Honestly…what's the most important aspect of a laptop cooler?? Reducing the internal temp of the laptop (of course)!
Frequently…what data is usually missing from MANY laptop cooler reviews?? The amount of temp. reduction due to the laptop cooler!
Why is this when installing a temperature monitoring app is so easy? In my opinion…it's because the amount of cooling from a laptop cooler is really very little. If the temp. reduction was dramatic…BELIEVE ME…authors of laptop cooler reviews would be including this info much more often.
I did a bunch of searching…and came across very little temp reduction info in cooler reviews. I could only find one good article…and it was from 2007:
6 Best Laptop Cooling Pads You Can Buy
As you can see in the review…the various laptop coolers helped to cool the laptop anywhere from 2°C to 6°C (3.6°F to 10.8°F). Laptop coolers can cost from approx. $6.99 to $129.99. Is this enough temp reduction to justify the purchase of a laptop cooler...personally…I really don't think so.
MAYBE…if someone was very close (couple degrees) from the max. upper limit that the laptop can take before the laptop will shut down from excessive heat. But in the majority of situations…I don't really think a 2°C to 6°C (3.6°F to 10.8°F) temp reduction is very much. Of course a $6.99 laptop cooler doesn't cost very much…but then a $6.99 cooler may not cool very much either.
As chscag pointed out…a laptop cooler can have other benefits (better viewing level and better protection from liquid spills). But a laptop coolers main purpose (laptop cooling)…doesn't seem as exciting as I think we would like. If a "laptop cooler" doesn't really cool very well…then it's really just a "laptop stand"!
- Nick