As more and more people choose to embrace the mobile lifestyle, the more they’ll realize that it’s perfectly suitable to rely on a notebook for all of their computing needs. Even hardcore gamers, coders, graphic artists, and the like have been able to enjoy the mobile lifestyle with some very powerful portable system. With power though comes heat and heat is a very real enemy to portable electronics, especially laptops, even netbooks.
I have come to rely on my laptop as my primary PC and this makes my machine very important to me. I still connect it to an external monitor, wireless keyboard, and wireless mouse while working from home, treating it like a desktop. As I place demands on it, it is important to keep the temperature down too. I’ve gone through more than my fair share of notebook coolers, but none of them are quite perfect.
If any of the notebook cooling stand companies are listening, they’ll want to pay attention to this article. In it, I’ll describe the winning formula for the perfect notebook cooler.
1. It Starts with Quality, Sturdy Materials
First impressions go a long way in determining whether or not I like a particular product and a big part of this is the choice of materials. I’ve come across many notebook coolers that are made of cheap plastic and, well, that makes the product feel awfully cheap. A proper, well-built notebook cooler can only be constructed of two key material: Aluminum or high quality plastics.
I personally prefer the ones that use a thicker aluminum build, but there are a few coolers out there that use a high quality plastic that are perfectly suitable too. This is especially true if they have a softer, rubberized finish.
2. Adjustable Height for Added Ergonomics
Another issue that I find with some notebook coolers is that they are stuck in one specific configuration or angle. As much as I like the build quality of the NZXT Cryo S, for instance, it has one set height. As we know, not everyone is the same so this limits one’s comfort. When I am typing on the notebook’s keyboard, I want a lower elevation for a more comfortable typing experience. However, when I have the laptop set up with an external keyboard on a desk, I’m more inclined to use to a higher angle for a better viewing angle.
A good notebook cooler should offer no fewer than three or four adjustable height settings and it has to feel sturdy at any height. This way, it can be versatile and suit a variety of personal preferences.
3. Active Cooling Need Only Apply
You have to remember that one of the most critical functions of a notebook cooling stand is that it actually cools the notebook. It has to be effective in a very real sense, because that’s what it was designed to do in the first place. Passive cooling stands or pads that simply offer venting or a cool aluminum surface can only do so much. To get any real work done, they need to have fans. The minimal power consumption is worth the added cooling performance.
4. Let Me Move Those Fans Around
Even if you have fans, you need to have them in the right place. Not all laptops are built alike and, as such, not all of them build up the most heat in the same place. That’s why you want the ability to move the fan(s) around as needed.
The Vizo Mini Ninja offers lateral movement, but the company went even further with the Vizo Ninja HS by offering vertical adjustment too. When I went to visit the Choiix and CoolerMaster people during the Consumer Electronics Show in January, they showed me another notebook cooler that offered near infinite placements for the two fans. I like that and you should too if you want to get the best possible cooling for your particular laptop.
5. Adjust the Fan Speed (and Turn It Off)
Continuing on the subject of fan adjustment, there are far too many notebook coolers out there that are lacking one very important feature. They may have a good aluminum build and they may have a couple of good fans keeping the temperature down on your laptop, but they might not have a power switch. I know I said that I want to have fans for the functional aspect of keeping my laptop at a nice operating temperature, but I want the ability to turn off the fans when I’d like to minimize noise or reduce power consumption. It amazes me that so many coolers do not have this function.
In addition to a power button (or switch), notebook coolers should also have some sort of dial in order to adjust the relative speed of the fans. If you’re under heavy load, editing HD videos perhaps, then you may want to crank up the performance of the cooling fans. Under a lighter load, you might want to lower it. Innovative companies may even want to have a temperature probe that does it for you automatically based on the heat of the CPU or hard drive.
6. Expanding Utility with Easy-Access USB Ports
It’s good that the majority of notebook coolers get their power through a conventional USB cable. This way, you don’t have to fumble with another power outlet, drawing the necessary juice from your notebook instead. That makes sense. However, you are effectively taking up one of the USB ports on your laptop and you may need that spot for an external hard drive, mouse, webcam, flash drive, or some other peripheral. That’s why it helps if the laptop stand has a USB hub.
That said, this USB hub needs to be accessible. As much as I liked the NotePal ErgoStand from Cooler Master, I was peeved to see the recessed placement of the USB hub. This can be harder to find, access, and use.
7. Don’t Scratch My Precious Laptop
Yes, I did say that I prefer it if manufacturers used aluminum to build their notebook stands, but this can sometimes present an issue. While my hardy Dell has seen its fair share of wear and tear, I can see how owners of shiny MacBooks and the like may not be so lucky. In this way, it is positively paramount that the notebook cooler be designed with softer finishes and rounded edges. This is to protect the laptop from unfortunate damage in the way of scratches, scuffs, and gouges. The sharp edges of some coolers go completely against this line of thought.
The best solution is to use aluminum for the construction, but to use rubber (or something similar) to line the parts that actually make contact with the laptop. The VIZO cooler above doesn’t have anything keeping it from scratching your notebook and that’s a hardcore no-no.
8. Extra Features Set You Apart
Innovation is nice. It’s great when a company takes a simple concept and executes it well, but it’s so much more exciting if they bring something completely novel to the table. This is especially true if the innovation is useful to boot. I wasn’t particularly pleased with its lack of adjustability and its cheaper build quality, but the Choiix Air-Through Stash did something that I had not seen anywhere else: it’s a laptop stand with a built-in hard drive dock. That’s pretty neat.
It’s hard to say what the next big innovation will be in the notebook cooling stand market, but I’d say that the perfect notebook cooler will add something new to the equation.
A Designer’s Work Is Never Done
I’m not a product designer nor am I an engineer, but I have had some good experience with a variety of notebook coolers. In the early years, many companies assumed that a simple “prop” with a small fan was good enough, but that’s not really the case anymore. Consumers may not be quite as discerning with their notebook cooling stands as they are with their smartphones and laptops, but that’s no excuse for releasing an inferior product. I sincerely hope that the future of notebook cooler creation implements some of my suggestions. I will be satisfied!
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