What to Look for When Choosing a Laptop Cooler
The trend towards laptop design has always leaned towards thinner rather than thicker, leaving less room for ventilation. This makes a fan’s nagging during intense work such as photo editing or gaming undesirable but common, especially when combined with the summer heat.
If you’re tired of dealing with an overheating laptop, consider purchasing a laptop cooling pad, an accessory that adds a little cooling capacity, and a port or two for your laptop.
Get one with a fan
Basically, laptop cooling pads are rectangles covered with metal mesh with built-in fans that blow cool air into your laptop. The increased airflow means your laptop stays cooler and doesn’t run its own internal fan the minute you go to work. Cooling trays vary in design; some have one large fan, while others have several smaller fans .
The amount of air expelled by a fan is measured in cubic feet per minute, with larger fans moving more air than smaller fans. The high CFM cooling pad is better equipped to keep your laptop cool, even when compared to cushions with multiple smaller fans with a lower CFM per fan.
Passive laptop cooling pads have no fans at all. They rely on sufficient space around your laptop to allow air to pass through, just like in a laptop stand. Passive cooling pads may have grooves or bumps that lift your laptop a few inches above the pillow or knees. In all fairness, a passive cooling pad is useless, and I would recommend that you find one with a fan before buying what is essentially a bumpy surface for your laptop.
Make sure it’s versatile
Get a cooling pad designed for your ideal environment. If you like to relax in bed and play, the vents on your laptop and cooling pad may be blocked by sheets or clothing, so look for a docking station with multiple vents or enough air clearance. Do you like working at the desk? Find a cooling pad with legs or an adjustable pad .
If you are traveling with your laptop, mobility is essential. Some cooling pads have built-in cable management or allow the laptop to be secured in place for easy portability.
Add more ports
Plugging in a USB powered laptop cooler means you’re supposedly losing the port to keep the laptop from overheating. Some have additional adapters for dedicated power, but I wouldn’t want to carry around another power supply for no reason.
Some cooling pads offer pass-through support, but that means you will have any USB device you plug into your laptop plugged into the cooling pad’s USB port, creating a very long protrusion out of your port. Find a cooling pad with an additional USB port, such as the ThermalTake MASSIVE cooling pad, so you don’t have to worry about a compromise. MASSIVE also has built-in temperature sensors to automatically turn on the fan.
You can always go high-end and find a cooling pad that doubles as a docking station. Some pads, like the FS-17 Cooler Master, have four USB ports, a micro USB port, and an adjustable fan speed dial. Some offer not only traditional USB-A ports, but multiple high-speed USB ports as well as USB 3.0 or micro USB ports. Either way, you’ll have enough ports to keep you happy and the laptop cool enough to use without problems.