawing air from the bottom, this unit won't cool much. If your laptop has a flushed bottom and also has its own fan(s), DO NOT buy this...


Met my needs and hers   January 26, 2004
seasidebruin (San Pedro, CA)
13 out of 16 found this review helpful

I've looked at aftermarket laptop coolers that are just plastic risers on a swivle base. They cost 20 or more for the plastic contraption. I have a friend in the office that has one for his laptop and he swears it works. The concept was simple. It raises the base so that more air circulation is possible. For me, I couldn't see myself spending twenty dollars on something I could use stacked post-its or 1/2 inch book to do (place underneath the laptop on the back edge so it raises the back of the laptop). I tried using a couple post its and for a while it seemed to help a little. But when ever my computer became hard drive intensive, because I was compiling a program or doing lots queries on HUGE databases, my fan would turn on. Since my friend had the platic platform, I decided to get something else to do the same thing. Something that would do a better job. At first, I thought about building one of my own, but I knew that I would have little time to devote to it... so I took my basic design and checked to see if there were any that already existed. That's when I found this Antec Laptop cooler.

I read about it and was convinced that this would work. But I didn't want to spend forty bucks on something that may not work. So I waited. Then my fiancee had some laptop trouble of her own. Her laptop was older and worse than mine. Her fan would refuse to turn on and would overheat and cause a shut down. Well, if this wasn't the time to go to her rescue, then I don't know when that would be. So I put an order in. When it arrived, I tried it out on my laptop while hers was being fixed (for a hard drive problem). I noticed that my fan never turned on when I did the usual queries that worked my drive hard. My laptop fan is behind the machine. The hard drive is underneath and there is a vent with no fan there. And it seems to solve my issues. So when she got her laptop back, I gave her the cooler as a gift. She has noticed that on her older toshiba that the base is no where near as hot as it use to get. It just gets warm. She is happy with it now. I still think she should get another laptop, but that is a different story. After a couple weeks, I started missing the cooler. So I bought another one from Amazon.

I'm still happy with it. It does cool the base of my laptop and gives me the peace of mind that it will extend the life of my machine considerably. Which is worth the price I paid. It met my needs and hers.