Cool cooling of your laptop

Sunday, November 26. 2006

Cool cooling of your laptop

In a recent entry, Chemical coolness for your laptop, I reviewed the laptopCooler product. After the review, I got in touch with the manufacturers of the product with some suggestions and comments. It turns out that the laptopCooler product had been transferred to another company that is focused on cooling products as opposed to the actual PCM (Phase Changing Material).

So after a few e-mails back and forth, I was promised a sample of their new and revised laptopCooler when it was ready. The sample arrived this week, and I've now been able to spend some time testing it.

The new and improved version feels and looks a bit more modern than its predecessor. Cloth and straps have been replaced by a more high tech look and feel by using rubber with a "grip pattern". The basic design is the same, as is the concept. Basically, the laptopCooler works as a big heat sink or heat pipe. When the laptop gets hot, as most laptops do, the trick is to get rid of the heat as quickly as possible to avoid noisy fans kicking in. A much worse side effect, than noisy fans, of a hot laptop actually located in someone's lap is easy to imagine; specially if you're a guy.

I don't really have anything negative to say about the product in its new and improved version. This may sound boring and not very exciting, but hey, it works! The only remark I have is that while the bottom surface of the new pad has a much better grip against just about any surface, the old version of the laptopCooler had flexible straps on the top that I could use to more securely attach it to my laptop.

My original test was made with my Fujitsu Siemens E8110 Intel Core Duo laptop, clocking in at 1.8GHz; and the original laptopCooler did a great job keeping the heat at bay. My new test was made with a "hotter" (in all aspects) model of the E8110, sporting an Intel Core 2 Duo clocking in at 2.0GHz. The newer machine gets warmer, and without the laptopCooler, it's not something you really want to have in your lap.

The laptopCooler is not just a product for those that use their laptop placed in their lap; for office use, it's a very clever, non-intrusive, and simple way to keep the fans of the laptop at bay.

As a closing remark, I'd like to add that ComfortCooling AB, the company that makes the laptopCooler, also has other cool products using PCM; like a sun hat to wear on warm days to keep your head cool. Other products include vests and blankets with more neat ideas on their way.

The one word summary of their products, well obviously it's COOL!

The company's web site can be found here: www.comfortcooling.se. Click on the language of your choice.