Zalman ZM-NC3 Ultra Quiet Laptop Cooler

My laptop has always overheated and I bit the bullet and purchased the Zalman ZM-NC3 laptop cooler hoping that it would make a difference. Read on to see whether my decision to buy this laptop cooler was a good move or a waste of time.

It's easy to see why the Zalman ZM-NC3 laptop cooler has had some excellent reviews, and my reason for purchasing it was based on those reviews. I know you have to read between the lines with reviews, but the Zalman ZM-NC3 sounded like it would fit my needs, and it was reasonably priced as well.

Did I make the right choice? Read on to find out...

A laptop cooler is just a pad with a fan that you place your laptop on to help keep it cool, and then place this on your lap. The fan blows cool air into the base of the laptop, helping the internal fan to keep the processor and motherboard cool, and the pad by coming between the laptop and your lap helps ensure that you stay cool as well.

Not all coolers will fit on your lap however, some are meant to sit on a table or desk, which wouldn't work for me as I work 99% of the time sitting on the couch with the laptop on my lap. This one fits nicely as it turns out, so full marks for that.

The laptop cooler doesn't have any switches or buttons, it just has a cable underneath it wrapped around an organizer, with a USB plug on the end. You pull this out, and stick it in a free USB port on your laptop, and that's it. The plug even has another USB port on it so in using this cooler it doesn't cost you a valuable USB port.

The instructions were useless, as they consisted of a small picture of the laptop cooler and some words in Chinese (see photo gallery below). As it turns out they are completely unnecessary, it's so easy to figure out how to use this device.

Literally there is nothing else to it but to place your laptop onto the laptop cooler and then plug the cooler into a USB port, it's that simple to use.

What happens when you plug the laptop cooler in?

I plugged mine in and thought "uh-oh it's not working" as I didn't hear anything. I had to take the laptop off the cooler and plug it in again so I could look at the huge fan in there, and indeed it was working, but as stated it's "ultra quiet", very hard to hear. I genuinely thought it wasn't working because I couldn't hear anything.

It's ultra quiet but does it keep the laptop cool?

My Dell Vostro 15.4" laptop has always run hot, and when I play games it's a wonder it doesn't overheat. Since I use it mostly on my lap and I wear shorts most of the year, I actually have burn marks on my legs from the heat generated underneath the laptop and on my left leg where the heat pumps out from the air vents when I play the most video intensive games.

With this Zalman laptop cooler sitting under the computer, not only does it remain cool on my lap, so no more burns, but most amazingly, even playing the worst offender (Battle Pirates video game) but also the laptop fan barely speeds up beyond idle, and when it does the air comes out lukewarm, otherwise it's cold.

I would say YES - this Laptop Cooler does exactly what it says it does.

On the whole after 2 days of using this laptop cooler I am 100% happy with it.

This does what it claims to, indeed it seems to work even better than I expected, knowing how prone my laptop is to overheating. There are more expensive laptop coolers, but having read the descriptions and reviews of them, they don't seem to perform any better than this one.

Can I buy this Laptop Cooler in Europe?

Yes indeed! I live in the UK and Zalman is a respected name for electronics worldwide. This laptop cooler is available through Amazon.com (click on the Orange Buy Now button above) and it's also available through Amazon.co.uk which is where I purchased mine.

Two weeks after purchasing this laptop cooler I can only describe it in one word - COOL!

My laptop hasn't got hot once, it hasn't even got remotely warm, and the fan hasn't gone into overdrive at all.

I have played my usual games, even played them during backups, which previously caused lockups and crashes, but everything is running perfectly.

Since it's running cooler, the laptop is running faster too, I just wish I had purchased one when I bought the laptop.

I therefore highly recommend it to anyone who has a laptop, especially if it gets hot.

Six months after purchasing this laptop cooler nothing has changed. My laptop still runs cool and rarely even lukewarm. The cooler fan is still almost silent as well. This has been such a good purchase, I highly recommend it to anyone who has problems with their laptop overheating.

Well after more than a year of constant use this laptop cooler is still working just like new. It's practically inaudible, and it's keeping my laptop super cool.

The only problem is that one of the rubber feet, which like on many devices are stuck on, keeps coming off. It's not a problem since I rest the cooler on my lap, and if I wanted I could glue it back in place.

This has most definitely been an excellent purchase, and I am sure it will last for a long time yet.