Customer Reviews

Eforcity Notebook Cooling Fan with Card Reader + USB Hub

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

When doing intense operations, my MacBook Pro gets pretty hot. This is most evident when playing Oblivion, one of my favorite computer games, under Windows XP. Normally the computer's fans would be going at full force after about 7 minutes of playing, and the machine would still be so hot that I'd work up a sweat.

In my opinion, laptops shouldn't need cooling pads. Heating up to the point of discomfort is a design flaw that the manufacturer (be it Apple, Dell, Alienware, Toshiba or whoever) should have addressed. I think (hope) that in the future, these sorts of things won't be overlooked in favor of performance.

I was considering this cooling pad that houses 3 fans instead of 2, and yet another that was designed specifically for MacBooks and MacBook Pros. These were both made out of aluminum, which would have helped alleviate the heat. But since the Phoenix was the same price as the Eforcity but didn't include the card reader, and since the NotePal was even more expensive and didn't house a third fan OR a card reader, I chose the Eforcity Chill Pad.

The construction on the Chill Pad isn't bad. It's made out of plastic, but it's durable and lightweight. It's also thin, so it's something that can be packed up into a laptop bag and carried along. The fans are quiet, as reported by other reviewers. They're much quieter than my MacBook's fans at full speed. With the laptop on top of the pad, I can hardly hear them. The USB cord and AC adapter are both good quality; not cheap, thin cords that will easily break.

I do have two complaints with the physical design. First is that my MacBook Pro hangs over the pad by several inches. This is not something that will apply to everyone, and it doesn't affect the pad's ability to cool. But it was also one of the reasons I was eying the NotePal. The second problem is that there aren't any built-in grips to stop a laptop the size of mine from sliding around on top. If your laptop has rubber feet on the bottom and doesn't hang over the edge of the pad, you'll be fine. Me, I'll be remedying it by installing my own rubber feet onto the pad.

My initial test, of course, was opening up Oblivion and playing. I suppose that the absolute best results would have been for the laptop's fans to not come on at all, but I think it's unreasonable to expect that from two small fans. The internal laptop fans did come on while playing, but later than usual, and still not at full speed. Even after playing for about 15 minutes, the fans still weren't going at full force. When not doing anything intense on the laptop, the bottom actually gets cool to the touch. So the pad does cool about as well as I expected, if not slightly better.

Originally I wrote that the card reader on mine was a major disappointment. I have two different digital cameras; one that reads Smart Media and another that reads Compact Flash. I tried both of those cards with the MacBook booted into MacOS X, and they both sporadically disappeared and reappeared after being inserted into the card reader. I thought they might have just been not pushed in far enough, but they're in as far as they'll go. The hub worked like a charm though, so I was certain the card reader was faulty. However, after I booted into Windows, the card reader worked fine on both cards. This led me to believe that (unfortunately) the card reader was only faulty under MacOS X. This may have had something to do with me plugging the cord in after the OS had already booted, but that's no excuse. (Whoever's responsible... I'm not sure.)

The pad lost points for the Windows-only card reader, the laptop slippage, and the overlap. I also would have preferred an aluminum construction for the sake of heat dissipation. But the solid construction, USB hub and decent cooling makes me satisfied with my purchase.

If you don't need the extra USB ports or the card reader, I would probably recommend trying the aforementioned Phoenix cooling pad. The open sides, third fan and aluminum construction are bound to outperform this pad, and unless I got a lemon, you won't miss the card reader. I'm satisfied, but more discerning customers may not be.

Four stars. (Originally 3.5, but Amazon apparently won't let me change that.)

I am using the premier Alienware laptop for heavy gaming and it constantly overheats on me. Searching Amazon for a cooling fan I discovered this little beauty. Not only is it sturdy enough to hold the laptop, but the fans are almost noiseless. You only hear the soft whirring of fan blades as your laptop cools. An extra that I really enjoyed for this product was the USB hub. This allowed me extra USB ports for my accessories. THese USB ports take power directly from the A/C adapter, allowing my laptop to be free of the power draining USB devices that are usually attached to it. I reccommend this device to anyone with a laptop. For just $20 you get a device that will prevent any overheating or possible damage to your $$$ laptop.

I purchased this Chill Pad for my Dell XPS M1210 laptop. I run Power Point presentations for 8-10 hours per day and often have Windows Media Player videos running at the same time. The laptop was getting pretty warm sitting on the table.

I used the chill pad for my last presentation, and believe it or not the cooling fan on the laptop barely went on. The bottom of the laptop remained cool to the touch all day.

