Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad: Semi review

I would just like to state from the get go that I originally planned on taking these temperature readings just for my own personal purpose, in the environment that is the norm for my laptop, so i could compare cooling pad to cooling pad and see which ones worked the best for my machine. But then i decided that it wouldnt hurt to place the data in a thread where anyone considering this cooling pad could see. And please note this is my first notebook, first cooler and first time taking temperature readings. It was a learn as you go process...aka I had no idea what I was doing.

I know there are tons of reviews for this cooler out there, but this all was done on a Gateway M-152XL, so similar results can probably be expected on notebooks with the same chassis and build, like the P-6850 FX, and much of the new M series.

Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=355998

Gateway M-152XL


http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529598026.php

First Impressions
When i first opened it, the first thing i thought "where is the USB power cord". Then when i found it hidden in the neat compartment at the bottom of the cooler, the second thought that went thru my head is "this seems small".

Build
Plastic, feels cheap. Ignore the fact that it was pretty cheap, $19.99 from bestbuy.

Fan
When I first turned this thing on, I wasnt sure if it was working because I swear to god the air flow seemed so...weak. This cooler would be better if Belkin had put another fan in it imo. But it is LOUD.

Fit
My laptop fit pretty well onto the thing. At the back of the laptop the cooler fit right between the back two pegs. In the front the cooler rested on the middle peg, but was too small to reach the two outside ones. This is my only problem with the size; they should have made it bigger imo. Since the front two pegs weren't situated on the cooler, you could, noticeably, push on either front side of the laptop and see it "bend down" so to speak. Nothing major, but man is it annoying. Remember my notebook is a widescreen 15.4.

Results
Before you read the results, I want to let you guys know...i wish this program gave average temperatures(but thx johnksss for the program, very handy)!!! Moving on...

For all of these readings the notebook was on "High Performance"

Notebook Idle


For comparison, look at "Max" column. As you can see...no difference at all when the notebook is idle. (Ceiling fan was off because i was out of the room =O)

For anyone wondering how the cooler performed as just a "stand"


Notebook under "stress" (playing a dota game on Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne)


I took the readings in both situations at the same relatives times, i.e. right before starting WC3 and right after closing it. For comparison, please look at the "Max" column. As you can see, only a 3 C drop for both the GPU and CPU. Not worth it IMHO.

But one thing I would like to point out, besides the actual temperature readings, the left palm rest, which can get annoyingly hot at times, was noticeably colder when the cooler was running.

Verdict
This is going back to bestbuy tomorrow. It does not do anything while notebook is idle (which honestly I dont expect much, if any coolers to do but I can still use it as a con XD), only cools ~3 C when under "stress", does not have a perfect fit with the notebook, and does not enhance the looks of the notebook in any way. If I am going to spend 20 bucks on a cooler that only lowers 3 C while playing a game...it had better be a good fit with my notebook and make my laptop look cool...no pun intended.

UPDATE: After intensive review of the cooling abilities of the Zalman NC2000(supposedly one of the best coolers out there) I change my verdict. I recommend this belkin laptop cooler - its the best bang for the buck

 

Thats 20 bucks vs 40 bucks for ya

 

*ahem* That would be 32.99 good sir. Bestbuy gave it to me for 19.99 cause circuit city had it on sale for that price LOL! But ya, it sucks. I get the point, Zalman is king.

 

So basically, all these coolers are a bunch of BS.
The only thing "cool" about them, is the revenue stream they create for these gadget vendors.


T

 

Unfortunetly for our chassis, more or less. As i said, the Zalman NC2000 has done the best cooling so far, but not enough to justify the price tag.

If I can get my hands on a Cryo LX for a decent price im gunna give it a try

 

I've tried them on my wife's Compaq C712US, nothing, and on Dell Latitude D600, D610, D620, and even a D630, and there really has been no noticable effect.


T

 

Bottlecap or any other object that props up your laptop > notebook cooler.

 

Have you tried it on a notebook with our chassis? If not, plz, keep your opinions to yourself.

I have tried proping up the notebook, and the belkin/zalman both cool a lot better.

And to explain why just "proping up the notebook" is not as effective for the M series, just look at this screen shot of the bottom my M-152XL:
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/33886.jpg
there is no "big fan" that is used to pull in air, such as one you might see in a dv9700t, meaning that extra air flow will have not that big of an effect as it would on other notebooks.

 

^ Haha, what a poorly vented laptop. XD

 

Is it really? Thats not a sarcastic question; this is my first laptop so I really wouldnt know. But I do know that my M-152XL runs cooler then a similarly speced M1530

 

If I were a computer manufacturer, I'd do three things:

1) Ship a small plastic steeringwheel with all of my laptops, because I'm sick of hearing people say "$3000?!?!? wheres the steeringwheel?!" no dude, your jokes old

2) Build a notebook cooler MADE of bottlecaps. whether or not it cools is not the point

3) Forward all customer calls to CompUSA or TigerDirect, because when I grow up I wanna be just like gateway

 

uhhhhh....okay?

 

yes.. very okay, thank you for asking lakjin

 

the temps on your cores seems very very good (ok exceptional for a notebook)
why are you in the market for a cooler anyway ?

 

I will not argue how much value there is in the temp drops for the Belkin but I play with the laptop in my lap and I find it much more comfortable to play as my lap stays much cooler and as I play some marathon gaming sessions at times the lap was pretty toasty without the pad. I still think the $33 bucks is kind of high for what you get but I will hold on to mine simply for this reason.

 

The temps on the cores are not just very very good - they are impossible
Actually I get inaccurate readings on my core temps(I idle at ~15C when my room temp is 26C)...its something with the notebook.

I want a cooler because...i want to be cool

 

You paid 33 for this?

The first time when I got this, i.e. when I wrote this review, I paid $20. I just purchased it again to give it another try, in light of the poor benchmark set by the Zalman NC2000, and I still only paid $20.

 

Well, it's one of the most poorly vented notebooks I have seen yet... My current HP laptop has vents on both next to the battery and a small vent on the back. It gets really hot sometimes but propping it up is fine.