Evercool Widescreen Laptop Cooling Pad

Introduction:

   Laptops today run hotter than ever. Especially the higher performing laptops running fast CPU's and high RPM hard drives. The problem with all that heat is most laptops are designed to be quiet and thin and have very little stock cooling. If you run your hot laptop 24/7 then you'll want to make sure you provide it with the best cooling possible to ensure long life.

   The problem is that most of these laptops on the higher end of the spectrum are 15" and 17" widescreen laptops with the fastest and hottest hardware inside and there just is very little choice when it comes to cooling 17" widescreen laptops especially. Well today I have for you one such product marketed specifically at the larger widescreen laptops including the 17" big dogs. It's from a company called Evercool and it's called the Space Station Widescreen Cooling Pad. It sports dual 80mm exhaust fans and 4 internal exhaust ports (hence the quad reference) strategically funneled through the unit. Let's take a closer look and see if this product holds true to cool and hold a large 17" laptop.

Specifications:

Packaging:

Black Front	Black Rear	Specs
Silver Front	Silver Rear	Features

   Typical Plastic molded package here. Remember to bring a sharp knife to this opening party.

A Closer Look:

   The unit itself is quite light but also very stiff plastic. It's very slab-like and the plastic feels firm but almost too firm, maybe brittle firm. However I had no problems with the quality of the plastic during use.

   The dual 80mm exhaust fans are decorated nicely. The top "nubs" are stick on and quite flat and don't seem to provide much in terms of grip or in raising the laptop to offer better cooling. The bottom feet are also stick-on and are slightly larger than the nubs on top. They do very well to grip a table or other hard surface just be sure when you position the cooler with laptop on top because sliding the cooler is very difficult afterwards. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your usage habits.

In Use:

   I have the rare distinction to really test the claims of this product by using my super fast, super big and super HOT 17" HP DV9500T notebook with 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 256 8600GS and 120GB 7200RPM hard drive.

   Although in the pictures it appears the laptop is simply too big for the Evercool laptop cooler, that is not so in real life. My laptop fit on there just fine and was very stable to type on. Putting on the dual 80mm exhaust fans (should've) really gotten the hot air moving, but there was one problem. The top "nubs" to hold the laptop in place are simply too small. My laptop laid virtually flush with the top of the unit severely restricting air intake on the coolers fans. Lifting the laptop and you could hear the fans start to breathe and the airflow tripled. It's too bad to see a decent design crippled by such a silly flaw.

Micro QuietFeet Sticky Feet:

   However Acoustic PC has the solution to this problem with some Micro QuietFeet Sticky Feet. However these will run you an additional $9.95 to the already $39.95 for the Space Station Widescreen Cooling Pad. They come in a 4-pack of QuietFeet and you can use all 4 of just 2 in the upper backside to further elevate your notebook for superior cooling.

   Unfortunately you pretty much NEED something to elevate your notebook off the surface of the Widescreen Cooling Pad to obtain the full potential of the excellent cooling supplied with the dual 80mm fans and 4 exhaust ports. In stock form the cooling pad is sub-par in my opinion. So these feet work great but you can use just about anything to prop up the notebook a bit. These sticky feet could be a little more sticky too, though you can reposition them if you stick them in the wrong place the first time.

Conclusion:

   Well once I put the Micro QuietFeet on the Evercool Cooling Pad, it was great. The cooling was exceptional and it was extremely quiet. It also held my large 17" laptop without any slipping. However without the Sticky Feet, the product falls short. The lackluster stock nubs on top are simply way too small in my opinion. I'm sure it'll be fine with some laptop designs, but some will sit so flush to the unit it will cripple the airflow of the cooling pad by not allowing enough air into the fans for the fans to work properly.

   I'm not sure I can whole heartedly recommend this unit for it's rather high price considering it's all plastic, not to mention in my opinion you'll probably need to spend $9.95 more to make it work to it's potential. I think the price is about $10 too high not including the added cost for the QuietFeet if your laptop needs it.

   I still think it's a great cooler design overall and will work flawlessly for some but not quite as good for others. As far as getting rid of the heat on your laptop goes however, this unit is one of the best I've seen. The dual 80mm fans and quad porting for the airflow do just what it's suppose too; remove hot air. Remember also the added benefit of the fact that those dual fans are sucking hot air from the bottom of the laptop and not blowing air and dust into the bottom of the laptop.

   if you like what you see here and want to pick up the Evercool Space Station Widescreen Cooling Pad and/or the Micro QuietFeet Sticky Feet, you can do so by clicking the links or simply visiting Acoustic PC and browsing their large selection of quiet cooling gear.

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