Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler
by Antec
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler
Customer Review: Disappointed in its ability to cool my laptop
Summary: 3 Stars
I had read several reviews about this notebook cooler and was eager to try it out. The biggest thing that sold me on this was the pass-thru USB plug. I have four USB ports, three of them are already dedicated to other things. So when I read that this cooler had a pass-thru plug, I was happy that I wouldn't lose my last available plug. When I got the cooler yesterday, imagine my disappointment when, upon examining the plug, I see that it is not a pass-thru. Strike one. I went ahead and decided to try it out anyway just to see how well it cools my laptop. While waiting for this cooler to come, I have been using my son's Targus cooler (which works quite nicely), so I have some numbers to compare this cooler with. Sadly, this one does not keep my laptop as cool as the Targus one did. Ninety-five percent of the time, I have my laptop in my lap with a tray of some sort underneath it. With the Targus cooler, under regular activity on the laptop, the thermal core stayed around 130-135 degrees; with this Antec, it was around 10 degrees more. Strike two. With the Targus cooler, while playing a match-3 game (something not too intensive), the thermal core climbed up to 150-155; with the Antec (the fan on high), the temp again went 10 degrees more. Strike three. I am ready to return this and find a better product. I can say 3 things positive about this Antec cooler - even with the fan on high (it has two settings), it is still quiet; it feels quite solid and well constructed; and it is relatively thin which would make it easy to transport.Customer Review: Don't buy Antec!
Summary: 1 Stars
After using this cooler for a little less than a year, one of the two fan motors developed a vibration and became noisy; loud enough that I wasn't willing to continue running it. I e-mailed Antec and asked for price and availability of a replacement fan so that I could make the repairs myself. A support tech responded and said that he needed a copy of my receipt from the original purchase. I wrote back explaining that I was not requesting warranty repairs and just wanted to purchase a replacement fan. However, I sent a copy of the receipt anyway thinking that they may have a policy of selling repair parts only to customers who can varify that they own the product.
After ten days, I still had not received a response of any kind, so this time rather than e-mailing the support tech who had asked for the invoice (and then ignored me), I sent my request to the general Customer Support e-mail address. I explained everything that had transpired, attached copies of all e-mails including the invoice, and practically begged for someone to answer my simple question, "Can I please buy a replacement fan?"
It's now been a month since my last request for info and they still haven't bothered to reply.
Over the years I've used Antec power supplies, cases, fans, and even thermal compound on numerous builds and I've always liked their products. But now, after seeing first-hand what their attitude towards customer service is really like, I'll go out of my way to avoid purchasing ANYTHING made by Antec.
Customer Review: DoA :(
Summary: 1 Stars
I had high hopes for this laptop fan, as I'd been sorely disappointed by a previous attempt to keep my Powerbook from burning through my lap; that try ended only 30-some days later with an apparent short in the USB wiring. I thought I'd try again with this model, having decent reviews, a great price and interesting design. Boy, was I wrong.
Dead. Right out of the box. Well, to be fair, ONE of the fans worked. I received it on a Wednesday, it was promptly back on UPS' truck by Friday. I even tried to 'deal with it' for a day, see if the single fan and the design would keep the laptop even remotely cool. No such luck. Bye-bye Antec.
Oh, and the blue power light others have mentioned WAS kinda bright, but I didn't find myself bothered too much, even in a completely dark bedroom. The flatness of its design wasn't thrilling me either, as I was accustomed to at least some incline so the wrists don't ache after a couple hours.
By the time I printed out the RMA for this piece of junk, I'd already decided to give the whole laptop fan ONE more try, this time with a Kinamax FAN-NTP3 Business Notebook Cooler Pad with 3 Built-in 60mm Fans for Laptops which works beautifully! It has a little incline and the THREE fans are doing wonders for my laptop (even keeping my knees cold!);actually, I'm kind of glad the Antec didn't work, otherwise I never would have tried the BETTER laptop fan.
Customer Review: An amazing cooler!
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband's laptop had issues with overheating (Dell Latitude D630 - 14") and I got him this cooler.
All computers (including laptops) need cooling - laptops are small/thin and there is not much space for fans... and that's where this unit comes handy.
What we noticed about this cooler:
- It's very light
- Aluminum top is great for spreading heat and keeping the laptop cool
- It's very quiet (on High you can bearly hear the sound of fans, and on Low you don't hear it at all)
- Cable is short so that it does not "dangle"; but not too short - it can reach at the back of laptop for USB connection. If you still can't reach USB connection on your laptop, because it's on the oposite side, you can always turn the cooler for 180 degrees so that connection on cooler comes to the right side (it's symetric, so it does not matter how you turn it).
- There is compartment for storing the cable when cooler is not in use
- Rubber on the bottom provides good grip - there is on slippage on wooden/glass surfaces
- It fits great on the lap
- Rubber on the top provides good grip - laptop is not slipping from the cooler
- Laptop fits great on this cooler (note that it's only 14" laptop).
- Cooler is quite thin and light so it's easy to put it in laptop bag and carry it with the laptop.
We like it very much, and we are going to get one more - for my laptop.
What I can say is that this is an amazing cooler and I do recommend it.
Customer Review: Matthew Sai is right!!!!!
Summary: 2 Stars
I always thought Antec products are well made and designed. Because this unit is made of high quality materials, I had assumed it was cooling my laptop, but I always had an unease feeling about it. After reading Matthew Sai's review, I finally realize my fear was right. He is right on the money! This cooler pulls the air aways from the bottom of the laptop and exhaust the air through the underbody of this product. If you have a laptop that has cooling fans, this is probably NOT the ideal product for you. Most laptops with fans actually suck the air from the bottom of the laptop and exhaust the air throught the sides or back of the laptop (I have a Compaq V2000 series and a IBM ThinkPad, both pull the air from the bottom of the laptop) This creates a vacuum as a Matthew Sai has indicated. The underbody of my ThinkPad is flushed, having the laptop fan and this cooler's fan fighting for air has caused the ThinkPad to run hotter than without this cooler. The underbody of my Compaq is grooved, so vacuum problem doesn't hurt as much, therefore it cools my laptop a little bit, but not enough in my opinion. If this unit had a switch to change the direction of airflow, I would give it a 5 star rating...
To summarize: if your laptop has no fan at all, this should help cooling a lot. If your laptop has grooved bottom and also has its own fan(s) drawing air from the bottom, this unit won't cool much. If your laptop has a flushed bottom and also has its own fan(s), DO NOT buy this...