W3J Cooling and Joining the Lounge :)

Hey everyone.. so after a couple weeks of waiting I finally got (will be getting --> tomorow) my refresh W3J for $1,779 CND ($1,567 US) through ATI's employee discount (came up just as I was gonna go to MilestonePC and get one, sorry MilestonePC! You're friendlyness is next to none and I wish I could've gotten it from you but I mean.. its $300 cheaper!)

but anyways, a rep was offering me some laptop coolers and I started to think if it was necessary or not. I've heard many users complaining (if thats the right term) of the slight heat that the notebook gives off.. would it be useful to have a laptop cooler under it or is it just a hassle (extra wires, another component on the table, noise, etc.)? I mean I don't think I would ever carry it around, even though they are pretty light but if any of you have the coolers, tell me of your experiences.

btw, I am looking at the Antec notebook cooler (it's white and has a wavy design) or the Vantec LapCool 3


also I am looking for a place to look at bags/sleeves for the W3J and I've looked at ebags.com and many other places that you guys have mentioned on this site and non of them ship to Canada, can anyone refer me to some canadian shops that have a wide variety of bags and sleeves? I am preferebly looking for very well padded sleeves

thanks in advance

 

Whoa... 1779 CDN ??? that's a good price.. tax in?

Might be a good idea to use a cooler.. not necessary.. but pretty useful. I'd suggest getting a cooler that has USB ports in it (I know LapCool3 doesn't have any coz I have it... LapCool4 should have it) because it will take 1 of your 3 USB ports for power.

 

unfortunelty tax is not included but hey.. i mean with the 1% tax drop the conservatives have offered. it is like no tax at all!

Darrick, how loud is the cooler? Would it be enough to add on to the sound that he W3J would make or is it indifferent?

 

Dang.. my A8Jm was 1749 CAD... only $30 difference ... oh well... can't regret what's done

The noise is actually not noticable at all.. won't add to your W3J sound. It's not any louder than my fan at lowest speed... barely audible is a good description of it...

 

The lapcool3 doesn't do anything for the w3j- I had to return it to get the lapcool 2 which had greater fan speed and air movement and it had the usb hub. It works I suppose, but not how I thought it was going to. In getting a cooler I wanted it to keep a stable temperature when idling or doing light tasks. To keep it stable and at a low temp (around 53C- which doesnt seem to low, but it is for the w3j) I take out the battery to run off AC and I put the cooler on medium to high settings. I am doing this to limit the stress on the cpu and other components. I think it will also increase the life of the battery for when I actually need it because I have heard that heat can decrease batt life. I take out the battery because I think it gets heated up from the rest of the w3j and then holds onto the heat more than the rest of it giving a higher overall temp.

The lapcool 2 is light and pretty thin and it can be plugged into either usb or wall (need to plug into wall if you want the extra usb ports). Overall it works and it's pretty quiet I guess. But I've had my w3j now for about a month and I will probably just let it do its thing as I've gotten tired of obsessing about the temperature of the darn thing.

Oh yah I also bought kind of a hardcase sleeve for my w3j. I actually bought it at futureshop in halifax. Im sure they would have the same thing at any other futureshop or even bestbuy (they are the same as Im sure you know). It was called an init bag- sorry I don't know how to link properly yet -

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10068240&catid=

it's 45 CAD but I thought it was worth it because it will definitely save it from some bumps and scratches. I bet you could even drop it and it would be fine. The fit is not totally perfect(maybe 2-3cm space on each side) but I think that helps protect it and it doesnt slide around at all. I bought it to put into another messenger bag and I think this combo works perfectly. Worth a look for sure.

Honestly the w3j is a thing of beauty- it performs so well and looks so good. Don't worry about the heat too much- its supposed to run hot cuz of all the good stuff crammed into it.

 

yea im not obsessed about the temperatue.. i just have a habit of letting computers run all day long and was hoping i could reduce some stress on the notebook with a cooler

 

I have a lapcool2 and its got a usb hub. but you need to plug the ac adaptor to power the hub. the cooler really doesnt do much, its just a good little insurance to have. i mod a desktop fan and use it to blow at the hard drive from the side. this seems to work much better than having the cooler blow up or suck down air from the bottom of the notebook.

 

I don't think a lap cooler is necessary with the W3J.. I played Oblivion for a good 2 hours last night with the notebook on my lap and it wasn't hot at all. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a cooler also.

 

thanks, then I guess I shouldn't worry about the cooler.. how bout bags/sleeves?