Customer Reviews

Targus AWE41US Chill Mat for Mac

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've been using the Targus Chill Mat for 48 hours. Let me tell you what I think of it.

The Targus Chill Mat [...]is a laptop base for a laptop computer. It is intended to support and cool a Mac laptop computer while that computer is sitting on your lap or on a desk. It has two USB-powered cooling fans built into it. Targus boasts that it was designed for Mac laptop computers, but it also would work with lesser Windows computers.

First, I'll mention the good things. IT REALLY COOLS THE LAPTOP. I have a MacBook Pro computer with a 17" screen. Before I used the Chill Mat, the area behind the F11 key literally would burn my finger. The area was too hot for me to keep my finger there. When I was using, say, 70% of my laptop's power, that area really got hot. (I have the power usage displayed on the Menu Bar, so I can tell when the laptop really is working.) I felt that this heat was helping my furnace heat my house. It also was cooking the inside of my laptop computer - which will shorten the life of this $3,000 computer.

Now that I'm using the Chill Mat, that area literally doesn't get hot. It gets marginally hotter than the rest of the computer - but only marginally hotter. The cooling fans REALLY WORK.

The fans are so silent that at first, I didn't think that they were on. It turned out that they weren't on. There's an "on" switch on the back of the Chill Mat, and I hadn't pressed it. But even with the fans on, you really can't hear them.

The fans plug into a USB port on your laptop computer. They do use power. If you are running the computer on its internal battery, the Chill Mat will cause that battery to run down slightly more quickly. That's not a problem to me because I usually work with the laptop charger plugged in. If it's a problem for you, just disconnect the fans or turn them off when running on battery power.

The Chill Mat also looks nice. It has a gray border, and the top is a white metal mesh. While it looks nice, remember that your laptop computer will cover almost 100% of the top. When a 17" MacBook Pro computer sits on top, you aren't going to see very much of the Chill Mat.

The Chill Mat also is the only fan-cooled laptop base I've found that is big enough for a 17" laptop computer. I went over to my Micro Center today. I selected all six examples of other laptop bases that had cooling fans. I placed each one under an Apple 17" laptop computer they were selling in the store. All of them seemed to be designed for 13" or 15" laptop computers. When placed under an Apple 17" MacBook Pro laptop computer, a large amount of computer hung over both sides. They might have cooled the computer well, but they certainly weren't made for a computer that large.

In contrast, the Chill Mat is EXACTLY the size of the 17" MacBook Pro computer. (OK, I lied, it's almost two inches deeper. It sticks out a little in the back. I can live with that.)

The only problem I found with the Chill Mat is that the metal grill on the top is tilted. It tilts the base of your entire computer. In theory, this make it slightly easier for you to type. However, your computer really isn't connected to the Chill Mat. It just sits on top of this metal grill. Each time I took the Chill Mat/laptop computer off my lap, and put it on a nearby table, my computer started to slide off the tilted Chill Mat, off the table - and started to slide onto the floor.

Since this is a $3,000 computer, I really don't want it to crash onto the floor. If I took an extra few seconds each time, I could make sure the laptop computer was stable, and wasn't going to slide down. That worked for a one-time move. The problem is that I move the laptop off my lap and onto a table perhaps ten times a day - every day. If I failed to stabilize the computer once, it would crash onto the floor - and break. Sooner or later, I knew I would be in a hurry, and would forget to stabilize the computer. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

I solved this problem by using some Velcro Sticky Back fasteners. These are small squares of Velcro - and Velcro fasteners that have adhesive backs. They are the size of a postage stamp. I had purchased them some months ago from Home Depot for perhaps $3.

I peeled the backing off of four of the fasteners, and stuck them onto the front of the Chill Mat. I then peeled the backing off of four of the Velcro pieces and placed them onto the four fasteners. Very carefully, I positioned the laptop computer onto the Chill Mat. Then I pressed down. When I was done, the front of the laptop computer was fastened to Chill Mat.

With the front fastened together, I repeated what I had done at the back of the Chill Mat.

When I was done, I had eight Velcro fasteners holding the front and back of my laptop computer to the front and back of the Chill Mat. My laptop computer doesn't move - but can be separated from the Chill Mat just by pulling upwards.

I've only had the fasteners on for a few hours. They certainly seem to fasten everything together very snugly. If this level of protection isn't sufficient, I can just add more of these squares of Velcro fasteners. If eight squares of Velcro fasteners aren't sufficient, then I'll add two or four more.

Since the laptop computer is firmly fastened to the Chill Mat. I no longer have to worry about my $3,000 laptop computer sliding onto the floor.

I don't have the slightest idea why Targus didn't include some of these Velco fastener squares in the Chill Mat box. Perhaps none of their employees shop at Home Depot.

In conclusion, I would recommend the Chill Mat - as long as you install eight of these Velcro fasteners to hold the Chill Mat and the laptop computer together.

If you have a 17" MacBook Pro laptop computer, the Chill Mat certainly is better than any other fan-powered laptop base that I have seen.

Bob Leahy
Moi@BobLeahy.com

Trudging through the vast desert of laptop cooling platforms I stumbled upon a cool Targus Chill Mat oasis whispering to me with its quiet fans. Engineered specifically for the Macbook it diverts hot air away from the molten core that is the Intel processor, easing the torment it causes its neighboring components and your lap.

Skepticism spawned from negative reviews and a lack of performance specifications made this a hesitant purchase. Some have noted that their Macbooks slide from the Chill Mat without warning as though it were coated with teflon and butter. For the better part of three months our Macbook has remained on the Chill Mat and it has not decided to go skiing off the mat to the floor. Even trying to push on the laptop it does not slide from the mat without a great application of force. No glue, velcro, nails, or other fasteners are needed. Small rubbery pegs elevate the laptop a few millimeters from the surface of the matt which hold the laptop in place and allows greater air circulation.

