19 replies to this topic

[TcM]

Well, I'm planning to buy a laptop cooler. Are they effective?

What do you think is best?
FAN LESS
Scan Computers Malta - Gigabyte G-Pad Fanless 14-16" Notebook Cooler Black Alu
Scan Computers Malta - Akasa NBC-03WH Notebook Cooler for 15in Notebooks

WITH FAN
Scan Computers Malta - CoolerMaster Laptop Cooler R9-NBC Suitable for Widescreen NB
Scan Computers Malta - Akasa NBC-01 Notebook Cooler for Notebooks

I was thinking about this one:
Scan Computers Malta - CoolerMaster Laptop Cooler R9-NBC Suitable for Widescreen NB

What you think?

[Xav]

We have one, it's very effective. I haven't measured the temp, actually, but it's stopped crashing.

[TcM]

Hmm.. I guess it's quite effective then. I'd love to know the difference though, because when I play some games my laptop goes up to 91 degrees Celsius.. which is TOO BAD.. and I can barely rest my hand on it so I can use the keyboard!

[Steve.L]

If your laptop generally runs hot, a cooler is definitely good to have. Personally I'd go ThermalTake for nearly any cooling product.

Fan or fanless is pretty much up to you. If you're running really hot, get fanned; if you're just uncomfortably warm, probably fanless is the way to go. I can't personally recommend any specific products due to my lack of experience with laptop coolers, but if your keyboard is really getting that hot, don't get fanless.

Or just get a new laptop... lol. My Inspiron 1520 runs very cool with its side exhaust fan. Never been too hot to touch, on any part of the machine.

[TcM]

Lol, my laptop is only 7 months old.. I'm not planning to change it ;)

And my CPU is 2.4ghz (Core 2 Duo) and can be overclocked up to 2.6ghz.. so in relation to your 2.0ghz (C2D) that's quite a difference.. and even the gfx card is a little better... that all adds up to extra heat.

Did you ever try playing Just Cause or GRID on it? You will see the heat! Mine normally runs quite cool.. I just need this for gaming.

I guess I'll go with fans then...

[Steve.L]

I'm running Core2 Duo (2.0GHz), Geforce 8600M GT, etc... I have no problems with cooling. Also, I don't see why you'd be overclocking laptop CPU, you're just asking for trouble. Core2 on desktop, sure, fill your boots.

[TcM]

Well, the CPU is designed to be overclocked to 2.6 (I have a button on my laptop, and it oc automatically, but I nearly nearly never use that..

[Steve.L]

I guess it wasn't designed very well if it's getting that hot. ;)

[TcM]

Yeah maybe that's true.

[WingedPanther]

My wife has a laptop that gets pretty toasty, but the USB laptop cooler she uses works very well.

[morefood2001]

I've observed one thing about laptops and heat, they get hot when you have the bottom of them closed off, for example laying them on a bed. I've seen the bottom of a laptop melt because a student left it on a bed running for a day.

I don't think laptops were made to be on 24x7, if you need a computer on all the time, consider a desktop, or even a server based desktop. If you have to leave your laptop on all the time, make sure the screen shuts off after so many minutes and that its at least propped up so air can hit the bottom and the top of the main part.

I've heard both good and bad about the laptop coolers, so I can't really comment about those.