Customer Reviews

Cooler Master NotePal Widescreen Notebook Cooler ( R9-NBC-AWAK )

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Length:: 0:23 Mins

With an HP Pavilion ZD8000 17" laptop, this cooler is not stable, see video. The design seems strong and sturdy, and the fans good, but the platform is too short for a 17" laptop, the back end of laptop hangs over the back edge of cooler too far and is unstable.

JULY 7th, 2006: After upgrading to a 15" MacBook Pro, I was looking for a replacement for the cooling pad I had for the old 12" PowerBook. After finding out that the company that made the plexiglass pad I had was apparently out of business, I researched the various options and decided on the CoolerMaster Widescreen Cooler as it was the only one that seems to be made for a widescreen laptop and the design was the closest to the old cooler I had. Plus it had good reviews and a nice design.

First of all, the only CoolerMaster cooler available at this time is a two fan, black metal design. The box and the web site show an aluminum version with three fans but that is not sold in the U.S. The cooler is a one size fits both the 15" & 17" MacBook Pro with the cooler the right size for the 17". It's not terrible but I would rather not see the black edges around my 15" laptop. Second and a more serious problem is the metal wrist support (which is helpful and well constructed) covers the latch and the DVD drive slot! This means that everytime you need to access the DVD drive you have to raise the laptop up and pull it forward to lean it on the wrist support. Don't make the mistake of ejecting a disc until you lift the laptop up. The latch you just need to tilt the laptop up and set down again. Given the design of the 15" MacBook Pro, I'm not sure how CoolerMaster could redesign the cooler without changing it considerably.

How does it work? The laptop is much cooler then if you use a non-fan cooler. I tested this out. The fans are much quieter then on the previous fan cooler I had. A pleasant air sound. If, like me, you are not using the optical drive much then I can recommend this highly.
Aesthetically, if a little brushed metallic black with your brushed aluminum MacBook Pro doesn't offend your eye, it's fine. I still am not sure if I like the look or not but I am keeping the cooler since it's doing the job quite well.

UPDATE SEPT 2006: The cooler is still working fine but after a recent session of CPU straining work I noticed the laptop was getting warmer than I've noticed before. The fans were working but the air just wasn't getting around the underside of the laptop enough. I happen to have some 1/4 inch high self-adhesive rubber feet used for the bottom of items you don't want to slide around on slippery surfaces. I took eight of them and stuck them to the cooler; six on the tray surface and two on the vertical part of the wrist support that the laptop tilts against. Raised up, the laptop cooled off immediately and a repeat session of CPU straining tasks has not created the same heat build up as before. And the laptop is actually at a better level on the cooler now.

Also, I still don't really like the black metal around but it has one benefit for the 15" laptop: the cables are less likely to accidentlay get knocked around.

I still recommend the cooler.

1. It is sturdy, so you don't have to worry about the weight of your laptop that might press the cooler too hard to let the fans work in a normal way.

2. It is much better than the ones without fans. Laptops get warm, even hot very fast. Leaving some little space between a desk (or your legs) and a laptop is not enough to pull away the heat generated by the machine, so the laptop will still get too warm when you let it turn on for long time.

3. It is quiet, will never annoy you.

4. The material is aluminum, which is a cool material.

5. It has an extra USB port.

6. The front twist part makes your wrists feel better when you do some typing job. But, I prefer to put the front of my Dell Inspiron E1505 on the higher part: the twist part(I have another keyboard.) That way, it leaves more space between the cooler and the laptop. Plus, the fans run quietly once the laptop turned on. If you put your laptop as I did, you will notice that the inside fans of the laptop will never turned on since it won't get hot for very long time.

7. It is black, not quite fit for my Dell E1505, but I don't care about the color.

8. It is a little larger for my 15", but I don't care about it either.


This product is highly recommended for all laptop users.

The Coolermaster seems to be a good laptop cooler. It does appear to keep my wife's laptop cooler than before as the fan does not run on high for as long.

The one thing I don't like about the Coolermaster is it's size. It's plenty wide enough, in fact just right. From front to back though it's not big enough. My wife has a Dell Inspiron and it extends passed the edge of the coolermaster about an inch. I don't believe that her computer is any bigger than normal. As the coolermaster is a bit short from front to back, the laptop can not sit on it's back legs, but must sit on the body of the laptop, but only in the back.

If they would have made it an inch longer from front to back, it would be perfect.

It does sit the laptop at a nice angle for typing.

This cooler not only keeps my 17" beast really cool, it provides a sloped typing surface. Other coolers just raise the entire notebook half an inch or more off the desk and hurt your wrists, but this slopes to create better typing ergonomics, plus it's aluminum, so it won't bust like my old Targus Chillmat did.

Well Built, Looks Great, Won't Fit Some 17" Laptops.. Wont fit Hp Dv 9000 Series computers... Base is not deep enough..

I bought this product to use with my 17" wide screen Inspiron 9300, which became blazing hot with heavy graphics card load. Now, my laptop barely gets warm.

The only problem is with the size. The width fits perfectly, but the front to back length is about 3 inches short. This short length has the benefit of allowing the notebooks built in fans access to good air flow, but it also means that the notebook's back feet have no support. Also, the extra weight on the back of the notebook, due to the monitor, can cause the computer to tip back when using this on your lap.

I have a 17" inspiron 9400 that fits very well width-wise with about a quarter inch to spare on each side of the cooler. The notepal's slanted design is well thought-out and makes for a much more ergonomically friendly typing angle, it also works well for gaming. Before I got the notepal I could not use the computer on my lap for more than 10 minutes without my legs burning up. With the cooler I feel no heat from the machine whatsoever, and it rests fairly comfortably when I get settled in the right position. The aluminun design is rock-solid and the fans make no noise at all.

The only negative I can find with this device is that my laptop overhangs the backside by about two inches making it somewhat unstable. I never had my computer fall backwards with the screen open as my hands hold it down in front, but the whole computer teeters backwards if I push the screen back without holding down the front. A minor inconvenience that does not detract from the overall value of the unit.

This product is everything it proclaims to be, works well, does excellent job of keeping laptop cool and is completely silent Its construction of extremely
durable aluminum should make it last a lot longer than the laptop, "BUT" it is to darn narrow in the depth and the notebook tips off the back at the slightest movement. I am going to have to design a bracket or something to brace the laptop to prevent this.
Sorry I couldn't give this well built item a 5, but the design needs to be improved.Cooler Master NotePal Widescreen Notebook Cooler ( R9-NBC-AWAK )

Bottom line: this product cools your laptop. You can't help but notice the huge difference. After several hours of use I was astonished that the bottom didn't even feel lukewarm, whereas before this laptop was the next best thing to a roaring fireplace. Not only do the double fans help the cooling process but the aluminum construction itself is a great conductor of heat. The company advertises that this product accommodates a 17" notebook. That's true. The problem is that if you have a huge notebook (like the one I have--A Dell Inspiron 9300--the depth of the cooler shelf (about nine inches)is a couple of inches short of the Dell's depth. As a result, if you push back the notebook's screen you have to hold down the front edge so the computer won't tip over backward.