Cooler Master NotePal X-Slim Ultra-Slim Laptop Cooling Pad with 160mm Fan (R9-NBC-XSLI-GP),Black X-Slim

This item just arrived today. I had bought a different brand of laptop cooler from Amazon about a year and a half ago. Like this product, it had several hundred reviews and like this was also rated very high (about 4 1/2 stars overall). I tried to look for it but it appears that it's not available at Amazon anymore. I wasn't looking for because I wanted to buy another one. Quite the contrary I wanted to insert a product link and advise people NOT to buy it. It was much heavier and uncomfortable when sitting directly on my lap than this Cooler Master is.I've just plugged this in and right now am sitting in my recliner with the cooling pad in place. I'm truly amazed at how quiet the fan is and how comfortable it is. What's really great about it is that it's so thin that I can barely tell anything's added onto my laptop but it is working well. I know because I happen to be wearing shorts right now as I'm writing this review and it's literally cooling my legs! Another nice, and I think pretty common feature, is that while the cooler runs by plugging it into a USB port, you don't lose a port because the back of the USB plug that goes into the laptop is a USB slot and it works! I have a Canon CanoScan 4507B002 LiDE110 Color Image Scanner that I plugged into it and it immediately recognized and powered it. The scanner is powered solely by the computer's power through USB (i.e., it doesn't plug into a standard household AC power outlet) so the replacement port provided with this laptop cooler is a powered one. That wasn't the case with the previous laptop cooler I had. It did provide an additional USB port but it was not powered so it's use was limited.I have a Dell Inspiron N7010 (17R) laptop that I bought at Costco about two years ago maybe even three years ago, I don't remember for sure. I run Windows 7 Ultimate on it and absolutely love it because the monitor is outstanding High Definition but it runs HOT!!! Just a couple of weeks ago I bought a Crucial m4 512GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s with Data Transfer Kit CT512M4SSD2CCA for it to replace the original traditional hard drive that came with the computer and upgraded the RAM from 4 GB to 8 GB by buying two Kingston Technology 4 GB (1x4 GB Module) 1333MHz DDR3 PC3-10600 204-Pin SODIMM Memory for Select Dell Notebooks KTD-L3B/4G and taking out the two 2 GB RAM cards that came with the PC. All I can tell you is WOW, this computer is now a screamer. It's as though I bought a brand new computer that's running 10 times faster than the old one but paid 1/3rd the price of what I would have paid for a comparable new one. Indeed, it would be difficult to buy a comparable new one now because most upper end new Windows laptops are coming packaged with Windows 8. Getting off track there sorry.I thought that replacing the traditional hard drive with the Solid State Drive might help the laptop not run so darn hot, but it didn't make a difference. I don't know, maybe the extra RAM offset it. But it still runs really hot. I am extremely pleased with this cooler. It's simply the most comfortable laptop cooler I could ever imagine and if it continues to work a year from now as well as it's working right now, then, I think, like the New SSD & new RAM i just bought, it will one of the best laptop accessories I've purchased.Fear not though friends: if things go south (i.e., if this stops working as it should) I will come back and revise my review accordingly.One other thing to note: keep a price check on these items. I ordered this laptop cooler on 3/24/2013 for $20.99 from a merchant called "LLYtech" and it was "Fulfilled by Amazon" so because I'm an Amazon Prime customer I got free two day shipping. At the time of this writing (3/27/13) it's selling from a merchant named "Galactics" for $21.01 and is not currently Fulfilled by Amazon though the merchant is offering free shipping but it won't be two day shipping. I also checked and Galactics is a highly rated merchant (4.8 stars over the past 12 months with 47,000+ ratings). I'm always more comfortable buying products that are "Fulfilled by Amazon" though because if there are any problems at all with the order I deal directly with Amazon and not the merchant to resolve them. Furthermore, the return policies for merchants that use Fulfilled by Amazon are identical to Amazon's so that provides peace of mind, especially for electronics. If this thing arrived Dead on Arrival a simple call, chat, or e-mail to Amazon an I'd have a return UPS label immediately and they automatically arrange for UPS to pick it up from you.In summary, unless you hear back from me to the contrary, you can buy this laptop cooler with confidence.

