Customer Reviews

Cables Unlimted FANNBCOOL3 MiniFit Slate Grey Metal Netbook Cooler with Fan

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased the Cables Unlimited FANNBCOOL3 for my Dell Mini 9. The Mini 9 is fanless and it can get warm, depending on what it is doing. I had tried a couple of different "coolers" including one with a heat-absorbing material, but none of them worked particularly well. (The absorbing mat, in particular, worked great for about 10 minutes until it could no longer absorb more heat.)

The FANNBCOOL3 consists of the gray-painted aluminum stand with rubberized pads, a separate USB-powered fan, and a pack of two small stick-on rubber pads, whose purpose is left to the imagination. The paperboard wrap around the stand has no instructions. The fan's plastic housing has four pegs that fit into the stand's holes from the underside - you can position the fan where it makes the most sense for your netbook, assuming your netbook has vents on the bottom. I found the spacing of the pegs just slightly off so that I could not fully insert two of the four pegs. However, it held on well with just two. The fan's power connector has a pass-through for USB so you don't lose a port. There is also a speed control on the fan cable. The cable isn't very long, which is good in that it won't tangle in things. It is long enough to reach a USB port on most any netbook.

The Mini 9 fit perfectly and reasonably securely on the stand. The angle of the stand is such, though, that the display lid of the Mini 9 ends up nearly vertical, since it has a restricted rake. It wasn't as bad as some stands I had seen. A larger netbook might or might not fit well, depending on where its feet were. Note that the manufacturer says it is specifically designed for 8.9" netbooks (which the Mini 9 is.)

In use, the stand on its own noticeably lowered the CPU temperature of the Mini 9 - at least 10C, I'd say. The fan made very little difference no matter where I placed it so I just leave it off. Your situation may vary. In use, the fan was quiet except on its fastest setting where it made an audible, but not annoying whir.

The product description for the FANNBCOOL3 says that it "clamps on" to the netbook for carrying. Well, maybe some it does, but not the Mini 9. The opening is too small for the back edge and too big for the front edge. It does fit around the front edge, though, so you can carry it that way without adding much bulk. Of course, if you're going to use this feature, you must remove the fan first!

I have uploaded three photos showing the FANNBCOOL in use with the Mini 9.

I think the FANNBCOOL3 works well just on its own and is just the right size for me.

My Asus netbook is no George Foreman grill but does get fairly warm, which could shorten the life of components inside. So, a cooling base seemed like a wise investment. The Cables Unlimited Fannbcool3 Minifit looked like a good, simple design. I liked that it's made of metal, both for drawing off heat and for durability. Note, though, that this cooling base is designed for smaller netbooks. Mine has an 8.9-inch screen and fits perfectly on the Minifit.

Setting it up, you must press plastic pegs on the tiny fan assembly into perforations in the base. This allows you to locate the fan wherever you think it will do the most good. Getting the pegs to fit requires filing one of them down just a little, because they're spaced a bit wide for lining up with the perforations. This only takes a few seocnds, and then the fan presses into place nicely.

In use, the unit raises and holds the netbook at a convenient height and angle. That provides a fair amount of cooling, even without the fan. The fan is powered out of a USB port. It generates a slight, steady breeze -- just enough to take the edge off of heat buildup. It's also blessedly quiet.

I've been using the Minifit for about a month and am very satisfied. It does the job and represents a good value for the price.

I have ordered a 2nd one for my son and it works great, it is compact and travels well, if you need a fan to help cool you net book or laptop this is a good one to get.

I bought this for my mini net-book. I love the metal construction of the base. The fan is removable & you are able to move it any where on the base. I am pleased that the fan uses a USB port of the computer using the computer's battery/power so you don't have an extra power cord to deal with or batteries for the fan. I also like that the fan has an adjustable speed controller.

I decided on this laptop cooler for a few reasons: it's metal with holes, so I thought it would help keep the laptop cool with or without having the fan turned on. It has a simple, sturdy design. You can place the fan yourself, so you can set it next to where the laptop gets the hottest. It's made specifically for smaller computers, so my Acer Aspire One netbook fits perfectly. And, of course, it's cheap.