The fans on this chill pad are almost completely noiseless, and the fact that you get the choice of a USB cable or an AC cord is also nice. I would highly recommend this product.

This cooler does its job well, but has flaws. After doing many searches and hearing about USB wires breaking all over the place with other cooling pads, I went with this one. The USB cable is a separate piece, and it's switchable with the power cable, which is an awesome feature.

What I don't really like is how light and flimsy the chill pad feels. Perhaps it was designed that way, for ease of use, but I doubt it. Also, I have a 15.4" Compaq Presario, and this pad is too small for it. It DOES keep it cool very well, but my notebook slides around on top of it, because the chill pad itself has no rubber grips on the top to keep notebooks in place. I have to shift the chill pad all the way to the left to make sure at least one of my laptop's rubber feet catches the plastic, and even then, any movement on my part makes the laptop spin and tip off. Maybe for 12" or smaller notebooks, it would be better.

Overall, this cooling pad does its intended job. The option between power sources is a great feature and it's a nice bonus to have the card readers, but for the quality of the materials and the lack of grips or lip edges to secure laptops, it costs way too much. I can only give it three stars.

This product complements my Dell M1210 perfectly. The dimensions are perfect for any 12 inch laptops. I love the added features and the choice of using an external power cord or a USB connection to power the fans.

The fans spin very quietly and it kept my laptop in a very comfortable temperature. I don't know how well this will perform in the summer or how good it is when I'm plugging in lots of peripherals and intensive CPU/HD use.

It would be nice if they have this product in black color. But so far so good.

Waaay too small for my 15.4 Inspirion! Also seems cheaply made. I will be looking for a replacement ASAP. DaveC

The picture is misleading.This unit is one piece not two.This is a great unit.This is a card reader,usb hub and cooler.This is great if your laptop doesn't have a card reader.My new laptop didn't have a card reader so this was a plus.The 2 fans are very quit and does a good job of keeping my laptop cool. It has a 120v plug you can use to save on your laptop battery.WORKING OFF 120V OR YOUR USB ON YOUR LAPTOP IS A PLUS.I wish it had a may to attach to laptop other than sitting loose.Other than this minor enconvience it is great.

I purchased this 6 weeks ago with some hesitation due to the variable reviews for this genre of laptop cooling solutions.

Overall, while the solution is not perfect, it works.

Pluses:
1)I have a Dell laptop, 15.4 inch screen, and the machine unequivocally is "cooler" since I began using this device. It has gone from "hot" to a comfortable "warm" in the center of the laptop, and the edges of the laptop are actually cool. Without any "scientific" testing, this has got to be good for the laptop. Overall, it has exceeded my expections.
2) It has it's own power supply so I don't have to plug it into the laptop USB port (there are stories "out there" that this can cause problems).

Minuses:
1) Why couldn't they manufacturer make this a bit larger? As other reviewers have stated, it is a mild nuisance that one has to periodically re-center the laptop on this cooler, usually once every 3 to 4 hours.
2) Fans are, overall, relatively quiet, but they are not silent. Depending on how much background noise you have, you will notice them. If this were in a busy workplace, not noticable. In my home office, I easily hear them. But I've gotten used to them: every time I think of how nice it would be if they were silent, I simply touch the laptop and am reminded that the gentle whirring of the fans is a small price to pay for the lower temps of the laptop.
3) Have not tried the USB ports. Too many stories of these damaging the laptop, and USB hubs are pretty inexpensive. If I had to, however, the numerous card readers, could be very helpful.
4) I would find traveling with this a hassle as it has reasonable bulk.
5) Mine has been stationary since I purchased and began using it. If I had to use it on the road, I don't have high confidence that it would tolerate heavy use as it doest not seem incredibly tough/sturdy.
6) All my work is business, no games with heavy CPU use: so, I can't attest to it's use by heavy gamers out there.

Overall, I think if you're looking to cool your laptop off a bit, and don't mind a few "issues", this is a pretty reasonable solution. I'm getting another laptop in a few weeks and will be purchasing another one of these models to help keep that one cooler as well. The reason is clear. Laptops run too hot/warm, a solutions is needed, and other products out there generally seem less appealing.

I agree with Gaming Wizard. Eforcity sent this to me very quickly after I ordered it from Amazon. Great price and works very well and quietly. No issues and I am very happy that I passed on the unrated stuff being offered on eBay.

I'm running a HP Pavilion ZX5000 laptop w/ 3.2ghz P4 and it likes to run hot. This cools it down nice and sure is convenient having all the built in USB ports, etc. Not too expensive, glad I bought it.