Customer Reviews

Xbox 360 Elite Cooling Station

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

 

 

First Impression: Very nice. Comes well packaged, and the design is very elegant. It seems very sturdy, and the light is beautiful. Great first impression.

Usage: Worked really really well for a while. I'm sort of a freak when it comes to machines, I actually put a temperature probe in the XBox and had it read temperatures over 3 hours of gameplay. Now I understand small changes could be random, but the result was fairly impressive. The average temperature of the machine dropped over 10 degrees when I used the fan-stand. Very impressive indeed. However, it is (believe it or not) even louder than the Xbox's own fans, but a little WD-40 careful application and some silicon lubricant spray a few days later will fix that.

Problem: Even with the lubrication, after some time, I noticed the noise level dropped. Sure enough, one of the fans had stopped working. Not a big deal, as you can easily replace the fan (it's a 6mm standard fan, the same type that goes in some computer cases). But still, that diminishes the quality of the product, because you shouldn't HAVE to replace the fans(until at least a couple of years later with heavy usage). You should also make sure you dust the fans every now and then. And NEVER put the stand on a carpet when it's on. It'll suck up dust from the carpet and blow it right into your precious console. It also messes up the fans.

Overall: It does the job, but just pay attention. It's far from perfect, but it sure beats another product (which I will not name) that attaches to your XBox and uses the XBox's power supply, and THEREFORE VOIDS THE WARRANTY (and it actually doesn't really work). You'll need to be diligent about cleaning the fans, but seeing as how you're even considering buying this to protect your console, that shouldn't be a problem. If you're unlucky like me, one, or maybe both of your fans will die within a couple of months. But the fans SHOULD, ideally, last a couple of years. The fact that it uses its own power supply is both a gift and a burden. It means you can preserve your precious warranty and not put extra strain on your XBox power supply and the XBox itself, but it also means an extra cable and adapter to carry around. However, getting over these hurdles, the stand's unique vertical design and fan positioning really work well, and do the job.

I bought this item after we had RRoD on 2 XBOXes in our household, blamed on lack of circulation. After looking around at the various coolers we decided the following:

USB POWERED COOLERS
We did not want one of those as it posted in other reviews and on other sites that the extra strain on the units scarce power is cause for overheating itself. Secondly, most of the USD units only have enough power 5V or so (limited by the USB port), for 1 fan. Thirdly: most USB units take but do not add USB ports to your XBOX. Especially the one on the back is aesthetically the most important and therefore you'd not want to give it up if you not get an additional port back on that cooler.

AC IN POWER PORT COOLERS
The are plugged into the adpater AC IN on the back of the XBOX. I stayed away from these since they, over time, leave discoloration on the AC IN space and MS has been known to reject servicing XBOXes with that discoloration stating that unauthorized use of the XBOX AC IN was the cause. This discussed elsewhere on the web and happened to a friend of our sons as well. The good thing about these coolers is that they hae unlimited power so the fans can be strong. They al;so allow for the XBOXes to be used in horizontal mode. Final note: these apparently also cuase strain on the XBOX's limited power (the XBOX is HUNGRY!!! hence the heat).

SEPARATELY POWERED COOLERS
This is the category that this item falls in: it comes with its own adapter and power button so you do not have to use it when the XBOX is barely on and you can leave it on after the XBOX has been powered off to further reduce the heat.
Downside to some is that that this item needs its own power outlet but that is worth it to us for the fact that it can drive 6 large computer fans without piutting strain on the XBOX power source and innards.
It also does not take away any scare ports nor will it leave discoloration. I.e. it is invisible to MS in case something ever happens.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Some 'scientists' on here calim that they used all kinds of thermometers and methods and claim these coolers (all types) do nothing for the heat. The fact is that you can feel the housing cool down once you switch these on after your XBOX has been on for a while. It is logicale as well. Cooler air is forced in from the bottom and pushed the warner air out through the sides and top. I recommend this item for the pure piece of mind that you have done the best you can for ventilation and that you have leiminated one more possible source of RRoD.
PS: this item will only allow vertical use of the XBOX 360. Make sure you have enough space. And also, this does not mean you can cram your XBOX in a closed off poorly ventilated cabinet as the heat will start recycling and feeding warmer air in. Ventilate your XBOX!

My husband uses this fan a lot for his gaming and watching movies and its holding up great these last few months. He is very happy with how much it keeps his XBox360 cooled off. It is a lil on the loud side at times when its a quiet part of a movie but not enough to annoy us. It was totally worth the money.

This device is helpful as long as it works. More often than not, small fan-based coolers that are this cheap are built with plastics and hardware that are not built to last for a long time. The fan will start to make noise, very irritating noise, after just a couple days.
HOWEVER, for those who know some things about electronics and wiring, you can take apart the fan and adjust the pressure on the bottom to reduce the noise.
I could have passed on this item however.