I've only had it a day, but so far I think it will meet my needs. The fan isn't terribly strong, but I believe it will be strong enough to cool the little heat my netbook puts off. The fan is very quiet; I had to put my hand beside it to make sure it was on because I couldn't really hear it over the TV in the other room. It was easy to put the fan into it's place... Other reviewers mentioned having to shave the plastic pegs a bit to get them to fit, but I didn't have that problem.

Because the top of the cooler is a little smooth, one of the corners of my laptop would slip slightly when I shifted the cooler around on the table. I just cut a couple squares of kitchen drawer lining and used double-stick tape to keep it on (just in case I wanted to remove it), and that keeps the laptop from sliding. I believe that the only reason my laptop slipped at all is because it is missing one of the little gripping feet, so most people probably wouldn't have to add anything extra to keep their computer in place.

I love the angle it puts the keyboard at; it's only slightly inclined but it feels like it will be better on my wrists. I also like the angle because I can set up a small fan behind the computer to blow more air underneath the laptop if I'm in a warmer-than-average room. Because of the design, however, I think it may be uncomfortable to use in your lap without a lap desk.

The USB cord is pretty short. While it has more than enough slack to comfortably plug directly into the laptop, you'll probably have to get an extender to plug it into a wall adapter. I chose to use a wall adapter (I personally chose to use Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger) so the fan wouldn't eat away at the battery life/put extra strain on the computer, regardless of how gentle it may be.

Overall, I think this is an excellent laptop cooler for the price. With the cooler itself and the wall adapter I paid just under twenty-five dollars, which is a good five to ten dollars cheaper than some of the other coolers I was considering buying.

UPDATE:

It has been five months since I received this laptop cooler. I have used it quite a bit, and the fan is significantly louder than it was the first few weeks I used it. I have noticed that sometimes the fan stays on even when I turn it off, which may be contributing to its wear (sometimes I don't notice that it is still on and will hear it on a few hours later). Sometimes I have to completely unplug it for several seconds to make sure the fan won't just turn back on when I plug it back in again. Even so, it is still cooling my netbook, and as I hoped it isn't necessary to keep the fan on at all times due to the metal frame with holes.

This stand is pretty self-explanatory... The metal grid and pads keep netbooks elevated, and with the cool air flowing underneath (with or without the somewhat loud fan), they can stay cooler for much longer, even when watching videos or running something CPU-intensive like grooveshark. I pair my stand with an ASUS 1000HE.

Pros:
- Small
- Pads keep the stand + netbook secure and don't scratch surfaces easily
- Fits around the netbook or inside a netbook case
- Well-constructed
- Extra airflow provided by the stand keeps netbooks cool
- Fan USB plug includes a USB-passthrough plug so you don't lose a USB port

Cons:
- Metal holes are not rounded off and can scratch the netbook case if you are rough with it
- Takes some adjusting to get used to how the stand actually holds the netbook
- Fan is nice but not worth the extra noise.

In general, it does what it is supposed to, and the drawbacks have not kept me from carrying it around with me and using it constantly.

I like my netbook cooler. It is very comfortable in use and keeps my netbook in good condition.

This was a bit too small for my netbook and the fan was really small. My netbook gets rather warm and will need a cooler with more cooling.

Strong build quality. Tiny fan. Fan is adjustable, but doesn't push much air on anything but the highest setting. This fits my Asus Eeepc 2g surf 7 inch netbook perfectly without sticking out on the sides. That tells you how small this cooler is. I bought this cooler when i decided to turn my netbook into a Boinc machine to run science research(anyone can participate in this, just do an internet search). But leaving my netbook running Boinc all the time made this cooler a necessity and i believe i made the right choice with this cooler.

There are much more expensive and complicated cooling stands but if you're looking for a bargain this one does the job. A simple metal stand with peg holes for a fan that can be popped in wherever needed. The fan is powered by connecting it to one of the USB ports on the netbook. Maximum functionality for minimum fuss. The stand is sized for netbook size so don't buy this if you are looking for a notebook stand.