Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler (Pearl)

by Antec

Product Details

Data Sheet [109kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000YB7RQ
• Item model number: NOTBKCOOLRPEARL
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,060 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 7, 2003

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Day and night, your trusty laptop does its best to keep you happy. Play a CD? No problem. Surf the Web? Can do. But in the process, your little helper works up quite a sweat. And all that heat can wear out even the most spirited laptop. So get Antec's notebook cooler. By quietly whisking heat away from delicate components, this revolutionary cooler helps your laptop run better and last longer. Refreshing, isn't it?

• Protect your valuable investment and reduce heat-related instability
• USB-powered cooler with pass-through connector included
• Draw power from any USB port without losing use of the USB port
• Works great with both Macs and PCs
• Low power consumption
• No batteries or power adapter needed
• 2 double ball-bearing fans for reliability
• AQ3 Antec quality 3-year warranty

What's in the Box
Notebook cooler, a USB cable, and a user's manual.

Product Description

Overheating laptops are a bigger problem than most people realize, as heat reduces system stability and harms the lifespan of your electronics. To combat this problem, you need the Antec Notebook Cooler! Increasing the cooling your laptop gets can help it last longer, and may reduce or even eliminate system crashes. Color - White (perfect for Powerbooks!)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent laptop cooler..., January 26, 2006

By 

J (Galesburg, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler (Pearl) (Personal Computers)

I recently purchased an "Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler" for my new laptop. I am very impressed at its cooling ability. Before while I was using my laptop, the bottom would get uncomfortably hot, especially when I was gaming or taxing the hard drive. Though my computer didn't shutdown due to heat failure, I was concerned about long term effects of repeated heatings.

For this notebook cooler, I'll review the features:
I. The fans are very good at cooling the bottom of your laptop. Before when I put large processsing demands on my laptop, it got very hot very quickly. With this cooler, it cools the bottom significantly. So much so, I can pick the laptop up after use and physically feel the difference.

II. The cooler frame is butterfly shaped, which has two advantages. First, its less surface area to trap warmed air. Other coolers are large and rectangular and they reach to the edges of the laptop. Second is than in my case (Dell Inspirion) the bottom fan is not blocked at all. There is enough empty space underneath so that my fans aren't trying to hard to get air, if anything, it creates a larger gap between the built-in fan and the worksurface.

III. The intake is on the top and vents exhaust to the side. The cooler does not blow cold air onto the bottom of your computer, rather it pulls in that air and vents it to the side.

IV. The USB cord that powers the device can be stored in a small compartment. I found that the compartment was small, and was a little difficult to replace the cord when not in use. This isn't a big issue, because I store the cord with my other USB accessories (mouse, memory stick)

V. The USB cord is rather short. I use a USB extension cord so that I have plenty of slack in the line. Not only is the cord short, but if feels rather fragile. I've read other reviews that state that users have accidently broken their power cords and needed a replacement.

VI. The USB cord has a "piggyback" port. This little addition is so that you don't have to sacrifice one port just to power your cooler. However, there are limitations on what kind of devices that you can attach to the piggyback. I've tested this with my USB mouse and seems to work fine.

In all, I'm very pleased with this cooler. Some features are great; it does a good job as a cooler with its two settings. Other features, Antec could have definately made the cord longer.

A big concern will be where your computer vents its air. With my Dell Inspirion, it wasn't a problem because of the overhang into empty space. With other users, your computers vents may be competing with the fan for air (Honestly, I don't know if this might be a potential cooling problem or not, I'm not a computer engineer). If you have a bottom intake vent like mine, your vents should be close to the rear edges. I'd recommend looking at your computer's dimensions and comparing them to the Antec's dimensions.

Other wise, I would recommend this product.
I give it a FOUR out of FIVE.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars works like a charm with my iBook, August 29, 2005

By 

Shelley Gammon "Geek" (Kaufman, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler (Pearl) (Personal Computers)

Since my iMac has been undergoing repairs, I've found myself using my iBook for extended periods of time at one sitting and this sucker gets hot! In the area left of the trackpad, it can get hot enough that it's simply uncomfortable to type and I worry that something's going to blow.

That's when I started looking for a solution and found this cooler on Amazon. It just arrived today and I've gotta say so far, I'm very pleased. I've had my iBook running for 8 hours with the cooler and while the computer is a little warm, it's not breaking my left arm into a sweat anymore.

There are two settings - low and high - low is inaudible, but I have mine on high and you can hear a little bit of a breezy sound in there. I wouldn't call it fan noise per se - I don't hear rattling or spinning, just air movement, but it is no way distracting.

There is a compartment underneath for storing the USB power cable during travel. When you plug this into the USB port on your laptop, you're not losing a port. It has a piggy-back female port so you can plug in a hub or another USB device right into the same slot.

I feel much safer about my iBook's innards now that I have this Antec cooler underneath, keeping it running smooth and warm instead of blazing hot.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It depends on the laptop and your definition of cooling, November 27, 2005

By 

RONAK SHAH (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler (Pearl) (Personal Computers)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

It depends on your laptop and definition of cooling, November 26, 2005
Reviewer: RONAK SHAH (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

i saw too many discrepancies in the reviews so i decided to write a review on it.

description of the cooler:

there is nothing new about this notebool cooler. in a glance its just a casing with 2 fans in it. however the device is actually more than that. the fans blow room temperature air into the base of the laptop. the hot air is then blown out from the same fans to the BACK side of the cooler and the right side in a way that it is blown straight. the notebook sits directly on the aluminum plate on top of the cooler which serves as a heatsink. the fan is not loud at all when on high and its is quieter on low mode. the fan is more audible if there is silence in the room. it has 4 feet on the back that help with air circulation. the fan cord is portable and is stored in a compartment on the bottom of the device. the fan is powered through the usb port. the cables plug serves as a little hub and replaces the used usb port for a new one. it also has a cool blue led on it. the design is sturdy and the quality is good.

compatibility with your notebook:

it very well depends on the notebooks design as well to get this device to perform well. you just cant blame the cooler. it will perform very well if your computer has a fan on the bottom of the laptop. that will increase the air circulation inside the notebook. it will still work well if your computer has only fans that blow out air from the sides. just dont expect it to bring down the temperature in 3 minutes. because the notebook cooler draws power through the usb port, the motherboard gets heated up. infact on one of my notebook, the notebook kept getting hotter thank normal due to the notebook cooler!


cooling performace:

the word 'cooling' in any cooling system doesnt really imply that it will chill your computer. computers performance starts declining as temperature goes upward than 35 c. with extended continous usage the temperature will go up. the cooler slows doen the process of heating and trys to keep the temperature as cool as possible with the fans and heatsink. dont expect your laptop temperature to go down to 10 c.


bottom line:

the notebook cooler does exactly what its supposed to do under ratiional expectations: keep your computer at normal temperature. also depends on your notebooks design. i would say it is worth to get it if you can get it for $20 or less.

pros:

-usb port replacement
-weight
-noise in noremal conditions is relatively low
-performance
-build quality and styling

cons:

-compatiblity with some notebook designs
-noise when there is silence in room could be annoying for others. doesnt bother me though.
-the low-high switch is inconveniently placed.