Customer Reviews

Targus AWE01US Notebook ChillHub

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I got this for my husband who would put empty boxes or folded clothes under his laptop so he could work with it on his lap. It's been 3 weeks that he's been using the ChillHub, and still exclaims how wonderful and amazing it is every time he uses it - which is almost every day. He worked from home one day that he couldn't get to the office, and for 8 hours sat on the sofa with it on his lap. He couldn't get over the fact that he felt no heat from the computer after being on all day.
Doesn't use the AC adaptor it came with, has it plugged into his laptop, and has his laptop plugged in.

I have been using the Targus chillpad for about a year now and I must say that it works really well but unfortunatley I cannot vouch for its effectiveness in keeping my laptop cool. I use a program called Everest to monitor the temperature of my latop and there is really no difference between the temperature with the chillpad on or the chillpad off. The laptop is noticeably cooler to touch on the underside but the fans still kick on all the time and the temperature readings are still the same. I give this 4 stars because the product is well designed and works well but because there is no measurable difference in internal temperature I cannot give it 5 stars. It might work better for you if you constantly use your laptop on a bed or similar surface or if you actually use it on your lap.

*** Plus points of the chillpad include: ****

- very quiet fans that move out air to the back
- a handy on/off switch so you can turn it off without unplugging it from your USB
- very nicely located USB ports that can be powered with the included ac wall plug (useful for high power usb devices).


**** Negative points include: ***

- slightly small size that may not work effectively for larger laptops
- fans do not turn off with the laptop if you leave the ac adapter plugged in (although this won't be an issue for the non USB hub model)
- you have to be careful about positioning your laptop if you have fans underneath so that the chillpad's fans do not interfere with the laptop's fans
- the ac adapter seems a little on the cheap side

This product only worked for a few months. I thought it cooled the laptop very well so I purchased two more to replace it and they have all stopped working. The fans won't spin anymore.

I bought this item for myself. This was a life saver. I am in the military, stationed overseas, and it tends to get a little warm here at times, especially with no AC anywhere to be found! This item worked like a charm, keeps my laptop running great, and the fact that it is also a USB hub makes it worth every penny.

fans stop working after awhile. you have to cut the top part off of the grill to get them to work again. really not a good product but you can mod it if you take it apart. horrible product and not worth 20 bucks

As a powered hub this works well. I can't speak to its cooling power because I couldn't get my 17" laptop to sit on it and not move. There are only two rubber feet on the top surface, at the back, so a large laptop will not rest securely on it and will slide all over at the front. After trying another cooler that was too small for a large notebook, I bought this one specifically because it said it worked with 17" laptops. Not mine.

If you have a laptop that draws the air from the "bottom" you might try inverting this unit for synchronized fan action

I bought one of these to go with a 15" Dell Laptop. Worked well enough keeping the laptop cool. The dual fans and exhaust port seemed to do the job. The fact that thing got a little warm meant that it was in fact drawing heat away from the laptop. No issues with the fans and they're quiet enough.

On the lap it was comfortable enough. However, I hated how it raised the height when I used my laptop on a table. And since there is no angle option I had to scrounge up wristguard. No biggie, but something to be aware of.

I also use a laptop tray for when I'm in bed and the plastic cooler on the plastic tray top meant the thing would slip/slide all over the place with my laptop getting dumped. The rubber feat are barely held on by adhesive that heats up when the cooler heats up due to the laptop heat. End result is that they fall off.

I upgraded to a 17" laptop and the cooler was practically useless. The top of the cooler is plastic with no grip so my larger laptop would slide around all over the place. Then on top of the laptop tray? forget about it.

My fix was to use some grippy type tape I use on my hockey sticks on the top of the cooler. That solved the laptop slippage issue. I also put the grippy tape on the top of the laptop tray and that solved the slippage there for the most part.

Finally, I ended up just upgrading to a higher quality aluminum cooler that is big enough for my 17" laptop.

Overall, the Targus cooler is good for 15" and smaller laptops. But the lack of angle adjustment can make for an uncomfortable position. And the plastic surface makes it impossible to adjust the angle.

This product has been absolutely useless.. totally not happy with its performance. I give this product an F- for a grade

Somehow, I thought that a product made to work with a laptop would be fairly quiet, or at least offer variable speed so that most of the time it would whisper. I played with this for about 10 minutes and will now just put it on eBay... it makes a quiet MacBook Pro sound like an old PC while raising it to an uncomfortable height. Fellow Mac users, try this first: smcFanControl (Google it). It's an app that lets you set the minimum fan speed, and has dropped my average CPU temp by about 15 degrees. I found it after ordering the Chillhub.

Later note: Although loud, I have reached for this a couple of times when the laptop is working hard and heating up, and it DOES cool very dramatically. I just wish it had a speed control.