Suggestions for Specific Notebook Cooler?

hey.

I recently pre-ordered the Sony Vaio SR Laptop, which has a 13.3 inch screen. While I have not received it yet, others have gotten theirs and mentioned that the left side is warmer than the right and its where the heatsink and fan is located.

I'm looking for a notebook cooler that

is flat and not elevated
has three fans
fits well for 13.3 inch laptops
well-recommended.

Thanks.

 

Take a look at the Zalman NC1000. It works well with 13.3 inchers in general and should cover most of the vents decently on the SR.

 

i'm looking at the NC1000 and the NZXT Cryo LX. Both seem good, but will the Cryo be too big for my 13.3 SR Laptop? Also, will the Cryo's fan placement be better than the NC1000 for the "left area" of my 13.3 SR Laptop?

Also, are there any stores that sell these because I would like to see it in person?

Thanks

 

I would say the Cryo would be far too large for the 13.3 as it is originally designed for a 17" (15inch fits well on it). It would be kind of a waste of an extra 30$.

Many stores have them, just look online at the online version of the store closest to you and see if they have it.

 

1) The Cryo LX is slightly angled. It is not possible to make it "flat". The NC1000 is not flat either and cannot be modified as so.
2) The Cryo LX has three 120mm fans. They are inaudible and push good air. The Zalman NC1000 has only two fans, and those are 80mm in size.
3) The Cryo LX was designed for 15.4" laptops; 13.3" notebooks fit great on it.
4) The Cryo LX has the best cooling of its class and is made extremely well. It also offers four USB 2.0 ports whereas the NC1000 only has two.

You can read a review of the Cryo LX notebook cooler here: NZXT Cryo LX Notebook Cooler

How can you say this without having seen the bottom of the original poster's laptop? In my opinion, it's kind of silly to recommend a cooling solution if you have no idea what where the areas needing cooling are needed most. What you should be asking instead is to request that the original poster provide a photo of the underside of his laptop.

Here's a couple shots of the Cryo LX:

 

Zalman NC1000 or 2000.

 

the cryo LX will swamp a 13 incher (unless thats what u prefer). i have about an extra inch on each side with my m1530 sittin on top of the cryo LX. the nc1000 or coolermaster infinite 8 would be more form fittin.
like garet stated: base yur decision on where yur laptop's vents are located. good luck

edit: i always wondered why the pictures of the cryo LX, online, all looked kinda off. like the actual unit is a silver brushed aluminum color. but all pix online make it seem a gray-ish color.

 

It's because when you take photos of black items, the exposures are usually oversaturated, or there is too much lighting which causes them to appear to be off-color. To be honest, I need a flash unit (like an Alien Bees) with an umbrella setup to make the exposures come out correctly.

 

It is because a 13.3 regardless of where fans are will be hit the base almost everywhere due to its size.



Do not make assumptions I had not done my reasearch on the notebook. That is quite ...lets say "n00bish" way of thinking for people who do not open their minds.

The image above if you compare it to the image below:



basically shows the main exhaust, set towards the back:

this photo CLEARLY shows the location of the main fan:




The reason the exhaust being in the back is of no reference for this is that it is ONLY a vent, look at the photo below:



Therefore the Cryo would not be in his best interests.

Here is another of the bottom side of the notebook. Most of the vents are in the more forward area of the notebook hence why the nc1000 is a better contender for this notebook. The locations of all the fans should feet like a glove with the NC1000 vs the CRYO where it would only hit the rear intake none of the vents towards the front. It is also the case that the NC1000 has even airflow allover which is perfect for this specific model, some models such as specific Sager models only have fans/vents in the back where the Cryo will benifit best, also notebooks with vents towards the outside edge of the notebook will benifit best from the Cooler Master infinite.



I do my reasearch as you see I wrote the buyers guide (UPDATING ASAP) and I do heavy reasearch on coolers as I am one of the 4 memebers of the NBR cooling team I have an ubsession with cooling notebooks. Do not make blunt assumptions on these forums or it will bite you back.

Learn to do research and quit bashing others who have done it without proper back up please it is not a very nice thing to do. Lazyness kills, therefore it only takes a few quick google searches to find pictures of undersides of notebooks, a users image is not always needed.

:wink:

Thanks to Cnet and its review aswell as eddieaus with his/her unboxing thread, http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=274470

 

let me ask u something. have u had any PERSONAL experience with the cryo LX? if not then u'r pretty misinformed cuz the cryo LX would EASILY cool that SPECIFIC model that u posted up. it would cover ALL of its vents.
i have no idea why ppl keep assumin that the cryo LX only provides air to vents towards the rear.

i would like to compare the cryo LX to a WUGXA (1920x1200) resolution screen. there is so much real estate on this cooler that u can easily position just about ANY laptop around to provide ample cooling.

matter fact...its safe to say that u provided a pretty bad example, on yur part, with the sony laptop above. the vents on that particular sony would sit right on top of the air flow.

 

I am not bashing the cooler and yes I have recently on a few occasions had time to play with the cryo and may I add it worked great with a modded based 9262 of a freind of mine.

I understand the airflow system of the cooler itself aswell and the notebook would have to sit above the optional palmrest or what ever you would like to call it and would have major realstate.

Either way he would get similar resaults (5C difference at most) and he would save a good amount by going with the nc1000 over the cyro aswell as still have about a inch on each side.

