Belkin F5L001 Laptop Cooling Pad
by Belkin Components
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List Price: Our Price: $14.00 You Save: $15.99 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Belkin F5L001 Laptop Cooling Pad
Customer Review: Overpriced in UK and noisy fan
Summary: 2 Stars
I have a Targus Chill Pad (excellent product) and unfortunately lost the proprietory USB-DC cable while traveling in a UK train. Trying to get a replacement cable was a time-consuming lost cause even in tech-rich London. You'd think I was asking the tech guys in the computer stores (incl PCW and Maplins) for a thing from Mars. In desperation I simply bought a new cooler -- Belkin was the cheapest available -- for 20 UK pounds. My Targus cost $15 in USA.
Yes, the Belkin cools my Vaio and that's about all I can say on the positive side.
Belkin also has a proprietory USB cable like Targus but the DC side unfortunately did not fit the Targus. Hello, standards?
I don't like the "wave" shape, it takes up too much room in my bag and I especially don't like the noisy fan which sounds like a small plane in flight.
I read elsewhere in reviews that flipping out the stand is important and I totally agree. Laying with feet up on the hotel bed with the Belkin flat on your lap or on a pillow is not good. However the flip-down stand does not click in place when open, so it collapses frequently with comfort adjustments.
I have to set my 13.3" laptop far back on the stand to stay cool and with stand in place lifting the rear, the laptop gradually slides down. The "non-slip" strips do slip.
The Belkin is not recommended unless you're desperate. And in a general criticism of cooler pads, why are there no replacement USB-DC cables? (I also called my local Staples in USA for replacement info.)
Customer Review: cheap price, cheap product
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this in July of '09. I bought it because my husband had one for his laptop and it seemed to work well. They had the same model number, but his USB connector is permanently attached and mine was removable and that is the crux of the problem. My Belkin from Amazon worked well for less than six months. (I never dropped or mishandled the unit.)
Pros: strong fan, significant cooling, cools when USB connected whether computer is on or off, comfortable incline design, fan motor continues to work after daily use of 2-3 hrs
Cons: USB cable comes disconnected making the fan useless
The problem I had was with the USB connector. The internal socket disappeared into the cooling pad and would not make a proper contact with the USB cable. I took the back off of the unit and temporarily fixed the problem by taping the socket to an edge. Then I never removed USB cable again for fear of dislodging the socket. But, alas, the cable did come out and the inside socket gave way again. My husband's model had the USB cable connected permanently to the inside, so it does not have this problem.
The inside was cheap plastic and it was the plastic holder which had broken that caused the connection socket to fall into the cooling pad. The fact that the USB cable is completely separate from the cooling pad is not obvious on any of the pictures but one view does show the square dark area at the top of the pad which is where the cable connects. If it were not for this fatal defect, I would have given the cooling pad five stars.
Customer Review: It started out great...
Summary: 3 Stars
I am working on a 17 inch MacBook Pro, and have had my Belkin cooling hub for little over a year. At first it was great. It seemed like it was keeping everything cool. It was relatively easy to tote around with me in my briefcase.
In the last six months I have been using my laptop for hours at a time and noticed that the front edge where the keyboard meets the screen gets extremely hot. The cooling pad doesn't seem to affect this, because all of the fans strength is directed at the battery in the center of the laptop. I have begun using my laptop with it slid down on the cooling pad to where the fan blows directly on that hot hinge area. Of course, now my laptop is unstable, but it stays cool. Also, the fan now has a rattle to it for the first couple minutes when I start it up, then it evens out to the whisper it had when I first got it.
The four port hub is a nice feature, and I have gotten to the point where I use all of the ports. It is important to note that some USB devices will not work through the hub unless an AC power adapter (included) is plugged in. This is too bad, because it reduces the portability of the fan/hub combo.
I'm not a big fan of the USB plug that comes out of the collapsible stand. There is not enough space in the compartment to comfortably stow the length of cable, and if you are not using the stand, the collapsed stand pinches the cable.
This is my first cooling stand, and in general I have been very happy with it, but there are a few design points that could use some improvement.
Customer Review: On again, Off again
Summary: 3 Stars
Bought this cooler on Aug 4 due to the good reviews. My laptop had started getting so hot it was turning itself off - really not good!! Anyway, received the Belkin in perfect condition & in good time. It worked perfectly. Kept my laptop cool and I was happy as a clam for all of 2 wks when the fan suddenly stopped. One of the arms on the fan had broken & was just hanging there. After pulling the broken piece off the fan started right back up and again I was happy as a clam for another week. The fan stopped again - this time due to the back panel pressing too closely to the fan. Guess this happened when I set it down without putting up the little stand thing. After tugging on the circular back panel over the fan to give it a little more room it started right back up. And I was again clam happy for a week. This time the fan stopped due to cat hair. I have a long-haired cat & I guess it had sucked in too much hair, clogged everything up, & the fan stopped. So I cleaned out all the hair & again the fan worked fine. Now I've discovered I have to clean cat hair out of the fan about once a week or it will simply stop. Really good product but it had some technical issues of it's own and I would not recommend it to someone with a long-haired cat...
Update: Sept 22 - think it's dead for real this time. I've poked, prodded, cleaned, & even banged a little. It's not working. Thinking of getting a replacement but from other comments don't know if it's worth the trouble. Might just try a different brand...
Customer Review: Not So Great
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this item in a brick and mortar store simply because there weren't many other options. On the plus side Belkin has made a fairly nice looking laptop cooler. It's curvy and white, with grey non skid rubber pads that do a great job of keeping your laptop in place. That's about where the positives end.
Unfortunately, you are pretty much required to unfold this rickety piece of plastic to hold your laptop up at the right angle to use on a desk surface. Do not try to move your laptop at all with this setup, as this cheap plastic piece is itching to fold up at the slightest provocation. Mine broke off completely in no time at all, now I have a book to prop this up, which probably works better. I recommend just snapping that sucker off, and grab an oversize hardcover instead.
At best the fan is just annoying. Occasionally if you type too hard or you look at the thing funny, the fan will make extremely loud noises. You would think with all this racket the laptop would remain cool, right? It does keep things cooler than no laptop cooler at all, but still things get rather warm. It just seems like the design of this thing blows the hot air back onto the laptop rather than pulling the hot air away from the laptop. Maybe I will try reversing the direction of the fan and see how well that works.
I will be replacing mine with something better, no doubt about it. So why waste your money when you will have to do the same about six weeks after purchasing this?