Now on to the performance specifications I so desperately wanted, but could not procure. Here they are for the tech nerd in all of us:

Macbook Pro 15" 2.2 ghz
Temperatures are listed in Fahrenheit and no other software was running.

With Chill Mat.......................... Without Chill mat
97...................HD....................97
122..................CPU A..............130
137.................. GPU Diode.......148
119.................. GPU Heatsink....126
115..................Heatsink A.........124
95....................Heatsink B..........104
94....................Enclosure Bottom....95

These differences may not seem spectacular, but the cumulative effects of thermal wear on the components of your laptop (and more importantly your lap) will be reduced.

One last note and offer of assistance. We purchased a USB extension cable to plug the Chill Mat into our USB hub rather than plugging it into the laptop. This frees up a USB port on your laptop and reduces the demands on your laptop's power supply.

I own a 2.4ghz MacBook Pro. If anyone else owns this laptop, you know it can get very hot. It's not much of a laptop because it gets so hot you can't keep it on your lap. I read about the Chill Mat and thought it was a great idea and immediately ordered one from Amazon.

The device connects to the laptop via USB cable from the back. The bottom is a mesh-like material which covers the two fans, enclosed in a plastic casing. Where the Chill Mat fails -- and fails miserably -- is on the top. The top is a slanted, hard plastic material which immediately upon placing the laptop on top of it, causes the laptop to slide off! There are four sets of three plastic "feet" on the top, but they don't prevent the sliding.

My MBPro sits fairly stable when perched on a table, but that is hardly the point. The Chill Mat is supposed to keep the laptop cool when it sits on your lap, but there seems to be no way you can keep you computer on the Chill Mat long enough to find out if it works.

A great idea, but a poor design. If the top were made of a softer material which prevented the laptop sliding forward, it would be fantastic. As it is, I would advise you to avoid the Chill Mat.

I bought this to lower the temp on my 17" MacBook Pro, Santa Rosa.

I had exactly the issue described where my MacBook Pro slipped off.

What I did? I turned it over.

The feet on the bottom are just the right kind of rubber. The stuff on the top is basically worthless. But flipping it over, it works great! No sliding, and the fans are blowing on the bottom case instead of drawing down. Whether that's better or worse, I do not know, but the case is noticeably cooler and the MacBook Pro is not sliding into my lap.

Note that I am using an Airdesk (google it, nice!) so that might affect my review.

But the short version is, I turned it over to make it work and it does.

So as others may have said the fans are as quiet as can be. There is a mesh/netting on the bottom of the pad which makes it nice to put on your lap. The only thing I can complain about is that you will need to find a way to keep your laptop on the pad. The little nubs that are supposed to hold the laptop in place do nothing toward their purpose. I bought one of the $5 mats that you put your cell phone on, on the dashboard of your car and haven't looked back. Oh I cut it in half as to not block the holes from their intended job of cooling the laptop.

Overall I love this "Chill Mat"! I got a decent price but it seems a little bogus that for the asking price you have to purchase more things to keep your computer from ending up on the floor. I don't know about you but my $1500 investment may not survive that test, and I wouldn't be too psyched...

Works just as described with VERY little fan noise. Just the thing to keep my MacBook cool.

I received this Chillmat as a gift for Christmas last year, and have been using it for just over a month. I was really happy with it, it's light, looks nice, and best of all kept my laptop nice and cool... However. After the first month of initial use the USB power cable started to behave a little strangely... If i would touch it the fans would turn off and another small bump would get them started again... so it happens right loose wire or whatever. I lived with it for a week until the cable stopped working all together. So naturally I contacted Targus Support with my issue. They requested a proof of purchase which unfortunately I didn't have as the person I received the gift from had thrown it out... I did however track down all the info from Amazon including purchase dates and online receipt numbers. Not good enough for Targus though it seems... I was told there was nothing they could do and that they could also not offer me a replacement part even though I was willing to pay for it... So stuck with an expensive mat that does nothing now...

THANKS TARGUS!!

macbook pro before and after results:
hd 38 -> 38 degree
cpu 52 -> 49 degree
gpu diode 59 -> 58 degree
gpu heatsink 51 -> 48 degree
heatsink A 52 -> 49 degree
heatsink B 38 -> 36 degree

Size is good enough to fit 17 inch laptop, however it needs to re position the fan to the middle so that it can actually cool down the RAM, HDD and other impt components. As it is in the current model, Fan is in the back, which is positioned right under the battery..it does cool down a battery a little, but the real need to cool down of my other components is not accomplished. Please do not buy this product, if you are trying to cool down the components mentioned above.

Just to clarify,
Do not react to the comments that others have put about the laptop sliding down if you are using Windows based PCs. PCs always have little rubber dutts in the bottom which keeps it very stable on the cooling mat. Obviously Mac books do not have those rubber dutts, which leads them to slide over the mat!!! (cooling mat by it self has some rubber dutts on it, but by them selves are not good to hold the MAC book on it)

I bought this cooling pad over a year ago and wasn't pleased from the very beginning. I would say it maybe cooled my macbook pro by about 25% at the very most. The fans seem awfully weak and don't really do the job. My laptop would still get super hot and my battery ended up "melting" out of my computer. It swelled up to about 2 times it's size because of the heat (Apple definitely needs to look at this issue!) I still continued to use this fan, but it stopped working after 12 months of use.Definitely not worth the $18+ it's selling for on here.