The back of the unit:

    Looking at the back of the unit, you can see from let to right; the on/off switch, the fan speed switch that adjusts the fans from 1800 to 2600 RPM, the input USB port from your laptop, and the 4 other ports the unit provides acting as a hub. In (16b) you can see the feet that raise the back of the unit up at an angle. You can use them, or you have the choice not to. They fold out. While the ends of the feet are just plastic, I had no issues with the laptop moving on my test bench, which incidentally, has a plastic top as well.

(16a) The back of the unit.	(16b) The rear feet

Testing:

    Temperature testing was done with Mobile Meter. Taping a temperature probe to somewhere on a laptop is not an accurate way of determining temperatures. For one, you put air flow over plastic, it really won't change internal temperatures will it? I mean plastic is not really a good conductor of energy, unless it is specifically engineered that way. I'm not aware of any laptop manufacturers engineering, and including specific plastic to absorb and/or radiate heat. If you put a temperature probe in front of a fan, the movement of air will cause the temperature to go down. In theory not like, but not unlike, why it feels good to sweat, or lay in front of a fan on a hot day. I won't get into the science of that. If you don't really understand that, you can easily look it up on the internet. (Editor's note: Here's a few links for you: sweat and fans cooling you.)

    So, with that out of the way, I'll be taking temps of the processor as reported by Mobile Meter. Your mileage may vary, as with any new, or old design of any particular laptop, but testing is what it is all about right?

    Let's continue to my specifics. The first (17 and 18) were taken with the laptop just on a desk, and not raised up in anyway. The rest, are with the NP5000 on and in either low fan speed, or high fan speed using the speed dial. So, the temps... I would let the laptop idle in Windows XP Pro for at least 45 minutes. That is how I would attain Idle temperatures. Load Temperatures were taken with Sandra Max 3 burn in test. Temperatures were recorded at least 45 minutes after that initiation. Quick Specs: Acer 732, PIII 500 (Coppermine), 192 megs ram, 20 gig, blah, blah, blah. Off to the results...

(17) Idle - No Cooler	(18) Load - No Cooler

(19) Idle - NP5000 Lowest speed fan	(20) Load - NP5000 Lowest speed fan

(21) Idle - NP5000 Highest speed fan	(22) Load - NP5000 Highest speed fan

Briefly analyzing the testing:

    The pictures speak for themselves really. Going from an idle temp of 37˚ Celsius to 34˚ C at the fans being on high, that IS impressive. So is the 6˚ drop in full load temperatures without a cooler, to the NP5000!


Summary:

    Often times we see mistakes made in fan strategies from manufacturers, such as a Mid-Tower PC chassis with a side fan. Low and behold, it comes blowing out from the factory. 2˚ to 3˚ C drops can be easily had with the fan blowing in. Following the same theory, the fans in the NP5000 should be blowing cool air up on the bottom of your laptop. I'm glad to say Jetart did that. Thank you.

    With an AC powered 4 port USB 2.0 hub, power users (no lame pun intended) never have to worry about if their power hungry USB devices, such as, external Hard Drives, Printers, and Scanners, not having enough juice to run correctly. Some USB ports on a laptop are notoriously under powered I hear... Even the two fans are AC powered. That presents a good and well... You will have to either leave your NP5000 on all the time, or flip that switch in the back to power it off. I can't say it is a fault, it's how it is designed, and for good reason. It will not suck power from your laptop, hence the improved battery life, but in theory, you probably won't be using this and battery power at the same time anyway. If you wanted something like that that would work in that aspect, check out Jetart and see the other models they have. There's a rechargeable battery model, and a model that does run off your USB port, so the USB port one should shut everything off when you power off your laptop.


Pros:

   • AC powered
   • Adds 4 ports that are USB 2.0 compatible, but of course backwards compatible also
   • It does cool your laptop. Substantially!
   • Still is portable enough to fit in your Laptop bag
   • Stays put on a desk with this particular Laptop
   • Adjustable fan speed



Cons:

   • Full speed fans maybe too loud for some (Hence, it is adjustable)
   • Availability in the USA *
 

"Laptop cooling done right!"

Closing:

    I'd like to thank Jetart for sponsoring the NP5000 for review here at the site. I hope that we will look at other products from them. I know I would be interested to see how their external water cooler would do.


 * Vantec actually has brought this product to the USA. It is their LapCool2 (LPC-305). Thanks for coming by. Until next time...

 

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