Belkin USB Laptop Cooler Review

The Laptop Cooling Pad is pretty simple: a fan mounted in the middle of a piece of plastic.

A close up of the Laptop Cooling Pad's solitary USB-powered fan.

The Cooling Pad's wave-shaped design promotes cooling by forcing air out the sides.

The wave design is surprisingly well suited to the shape of your lap, making the Cooling Pad a useful support tray even when you're not using the fan, but if you'd like to work on a desk instead, Belkin built a plastic stand that not only steadies the pad when you're using it on a hard surface but raises the back of the computer an additional five or ten degrees for a more ergonomic typing angle. The stand snaps in and out of the base of the pad in a battery compartment-style arrangement, using small plastic tabs to keep it in place when not in use. I find these little tabs cause for concern; I get the feeling they'll start to break after enough use, and I wonder if Belkin couldn't use a more durable locking system instead.

The Cooling Pad's stand clicks in and out of a compartment on the base of the pad.

The Laptop Cooling Pad uses a USB connection to power the unit, sacrificing a small portion of your computer's battery life for the great convenience of not having to carry around an AC power cord. The power cable (which oddly enough does not match the rest of the Cooling Pad's gray and white color scheme) has a DC 5V connector on one end and a USB connector on the other, and plugs into the back of the Cooling Pad. Because the Cooling Pad uses no software whatsoever, there's no delay for installation, or need to download drivers, making the Laptop Cooling Pad the truest example of plug and play I've ever seen. It also means you can use the pad with any notebook that has a free USB slot without worrying about compatibility. The power cable fits into another compartment (with an equally fragile-feeling cover) on the bottom of the Cooling Pad for storage.

The Cooling Pad has a separate compartment for storing the power cable.

The power cable has a USB head on one end and a DC 5V head on the other.

Because Belkin designed the Laptop Cooling Pad for notebook users, they made a concerted attempt to make their product as portable as possible without sacrificing too much of its cooling capability. The Cooling Pad's hollow plastic frame only weighs a couple of pounds, and seems solid enough to take some abuse in your travel bag, so it shouldn't add too much stress to the load on your shoulder, or require any special attention for storage. However, the wave shape that supposed makes the Cooling Pad a better cooler may also interfere with its portability, depending on the size of your carrying bag. This issue isn't a deal breaker, but Belkin should consider modifying their design so that you can flatten the wave shape as necessary to make the Cooling Pad easier to carry.

Using the Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad
Although we'll be looking at some temperature data below to get a more scientific sense of exactly how well the Laptop Cooling Pad cools the computer, my experiences with the Cooling Pad were very pleasant. From a temperature standpoint, not only does the fan do a good job of keeping my lap cool, but the wave design also prevents heat from leaking through by keeping contact between the Cooling Pad and the computer at a minimum.

In addition, the fan is as pleasant on the ears as it is on the legs. Many computer fans do their best imitation of a jet plane engine when running, particularly when they're designed to cool by pushing as much air as possible - I'll never forget the CPU cooler that was so loud I risked ear damage using it - or afflict the ear with a persistent high frequency whine that hovers just below the conscious level. The Cooling Pad's fan, however, while not completely silent, keeps both volume and pitch down to a more than acceptable level.

Finally, there's the usefulness of the pad as a lap stand. I normally don't enjoy using laptops on my lap for very long, because the odd angle starts to hurt my back and neck. As a result, I end up shifting the computer around a lot to stay comfortable. The Laptop Cooling Pad did not entirely eliminate my discomfort, but because its wave shape and the pressure of your fingers naturally rock the computer backward, it made my laptop more comfortable to use. You may also find that the Cooling Pad's stand makes the pad even more comfortable to use. Pretty soon, I found myself pulling out the Cooling Pad every time I wanted to work away from my desk, which speaks to the Cooling Pad's usefulness at filling a previously unknown need.

Temperature Tests
Perceived comfort is one thing, but how well does the Cooling Pad really work? To find out, I used an infrared non-contact thermometer with a -20° C to 320° C temperature range and a piece of software called Hardware Sensors Monitor 4.3 to measure the external and internal temperatures of my Dell Latitude X300 notebook.

Hardware Sensors Monitor 4.3 provided all of the internal temperature readings. First I ran an external test, letting the computer sit in active but idle mode for 30 minutes with the cooling pad off, then active but idle for 30 minutes with the cooling pad on. At the end of each 30 minute period, I took a series of temperature readings, then averaged the results. Here's what I found:

Average temperature without fan: 93° F
Average temperature with fan: 86° F
Average temperature of bottom of Cooling Pad base with fan: 81° F

As you can see, while the Cooling Pad does a good job cooling off the base of the computer, it does an even better job keeping heat from seeping through the plastic to your legs. Even better, that 12° F difference in temperature between bare computer and Cooling Pad base with fan does not include the added benefit of having the cooling fan blowing directly on your legs.

After finding that the Laptop Cooling Pad makes using a laptop thirteen percent more comfortable, I was curious to see how much the fan affected temperatures inside the computer. While I'm not particularly concerned about overheating components, it would be nice to know whether or not that fan might make the difference between a malfunction and smooth operation on a warm day. First, I let the computer sit active but idle for half an hour without the fan, then sit active but idle for half an hour with the fan. After each thirty minute period, I measured the temperature of the process and the motherboard. Here's what I found:

Temperature of motherboard with no fan: 120° F
Temperature of processor with no fan: 120° F
Temperature of motherboard with fan: 87.8° F
Temperature of processor with fan: 105.8° F

That drop in motherboard temperature is particularly impressive, and indicates just how effective the wave pattern design of Cooling Pad can be over time.

Finally, I measured the temperature of the hard drive under continuous load, by using Audacity to record thirty minutes of silence without running the fan, then thirty minutes of silence while running the fan. After each thirty-minute interval, I measured the temperature of the hard drive. Here's what I found:

Temperature of hard drive without fan: 104° F
Temperature of hard drive with fan: 96.8° F

A less significant result here, but even when the hard running is running full speed for a long period of time, the fan still has an effect on the temperature.

I used Audacity for the continuous load hard drive tests.

Recap
Overall, the Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad did an excellent job of destroying my skepticism - surprisingly enough, this product is really useful, both as a cooler and a laptop stand. While the plastic tabs on its storage compartments are a little flimsy, and it may not fit properly in everyone's laptop bag, its ability to save your legs from your computer's searing heat, save your wrists from some stress, and run quietly all in the bargain make it an excellent and highly recommended product.

By Eric Hanson, Contributing Editor