Logitech Lapdesk N700 Speaker Cooler Review

With today's fast paced world, mobile and convenient notebooks gradually replacing their immobile and clumsy desktop cousins, the fidelity and immersion of entertainment offered by full sized speakers are often sacrificed for portability. While enjoying your favourite movie in HD while on the couch, it's often difficult to miss the warpdrive-like fan spooling up over the distant and artificial sound produced by the "it will do" speakers. While there are plenty of notebook coolers on the market, as well as portable speakers, Logitech's Lapdesk line attempts to combine the two in a perfect fusion of both convenience and quality. Today, I have the Logitech N700 Speaker Lapdesk, the alpha dog of the product line, to see how it improves the experience of notebook entertainment. Read on for my full review.

Great sound for the package
Good feature package and value
Very comfortable padding
Only uses one USB port
Great build quality backed by the legendary Logitech warranty

Could be a bit too big & heavy
Sound quality impaired by thick mesh cover
Easily stained
Sacrifices cooling performance for quietness

Heavyweight Lapdesk
When I first unboxed the Logitech N700 Lapdesk and held it in my hands, I was immediately surprised with how solid the entire structure felt. There were no squeaks or cracks as I thoroughly inspected it all around. A great impressions to start out the review with, and a big plus to Logitech since this device is constructed completely out of plastic. In terms of design, the N700 Lapdesk is a handsome device that would not look out of place in any home environment. The top is composed of several sections of tough matte plastic panels that house the fan and both speakers, as well as a handy volume/fan control on the right edge. The bottom is lined with a layer of extremely comfortable air-mesh polyester padded with polyurethane. The shape of the bottom is actually concave to the resting surface to facilitate better airflow, and to isolate your body from the heat when resting the Speaker Lapdesk N700 on your legs. Logitech states that the N700 can support notebooks up to 16 inches in screen size, and indeed the 15.4" Lenovo T61 is about half an inch away from obscuring the speakers entirely. However, the Lapdesk N700 definitely does not dwarf the notebook or appear out of place due to its increased size, and definitely complements the overall look very well.

Logitech N700 Lapdesk Speaker Cooler side view

The bottom of N700 is air-mesh polyester padded.

HP tx2000 12.1" convertible notebook sitting on top of the Logitech N700 Lapdesk

Lenovo Thinkpad T61p 15.4" sitting on top of the Logitech N700 Lapdesk

The cooling is supplied by a single variable speed 80mm fan placed in the middle, with large vented grilles on both sides to allow great air flow. Do not let the size fool you, this fan actually pushes a very respectable amount of air while remaining extremely quiet. Unlike the previous Logitech N100, the Speaker Lapdesk N700's front sits flush with the bottom of the notebook. The 80mm fan creates a negative pressure zone below the notebook and draws in the warm air to exhaust it in the spacious area below the cooler. Along with the good airflow, the fan is also extremely quiet. It is virtually inaudible over the operational noise from the laptop. Great job Logitech.

In order to secure the notebook to the front face, the Logitech Speaker Lapdesk N700 provides two foldaway "legs" that stop the notebook from sliding down, since the N700 is angled naturally at 10 degrees when its placed on a flat surface. Two additional grips are provided in 4 mounting locations depending on the notebook size to further secure the device. Rest assured, that I had a very difficult time trying to make my notebook slide off short of tilting it close to 90 degrees from horizontal. Even the petite 10.1" HP Mini 1000 had no problem sitting tight on the Lapdesk N700, although in this case the cooler does appear to be a bit overwhelming.

Now the last thing I want from sitting down to enjoy a movie is having to drag a knot of cables with me and having them tangle everywhere. However that is the typical case when a notebook cooler is used in conjunction with portable speakers. Not only do users usually lose 2 USB ports, they also have to deal with the resulting cable mess. Fortunately, Logitech has incorporated everything into one convenient USB cable, and it alone powers the fan and both speakers. Even better, this cable can be neatly tucked away in the provided slots no matter where the USB port is located. Another kudos to Logitech for beautifully integrating the cooler with the notebook.