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: Very nice cooling unit for both the computer and me when it's hot.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this product last week and it came pretty quickly. First thing i have to say is I like the fact that the fan speed can be controlled by a knob. Rather than only choosing between Hi, Lo, and Off, it stays on as long as the computer is on, but the knob allows you to set the speed you want it at (at least until it's at the max speed).
It's very quiet at the lowest setting to the point that unless there's absolute sound, I can't even hear it. So if you live in a city, the suburbs, or just have your window open, the fan's noise will already be drowned out.
At the highest setting, it runs just a little louder than my laptop when my laptop fans run (I own a vaio vgnfj170).
The retractable wire is nice. No wire-tangles. I bent the stands a little bit to direct the airflow downward.
My suggestion: If your laptop sucks air in from the bottom and exhausts it out the side or back, make a stand for your laptop and set your laptop on top of it(I used 4 erasers, one at each corner) and somehow angle the fan downward a bit. The airflow will definitely cool the bottom as well as provide easier airflow to the fan's computer should it be needed.
My laptop fan hasn't started up since I've used this item and I like it.
I'll have to admit though that the next day, the fan started making a vibrating sound. I fixed it a bit by just taking a chopstick and pressing lightly on the back of teh fan and it's quite now.
Customer Review: Worth the money but it does have a few cons
Summary: 4 Stars
ok so i got this fan to put behind my ps3 just to blow the hot exhaust air further away to help keep the temperature around the ps3 cooler. this fan does its job and im def glad i bought it. now let me go over the pros and cons of this fan in my opinion.
pros
- nice long retractable cable
- cheap
- pushes a fair amount of air for its size
- adjustable speed
- quality built...thermaltake makes nice stuff. its simple but not a poorly made fan at all.
cons
- slightly noisy but not to a point where its a problem. its just you have to use the fan at 75%+ for it to move enough air for it to be worth using. but right at about 80% it gets fairly loud. i mean if your watching a movie or gaming with the volume up pretty good your not going to notice it but if your sitting in a silent room its pretty loud.
- no on off switch...personally i use a usb wall adapter plugged into a power strip that way i can use the power strip switch as an on off button. would be nice if the fan just had one on it...
- doesn't push much air at all until about 60-100%, at which point it does get a tad noisy...i think it is too loud to use at 100%, which is fine because 80% is enough.
- not that it really matters but imo they should put a plastic body over the metal wire to make it look more appealing but how much can you ask for from a nice $12 fan.
Customer Review: Awesome for PS3, XBOX 360, PC, AV equipment cooling!
Summary: 5 Stars
Both my PS3 and XBOX 360 have a pair of these each: One assisting with the 'heat exhaust' in the back of the units (helping to blow air OUT and away from the consoles) and one blowing towards the 'air intake' vents' and back. The hot air comes out noticeably faster out the exhausts of both consoles.
I've only tried the Pelican Air Flo for the PS3 (and heard the horror stories of Nyko intercoolers for XBOX 360),but that alone was horrible. Tried two units bc the fan didn't turn on (supposed to start automatically when it senses heat) and both failed! Stay away from these after market fans and get the Thermaltake Mobile Fan II!
TWO CONS: not as aesthetically pleasing (This might turn some people off, but I don't care about the aesthetics bc it does the job awesome) and with the XBox 360, it doesn't power down with the console. I have an older 10/06 Xbox and and Elite, and its the same with both. (The USB outputs still feed power after powerdown...ie to charge controllers via cable) With PS3, it starts up and powers down with the console perfectly!
Now if only someone could recommend a good powered USB hub that can work without being hooked up to a PC or console. We could alleviate hooking these up to consoles/laptops altogether and put that USB Hub AC Adapter on a X10 adapter for wireless action! Any suggestions?
Customer Review: Using this as a office desk fan
Summary: 4 Stars
After sifting through many USB fans on Amazon and having used a gooseneck USB fan previously I settled on this as my choice for keeping myself cool at the office. Yes, it's a little more expensive than some of the other USB fans you may find. Yes, it's a little industrial looking. Personally I like the look. Sort of techno-geek-chic. Also, this is the only reputable company I've found selling a USB fan. Thermaltake makes a good product.
Here are some highlights/lowlights:
-Compact size (about the size of a square post-it from corner to corner and an inch deep.
-Thin but solid retractable USB cable.
-Speed control really should be called 3-speed. Yes, it has a knob for speed control but there are two very obvious jump ups in speed as you turn the knob.
-No off mode, you have to pull the cable out of the USB port.
-Descent air movement for a small fan. About on-par with the gooseneck fan I had previously.
-I suspect this will last a lot longer than the gooseneck fan due to the fact that this is basically a computer case fan with a wire stand and a speed control knob.
-Quiet enough for a nearly silent office environment even at full blast.
Final Verdict:
Worth the total cost with shipping over other USB fans if you're looking to cool yourself and not your laptop.
Customer Review: Until now, I used a pizza rack to keep my laptop cool. This fan is awesome.
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, I'm no computer expert. However I have been using computers on and off for the last two decades, and I've seen a wide spectrum of hardware quality. When a PC product is "external" you expect it to have quality casing and look half decent sitting on your desk. And when it's "USB" powered, you want it to be a valuable use of your precious few USB ports, not a useless add-on.
So it looks OK and it's worth a USB port. But does it do it's job?
Yes. I own a "gaming laptop" which I adore because it reminds me of when I used to have time to play video games. Still, my Dell XPS Gen II laptop gets hot enough to make your hands sweat (especially in the upper right quadrant of the keyboard over the graphics card), and just generally make you feel like you're in a poorly air conditioned Internet cafe... on the other side of the world. Yes, it can heat up an entire room.
The Thermaltake Mobile Fan II keeps a quiet stream of cool air circulating over the keyboard, and surprisingly, the tops of the keys are cool to the touch.
For what it is... a tough little PC fan coughed-up outside of a desktop case, it looks and performs great.
I don't hand out 5 star reviews often, but at this price point I couldn't help myself. If you've got a hot laptop like me, go for it.