I recently bought an XBox 360 Elite (120GB HDD). This is my first time purchasing a console since the Nintendo GameCube came out. For the last several years, I've read about the heat problems all the newer consoles have had. So when I purchased my new 360, I made sure to buy a cooler to go with it.

I chose this cooler primarily because it had an external power source. I had read several opinions from other people about coolers they had purchased that piggy-backed the XBox's built-in power supply and how that was not a good idea. I understood the logic/science behind this, so I wanted one with its own power source.

So that is a good point about this cooler. It has its own power source. While I'm on the topic of pluses, I'll also point out that this cooler does move air in a way that suggests to me that it is cooling the XBox ... as opposed to just moving air around with no net effect. After having the 360 running for a short while, you can put your hand behind the system and feel the difference in airflow with the fan On vs. when you have it shut off. When it is turned on, there is definitely *more* hot air being blown out of the back. That is a good thing. Getting heat away from the inside of the box is the whole point. So this cooler gets another point for doing what it's supposed to do.

That's the end of the good news though. Due to the design of this cooler, it does not shut off automatically after the XBox is powered off. This can be really inconvenient if you are controlling your XBox from the wireless controller ... as I imagine most people do. Every time you turn the XBox on, you have to make a trip to your XBox to turn the fan on. Likewise, when you shut it off, you have to make a trip back to the XBox to shut it off. (Unless you want to leave it run 24/7 ... which isn't a good idea because it will suck in additional dust and dirt and reduce the effectiveness of the cooler.)

It is also worth pointing out that the on/off switch is inconveniently located in the back of the unit. If the fans turned on and off automatically when you powered the XBox on and off (respectively), then this would not be an issue. But since you have to manually turn the fans on and off, it would have been preferable to have a push button at the front instead of having to reach around to the back.

The next problem is that after having my cooler for all of about 2 weeks, I noticed that it was very loud when I turn it on. It quiets down after a minute or so, but it's absurdly loud in the mean time. It sounds like the fans are off balance and/or grinding due to too much friction. In either of those cases, that most assuredly means it is tearing itself up. You can't having moving parts that are out of balance or generating friction for very long before something breaks.

My final "complaint" about this product is that you can't shut off the glowing green lights. (Which serve absolutely no functional purpose.) When you power the unit on, the lights and fans come on. When you shut it off, the lights and fans go off. It would have been extremely simple to have an additional on/off switch for the lights.

Bottom line ... after having this cooler for about 3 weeks, I've decided that I'm sending mine back (while I still can) and purchase a different cooler. In case you're curious, the one I'm looking to buy next is the Xbox 360 Intercooler TS - black. This one seems to have its own power source as well ... and I've read that it powers on/off automatically. It also doesn't have any useless lights. Hopefully the fans are better quality on the Intercooler TS. If so, it will be a win-win all the way around.

I purchased this expecting to get a base, with cool lights, and fans, that blew air into the system (it is on the bottom, after all)...

I received the base, it does have cool lights, but the fans don't seem to push much air. It's not that loud, maybe I just have a defective unit, I'll have to double check that the fans are actually spinning.

The 360 sits in the stand nicely, I'll give it that, and the elevation of the bottom of the 360 off the table will help with airflow, but I don't know if this was worth purchasing when a nice little stand would have probably sufficed.

The lights aren't all that cool, especially when looking at them against the duller green light of the XBox power button, doesn't mesh in my opinion. And the "chrome" plastic front is tacky, makes the device just look cheap.

This is perfect to keep you Xbox 360 cool and it make lass more and loger game playing. It look great and fit easy on the 360 and easy to turn on.

I got this when I got my 360 in November because I had friends who had overheated their's and ruined them. It works great and the 360 stays much cooler than normal. It is a little loud, but not noticably louder than the 360, so I never even notice it except when I first turn it on. The downside is that you have to switch it on yourself. Not really a big deal, but if you're sitting across the room, and you already have your controller and the game you want is in, you don't want to walk all the way back across the room. All in all, I would highly recommend it. I actually have 2 fans, a NYKO Intercooler TS that I got about a month ago and this one. This one works a little better, but the TS works with a heat sensor, so it turns itself on and off. I generally use the TS when I'm only going to be playing for an hour or so(since it turns on automatically) and both when I'm playing for extended periods(this one pushes air in, while the Intercooler TS pulls air out). All in all, except for having to turn it on manually, it's absolutely perfect(and it looks really cool, too with the glowing lights and stuff).

lighting is cool but fans dont seem to push allot of air and are loud

Awesome and a must have to say the least. Especially if you spend more than two hours a day online on your 360. Not to menion the fact that it looks great with the green light and all.

The only thing i didn't like about this station was the fact that it's slippery and you get the feeling that the console will slip out of it at some point. They stand should be a little bit deeper to hug the console better :)