I did a lot of research and review reading before choosing this cooling pad for my 17" MacBook Pro which runs very hot when charging a battery & when using Photoshop CS6 for intensive design work and also when client computers are connected to it for repair of those units (running TechTool, DiskWarrior, etc.). Recently the OEM battery ended up splitting apart -- now that could be from heat OR defect or both -- and I didn't want to have the same issue with the replacement battery which is brand new (non-Apple) and not cheap. The pad is JUST big enough to hold the 17" MacBook. It made a huge difference within minutes of being used with the laptop charging a battery and displaying a movie! The top surface near the screen would normally get very hot when a battery was being charged especially, but within minutes of the cool pad being in use, the surface is barely lukewarm. The bottom of the laptop which gets very hot during battery charging and intensive use was/is many degrees cooler.PROS:* Very open design allowing for maximum air flow from all sides.* Sturdy metal grill over the whole top surface (probably aluminum, though it feels a bit rigid for it to be pure aluminum).* Excellent air flow! More than I expected, actually.* VERY quiet (21dBA according to manufacturer specs.)!! The typical laptop cooling laptop fans (for both Macs. & PCs) are far louder and, in the case of my MacBook Pro, would completely drown out any noise coming from this cooling pad (when running at full speed). Definite bonus to have the cooling pad running with very little noise!* Very sturdy and quite big rubber feet on the bottom ensure that slipping on surfaces isn't likely. With the added weight of a laptop sitting on the cooling pad, I don't see how it would move even if cords are accidentally yanked.* Speaking of cords, the channel underneath the unit for the USB cord is very well designed and effectively keeps excess cord length out of the way.* Nice long USB cord so the unit can be plugged into any available USB port on any laptop -- be it on the sides or the back.* Pass through feature on the plug is very handy for laptops with limited USB ports available. Since the plug is a bit "chunky" some may not like to deal with it on the sides of their laptops -- especially Mac. users -- so I'll note that the cooling pad DOES work just as effectively when plugged into a USB hub. This is where the additional cord length would come in handy as well. I didn't try it with a USB power unit plugged into a wall outlet, so I can't say if that would work -- though I can't see why it wouldn't.* Flip down feet on the back bottom surface allows for tilting of the laptop. Handy because the cool pad does raise the computer up about 2". The angling "feet" would also serve to increase airflow even more.* Stays on even when the laptop is put into "sleep" mode -- at least with Macs. it does. Some of that will be dependent on laptop make and model.... Many PC laptops cut power to USB ports when in "sleep" or "suspend" mode.CONS:* Minor --- do wish the product came in at least a silver/aluminum finish.* Minor to Moderate --- would be nice if the unit had an optional power adapter connection for those who don't want the unit to drain power from a laptop running on battery power. Also, as noted above in the pros section, some laptops cut power to USB ports when in "sleep" or "suspend" mode and all do so when the computer is turned off. This is a con because those computers are still capable of charging batteries and, thereby, heating up. Macs. especially get very warm while charging batteries. So, how big a con this is depends on your individual computer's functions.* Moderate --- the pass through connector could & should be much smaller. It sticks out quite a bit and I can see how someone could damage the USB port by hitting the connector accidentally. This risk is only magnified when another USB device is piggy-backed onto the already big connector. This is also where a power adapter would come in handy so users wouldn't have to plug it into their USB ports, thereby eliminating the risk of damage. The plug itself if well constructed and quite sturdy, but, because it IS so tough, the ports could easily sustain damage from accidental impact.NOTE:The cooling pad has a raised center grill directly above the fan. I note this only because I'm not sure there isn't a laptop out there somewhere which doesn't have "feet" to keep it slightly raised above the surface it rests on. If your laptop doesn't have "feet" you may have some difficulty resting it with any stability on this cooling pad.CONCLUSION:All in all, I'm very happy with this cooling pad and would definitely purchase it again. As an Apple tech. support provider, I'll also be recommending this cooling pad to my clients! If you have an Apple laptop that you use for more than just surfing the web and word processing, this cooling pad is an indispensable tool to extend the life of your computer's hardware. You don't need fancy LED lights, etc., which just draw more power.... A cooling fan just needs to cool a laptop efficiently & effectively... That's what this unit does and does it well!