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7 Notebook Coolers Compared and Tested

Cooling/VGA & Other Cooling by jmke @ 2008-04-07

With the majority of PC shipments being laptops it is time to find out how you can effectively keep them running cool. In this comparison review we test seven different notebook coolers from Zalman, Vantec, Spire, Sunbeamtech, Revoltec and Antec.

Sunbeamtech Notepal

Sunbeamtech Notepal

The Notepal from Sunbeamtech is an all aluminum cooler with a large surface area. Available in silver or black color and weighs in at 1138 gram.

The Notepal features a brushed aluminum look with nice company logo in the right bottom corner;

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At the back a strip of anti-slip rubber and also rubber feet; two fans are visible here too, which blow cool air under your notebook.

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The left side of the unit is unused, just empty space:

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At the right side you have two USB ports and fan speed selector, which also serves as the on/off switch. The two LEDs help indicate what fan speed setting was selected.

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While designed for 15”, the Notepal works ok with larger laptops, the keyboard is tilted forward, but still comfortable to use.

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The ridge at the front which helps prevent the laptop from sliding off, is too high and covers up the audio connectors on this Acer laptop:

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Comment from grs1961 @ 2008/04/09

Good comparison, but, for me, it left out one important test: How do the coolers behave when used *on* a lap. Are they even *usable* in that sense.

Some of us still use our laptops (even the aircraft carriers) on our laps.

Comment from jmke @ 2008/04/09

check the bottom of each cooler to see how it's formed. I think of the ones in the review only the Antec is flat enough at the bottom to be used on your lap. The others are either too small, or made to be used on a desk

Comment from Kougar @ 2008/04/09

The Antec cooler should be avoided, I tried one. As you said, it is to small for 17" laptops. Additionally one of the fans wore out after exactly 1 year, makes an insane racket to try and use it. Still under the 3 year warranty, assuming you kept the original purchase receipt which I didn't. I wouldn't want to even pay shipping to warranty it anyway, not worth it in my opinion.

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