"matter fact...its safe to say that u provided a pretty bad example, on yur part, with the sony laptop above. the vents on that particular sony would sit right on top of the air flow"

That is actually the notebook the person has bought not some random notebook. It could fit on the cryo obviously but is a complete waste of cash where he could add ram to the system or buy a mouse in addition to a nc1000. It is very important to keep budget into peoples minds. Not everyone would like to just fork out cash if they do not need to for similar resaults. That is exactly why I am currently working on a comparasion of the nc1000 vs the nc2000 debate for 15 inch notebooks as I have both of them on hand with me for a little while.

EDIT:

After looking through the thread I believe almost all the facts are layed out to this guy and I think that we should simmer down. I notice the posts are getting quite "aggresive" and that there is no real need for a heated discussion so lets all end this before sombody gets banned etc over somthing stupid and quit our childish bikering. You guys with me on this one?

 

Writing a buyer's guide and being one of four members on the NBR cooling team (if such a thing exists) does not make you an automatic authority on notebook cooling. Especially considering that your only experience with notebook coolers are of the Zalman NCx000 series (more on this later). Honestly, I find some of your opinions and methods of testing to be right on the mark, and others to be downright wrong. I've already spoken to you about your rather biased remarks regarding the Cryo in your buyers guide.

See, and this is where you are wrong. You have no way of knowing, you have not the methods or the equipment (or products) to test this, yet you say that there is a 5C difference between the two coolers. You claim to research your assertions, you claim to be knowledgeable, yet when you make statements such as you did without a shred of factual proof, it kills the entire point of helping and/or educating people in the first place.

You failed to mention why the Cryo would be a complete waste of cash. Regardless, the price difference between the Cryo and the NC1000 is a mere $20 dollars. Hardly enough to "add RAM" considering the prices of DDR2 SODIMM RAM is cheap enough already, even for 4GB kits.

That's if the results were similar, and they are not. The NC1000 has two 80mm fans. The Cryo, as you know, has three 120mm fans. I think we can both agree that the cooling performance between the two is not "similar" and that the extra cash for the Cryo is warranted.

In any event, here's what bugs me about your notebook cooling posts. Regardless of the type of notebook a person has or what the person wants in a notebook cooling solution, you always (always!) recommend the Zalman NC1000 or NC2000 in nearly every case. It's like your default answer to every notebook cooler inquiry.

You rarely ever concede the fact that the Zalman cooler is not a good choice for a laptop, and I can only attribute this to the fact that the only notebook cooler you've ever "reviewed" was, in fact, a Zalman for which you have continously lauded heavy praise for.

The point being that arbitrarily recommending this cooler to every person for every notebook is ridiculous. Yes, you reviewed a Zalman notebook cooler. Yes, you love your notebook cooler. Yes, I can understand you wanting people to take your advice and buy it. But no, it is not okay to use the Zalman as the defacto cooler for every "what notebook cooler do I buy" thread.

Simply stated, the Zalman does a lot of things right, but just as much, it does a lot of things wrong. Recommending a notebook cooler based purely off the fact that you have one and love it is not going to fit the needs of the majority of people out there. Quite frankly, it is a bit disconcerting that you write a notebook cooling guide (which should be unbiased as possible to allow the reader to make their own decision), and pepper it throughout with personal comments about the products.

My final thought to you, providing you stuck around to read this long post? Be open, be unbiased (from a professional reviewer's point of view), and think outside the box (both literally and figuratively). Understand that it's okay to concede the fact that a particular product is not always the "right" one for every case.

 

to me, this is a place where great minds can come together and give each others' input on different topics.

x2p, i respect all of yur posts. i have looked at yur review multiple times (sometimes more than once a day) and it also inspired me to do my own review. i dont have a digi cam at the moment so i haven't done any real testing yet. if i did a review i want it to be on point 100%. i understand that the laptop u posted was the specific model the OP was askin about. i just think its not right to completely off somethin without any *real* experience with it.

i can't teach someone how to fly a plane if i've never been in the c`ockpit. u feel me?

to garet, i have also looked at yur review on multiple occassions. great job to both of u guys.
this is a place where we come together and help each other. open yur mind up once in a while to broaden yur horizons. when we come together and have these types of "debates," the OP and everyone readin it will benefit from our collected knowledge.

if u look at my original post, i even recommended the nc1000 or CM infinite cuz this was a 13.3" model.

edit: i also wanted to add that the cryo LX actually works on yur lap without havin to worry about blockin yur fans. the extra money i was willin to shell out for the cryo LX is completely justifiable. the cryo LX, from a design stand point, can last forever. i am a very picky person when it comes to attention to detail. i have had the cryo LX sittin on my desk without the laptop and the thing just looks beautiful. i dont think i'm ever givin up mine...unless a new model comes out. . . . . . .*day dreams...*

 

There are no need for personal attacks. Please keep this thread on topic which is finding a suitable notebook cooler for the Sony SR. Thank you.

I'd just like to say that the Infinite won't work too well as there is a quite a lack of air flow directly down the center of the cooler and thus wouldnt be suitable for a 13.3'' notebook such as the SR. Also most of the airflow is concentrated on the outer rim of the cooler making it inefficient for smaller notebooks.

Johnny T

 

i didn't want this to be another flame war but thanks for all the comments.

are there any cheaper options for notebook coolers that are still well-recommended? 30 or under?

 

Yes. You might try taking a hard look at the Vizo Xena II notebook cooler. I'm in the process of reviewing it right now as we speak. It doesn't meet the three fan requirement that you listed, but it does lay flat unlike the Cryo and Zalman cooling solutions.

It runs about $23 at Sundial Mirco.

 

2300RPM? Whats the noise like on that thing?

 

I, too, was suprised at first. However, rest assured that the fan is inaudible during operation.

 

My notepal infinite sounds like a jet engine running at 2000rpm...*sigh*