Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan - Us
by Thermaltake
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List Price: Our Price: $9.40 You Save: $23.49 (71%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $8.19 (click here) 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 Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan - Us
Customer Review: A reliable coolant for the PS3
Summary: 5 Stars
I was looking for something, which could keep my PS3 cool, such as an intercooler. However, many got bad reviews. Somehow, I stumbled across this device, while searching. Due to the good reviews, I decided to try this fan, especially for the price. When I received it, I could not believe how small the fan actually was. This little fan does the job, though. Many reviewers talk about the fan's noise, and the fact it does not have an off switch. Well, I do not have a problem with that. In fact, I like the fact I do not have to manually turn the fan off. When I turn my PS3 on, the fan turns on. When I turn the game off, the fan goes off. I don't have to do anything. Isn't that what we all want? We want it to cool, while in operation of the device. The noise is not that bad in my opinion. In fact, my old PS3's fan made a lot more noise. It was hard to hear my television clearly. I can have this fan on the highest setting, and it is not noticeably loud.
Cooling places:
I saw various reviewers, who suggested various positions on where to place the fan around the PS3 for efficient cooling. At first, I placed the fan directly to the back of the PS3. Unfortunately, the hot air of the PS3 was clashing with the fan's cool air. That defeats the whole purpose. Well, I found other positions to place the fan around the PS3, which can cool the PS3 more efficiently. First, place fan closely to the front right side of the system, which has vents directly under the HDD. Therefore, the fan will blow cool air directly through the system. The other position is to place the fan closely to the right side of the PS3. Though the fan is aiming at the body of the PS3, I noticed how cool it made the whole system, as well.
This fan is definitely a good buy, especially for the price. I also believe this fan will prolong the life of my new PS3. Too bad, I could not say the same for my last PS3, which fell to the infamous YLOD, despite keeping it in an open space.
Customer Review: Keeps It Cool!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great little fan and was easy for me to install. I recently purchased a computer desk (looks great) but the cabinet for the PC was snug around my Dell Dimension Tower. It ran very hot and I left the door open in fear it would overheat. I needed a fan and did not want to deal with power issues to the fan. A quick search on the net turned up this model - USB was easy since I was cooling a PC. I ordered it and it came in no time. It was easy to back off the grill and remove the stand. I made a template of the fan shape and holes for the bolts on a piece of paper. Next I stuck it to the back of the enclosure wall which is made of hard cardboard material about 2-4 mm thick. I used a Dremel tool to cut the circle hole for the fan (the most difficult part) and a drill easily made the bolt holes. I fitted the fan and grill back on ( a little tricky working in the tight space) and plugged it in. My first try did not work, I mounted the fan on the inside to suck air in, but the blades touched the cardboard and did not spin. No problem. I just switched it around, mounting it on the outside to suck the air out. It worked great. I set the fan to a medium level and have never touched it since. The cabinet is cool and no heat issues at all! If you turn the fan up to full it does make some noise. So if you were using this for a super quiet environment you may want to consider quieter models. But on low its quieter than my PC so it was no problem for me. I even watch Netflix on this and there is no sound interference whatsoever.
PRO - Price. Easy to install (just plug it into a USB port). You can mount it or use it in lots of places.
CONS / IMPROVEMENTS - It would be nice to include a thermometer and auto adjustment so it could auto adjust to the heat. But that could run up the price...
Customer Review: Exellent Laptop Cooler
Summary: 4 Stars
My Compaq Turion64 based laptop overheats when running at maximum CPU utilization. Without any additional cooling the CPU temp reaches 85 C and the processor begins thermal throttling. With this fan blowing on medium, the temperature never goes above 67C. This is almost a 20 degree difference. By blowing across the bottom of the laptop, this fan works much better than laptop cooling pads.
The fan is very quiet on lower settings (almost inaudible), and is fairly noisy on the high settings. For most people the low to medium setting would suffice. The knob for adjustment of the rotation speed is fairly sensitive. There is a spot where even a little twist of the knob changes the fan speed a lot. It is definitely a nonlinear relationship between the knob and the fanspeed. This is not a problem though, and should not detract from the function of the fan.
The only negative aspects of this USB fan are:
1. The stand is of poor quality. It is an aluminum bracket that you have to bend to change the inclination of the fan. It is ok, but it would have been better to have an actual hinge.
2. The wiring looks ridiculous and is not very practical. The wire goes from the knob to the bottom of the fan, and has a white connection to the USB cable at the bottom of the fan. In my opinion it would have looked better enclosed in plastic.
The USB cable has a retractable rollup thingy and is very, very long. This is a plus if you need to reach places, but adds bulk right in the middle of the USB cord.
Overall I give this fan a 4/5 star rating because it does its job well.
Customer Review: Outstanding Li'l Product
Summary: 4 Stars
In this day and age, one actually expects electronics products to be overpriced and work poorly. The Thermaltake Mobile Fan II was priced so cheaply, and arrived so quickly after ordering, that it was hard for me to take it seriously. I figured it would soon be functioning as a paperweight on my desk. I was wrong.
My office desk is a huge, hulking piece of heavy dark wood, probably designed before computers were even extant. My PC is tucked into a large enclosed cabinet, and which functions as a sauna for the computer. A passing IT guy warned me that the increased temp would undoubtedly shorten the life of my hard-drive, and he was right: it eventually cooked, and we had to buy a new PC. In the hopes of extending its days on this troubled planet, I bought the Thermaltake II, and was immediately impressed by how something so small could produce so much cool air, so (relaively) noiselessly. By opening the cabinet door slightly to serve as a vent, I can now blow all the hot air generated by the PC out into the office and keep the cabinet temp low. Which is precisely what I needed it to do.
The Thermaltake is small, powerful, and has adjustable speeds; its only drawback is that it is USB powered and therefore draws its source-energy from the computer, which means it can only run when the computer is on. Because of that I penalized it one star, but It is a workhorse, blasting cool air all day without distracting noise or malfunction. In short, it does what it promises to do, and for very few bucks. Highly recommended.
Customer Review: Do you feel lucky?
Summary: 1 Stars
I often read the 1-star reviews to see what the cranks are saying.
I bought one of these because the overwhelming number of ratings were very good. When it arrived the variable speed control worked for about three seconds and then froze, leaving me with a one speed fan. I went through the RMA process & paid to ship the bad unit back. The replacement arrived (speedily), fired up and ran perfectly .... for about 20 minutes. Then the variable speed control conked out and left me with another one speed fan. I wrote back to the company, they were apologetic and after I pointed out that another return would incur shipping costs that now would make shipping 2 bad units back cost more than the product itself, they sent a brand new unit to me w/no shipping charge (sort of speedily). Nice.
When that unit arrived I plugged it in and ... well, nothing. The wires on the USB patch cord seem not to have been connected to the plug end (which fell off) from the factory. At this point I requested a refund (by then it was winter & I didn't need a fan anymore). I heard nothing in return & got tired of looking at it on the floor so I threw it out.
The moral here seems to be that if the gods have your number, they have your number and there isn't much you can do about it. I suspect that Thermaltake's heart is in the right place, but I'm pretty certain I'll stay away from their products. They seem to have my number.
The good news is that there are only two cranks for this product, & we're well outnumbered by the satisfied customers.
So, are you feeling lucky?