Was roaming round in Robinson's electrical dept yesterday (while the wife was shoe shopping, what is it with women and shoes, sorry I digress) and came across a couple of plastic frames with fans fitted into them for laptops to sit on to disperse the heat they generate, looks like the plug directly into the laptop for their power source.

Thought it was a good idea but has anyone got one of these or used one and are they worth having? My laptop does generate a lot of heat and I try to restrict the time I spend on it at a time because of this or use it outside.

Hi,
Bought one a few months back, in Tesco's.
Works great, has three fans in it and lights to show its working. Plugs into a USB socket on your laptop and has a piggy back USB plug so you don't lose the use of the USB socket. It is also set at a slight angle which i think makes the laptop eaiser to use.
Cheers Doug.

Well worth getting as laptops (especially those with older processors) run too hot for this climate.

My guess is, when using the laptop power supply you will actually be creating a greater heat problem, probably better to use a separately powered hub, but the benefit will be marginal at best.

I bought a laptop (((cooler fan))) for 150 baht at the night marlet, I have always had a fan under my laptop since I have owned it.

<a heat sink is the silicon pad & aluminum grate that goes in between the processor chip and the cooling fan inside the computer>

When we lived in a house without air conditioning in Nong Khai province , I set up something similar for my laptop. It may well have extended its life.

Consumer and office electronic products are often designed to operate up to 40 degrees C. Some only to 35 C and some aren't really thermally designed, but modified until the seem to no fail too often. The higher the temperature, the faster things deteriorate and eventually fail. A little air flow in the right place, say across the bottom of the laptop, where the internal heatsink attaches to the case, can cause a dramatic drop in peak operating temperature, and thus expected life.

Gents,, it probably goes without saying but frequent checking and cleaning of the laptop fan vents plus running the diagnostics program to check fan operation wouldn't hurt. cheers

Kudjap did you happen to see an Ant Sink while you were in there. If I put my lappy down for 5 minutes it fills up with the bl00dy critters.

jetdoc wrote:My guess is, when using the laptop power supply you will actually be creating a greater heat problem, probably better to use a separately powered hub, but the benefit will be marginal at best.

Jetdoc, I agree I use them a lot, two different types in fact one on a plate and on legs, though each uses power from the usb port and increases heat, extra power consumption and heat is no good for a laptop especially in a hot climate.
So your suggestion imo makes sense.

I raise my laptop up by placing it on 4 thick wooden drink/glass mats, to improve airflow.

Similar RJ, but in my case it is two strips of wood,going from front to back. The standing fan I have also swings across the front of it to increase airflow - ever the cheap charlie...

Bob, the (floor) standing fan in my case swings across me, to keep me cool!!

Don't most laptops have an automatic shut off that activates when a certain temp is reached to prevent damage?

They do get VERY hot here LL (hot to touch)- especially if just flat on a desk - I am sure that it would shut off before damage was caused but I am not sure that running it near max for extended periods will do much good for its longevity.

BobH,,,, understand,,,, mine gets very hot here in the US in a room kept at 70 F.