The packaging:

 

    The notebook cooler is packaged in a colorful retail type package. The back of the package contains the specs as seen above. Contrary to the specifications, however, the fans only receive 5V from the USB port. (It is possible that they meant the fans are 6 volt fans, but they run off the USB at 5 volts. Hence, lower noise as noted in the Pros section). Moving on...

 

(1) Front of package	(2) Back of package

 

 

There it is:

 

    The cooler is easily unfolded by pulling the legs in opposite directions. Once the legs are pulled out as far as possible, you twist the center part (the fans) to face upward like in picture 4. Note that the USB cable wraps around the center piece, so it isn't floating around in travel. I didn't measure the USB cable length from the unit, but moving it around both sides of the laptop and thinking about all of the laptops I have seen in recent years, the wire should reach any USB port just fine.

 

(3) Unfolded to an X	(4) Unwinding the USB cable

 

 

A closer look/installed:

 

    In pictures 3-5 you can see that there are 4 rubber feet that hold the laptop and your cooler in place. They work well with my particular laptop. It is not pictured, but the aforementioned hookup for power to the USB hub is in the front of the cooling unit. The best place for an adapter to power the USB hub is a good electronics supply store that can provide you with a universal/multi-voltage power adapter, such as Radio Shack.

 

(5) Bottom of unit	(6) Close up	(7) Installed from behind

 

 

    Since this particular laptop only has one USB port, this cooler / hub is a life saver. Any Plug and Play OS should find the USB hub and install it without incident. I believe this would include Macs as well.

(8) Plugged in XP Pro (That desktop looks leafy huh?)

Battery drain:

    One thing that you may be worried about with the addition of the X Notebook Cooler is accelerated battery drain. While this product is meant for your laptop when it is in a workstation environment, I wondered what effect two 60mm fans circulating air under the laptop would have on battery life. To summarize the pictures: picture 9 was taken with the AC power unplugged; picture 10 with the fans on after 10 minutes; picture 11 with the fans off, ten minutes later.

    So if you understand the above chart, having the fans on, the battery did not drop as much. 54%-47% is 7% difference. There is a 9% difference when the fans are off. I'll have to attribute that to the fact that this laptop is 4 years old, and the battery is funky when it gets to a lower power mode. No, I didn't get the tests backwards either. If anything, you can say that this test is inconclusive, and who is going to put this cooler under a laptop without the laptop being plugged in anyway? I was just curious as to if it was a large drop in draw with the fans working. Even though the testing was inconclusive, I'd say that the fans being on or off makes little difference on battery consumption with the laptop on battery power.

(9) Initial starting point on battery power	(10) With the fans on (USB plugged in	(11) USB unplugged

Does it work?: (A sort of Q & A with, well, myself...How odd...)

    I threw the following thoughts around in my head and came to the following conclusions...

    Lower temperatures? Most likely; I'd guess a degree or two Celsius perhaps.

     How can you measure it accurately? I could have rigged a thermal probe with the laptop, but if it was on the bottom, the fans would cause the temperatures to drop because of the direct airflow. It's almost a moot point because plastic doesn't conduct heat very well.

    In what direction do the fans blow? The fans actually blow downwards. I personally think they should blow upwards. That is logical to me, but in all fairness, airflow is airflow. If you want the fans to blow upwards, get out your drill. You'll need to modify the fan holes on the fans to flip them around.
 

    [Editor's note: I recall reading a wise quote about fan and heatsink debates on the [H]ardForums sometime in the past. It went something along the lines of "When you want to cool down your soup, you don't try to suck the air away from it; you blow on it."]

      Will the laptop be more comfortable to type on? Yes. A laptop has a flat feel to it. With smaller keys, you can (and will) get used to it, but giving it an angle is surely going to make it more comfortable.

    So is it going to help? Yes. You are getting a more comfortable angle to type on, and peace of mind that your laptop has airflow around it. I've seen many desktop systems in my days with funky exhaust fans to cool a processor with a huge passive heatsink. It works passably, but I'll take real airflow any day to airflow that is done unconventionally.

    Will it extend my battery life? Well, as seen in the testing section above, it didn't hurt. I don't have a clear answer to that one.

    How does it sound? Not bad. Yes, you can tell it is on. Folks with P4 laptops (not Celeron P4 laptops) are already used to some fan noise. You'll get used to it. It is no louder than a quiet desktop of current days.

Summary:

    I've thrown quite a few things at the hub. Laptop USB ports sometimes don't put out the full 500ma that are needed for some devices. I have thrown an HP 840C printer, a generic USB mouse, a Kodak digital camera, and even a FlexiGlow Fx Game pad at it all at once. Not a single issue, even with the two 60mm fans running. Your results maybe different, but this Acer 732tx notebook runs fine being plugged into an AC source during heavy testing as seen above.

Pros:

• It doesn't seem to be 30.26 dBA. It seems more like 27 or so. You'll notice it is on, but it isn't bad at all.

• Should increase notebook life.

• Adds an angle to the laptop making it more comfortable to type on.

• Adds 4 USB ports!

• On/Off switch for fans.

• It should give you some peace of mind.

• Portable.

• Very light.

Cons:

• It is made of plastic. It feels somewhat flimsy. (My big beef with the product. But in defense, the weight of this laptop holds the stand in place.)

• Very light laptops may have an issue with moving while typing. (I'm talking about Centrino notebooks mostly, although this is just a guess)

"Something every laptop user should consider trying out!"

Closing:

    I'd like to thank COOLMAX for sponsoring this product for review. Also, if you want to know where to buy one of these, or other COOLMAX products, head on over here. Be sure to hit their homepage as well. They have lots of neat stuff. I hope you enjoyed the review. Until next time...


Update: (4/11/05)

    Yes, you have noticed I did not do temperature testing. Taping a sensor to the bottom of plastic is no way to test/take temperatures. I have found out a way to test internal temps on a laptop, but I won't do an addendum unless someone wants me to. And, as of 4/11/05 the NB-801 is discontinued. The replacement is the NB-802. The changes being that the hub is now USB 2.0 compatible. :)


 

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