Laptop Coolers vs Laptop Cooling Pads

Laptop Cooler and Laptop Cooling Pads are two very different devices for two very different purposes, here we tell you which is best for your laptop cooling needs!

When it comes to keeping your laptop cool, you have two basic choices, a laptop cooler, or a laptop cooling pad. Each type of laptop cooling solution has it's own benefits, and downsides. Choosing the right one for you often comes down to your lifestyle, and your laptop. How you use your laptop, and the kind of laptop you have are both big indicators to the kind of external laptop cooling you will need!

I often get asked why people need to buy anything to help keep their laptop cool at all, and it is a good question. The truth of the matter is that the laptop manufacturers have (in a quest for more powerful machines) neglected their research in to more effective methods of cooling for their laptops. Without this extra cooling most modern laptops will quickly suffer from performance degradation, and are highly likely to suffer from some form of hardware failure.

Laptop cooling pads help provide unimpeded airflow to your laptop, and in some cases can absorb heat, taking it away from your laptop.While laptop cooling pads are not that great at providing much extra cooling capacity, they do not require power, and they are highly portable.

There are varying designs of laptop cooling pad, the basic ones simply ensure that there is a clear airflow, where as some others contain heat absorbing crystals to help draw heat away from the laptop.

While laptop cooling pads with heat absorbing crystals are quite effective, they do 'fill up' fairly quickly. Generally a good laptop cooling pad with these crystals will cool well for around 30 minutes before it begins to degrade, and will coninue to cool for around another thirty minutes to an hour.

Some laptop cooling pads such as the XPad slim provide a little additional cooling by improving air flow. While some provide simple flat unobstructed services, others use varied designs to help blow hot air away, while providng a clear path for cooler air!

Laptop cooling pads are perfect for those who use their laptops in short bursts. Their limited use and cooling ability does however reduce their viability for more powerful laptops, or longer use.

Laptop Coolers are much more efficient at cooling than laptop pads. They generally have at least one fan, and also tend to have a wider range of functionality, from USB Hubs to light displays.

There is a huge range of laptop cooler designs available, and some huge differences in quality. The biggest differences however tend to be between the powerful laptop coolers and the quiet laptop coolers. Powerful laptop coolers are perfect for gamers and high intensity laptop users. Quiet laptop coolers can be near silent, and are much more suitable for people who use their laptop for work.

Quality is more of an issue when you buy a laptop cooler. Cheap laptop coolers often contain lower quality fans which have shorter lifespans, and can develop rattling and 'whirring' sounds early on.