What is a Laptop Cooling Pad?
People who are heavy users of laptops usually experience overheating in their laptops, and if this lingers, it can damage the laptop. However, with the laptop cooling fan, the laptops are no longer prone to overheating. In this guide, we’ll talk about the reasons you need a laptop’s cooling pad. Read through this guide to find out.
What is a Laptop Cooling Pad?
A laptop cooling pad or notebook cooler is a hardware attachment that is usually placed under a laptop that decreases the laptop’s overall heat by dispelling the heat using fans. A laptop cooling pad can also help with keeping your lap cool if working on a laptop while it’s on your legs
Does my laptop need a cooling pad?
Every laptop should be designed to work without a cooler pad on any flat surface. It is not abnormal for a laptop to feel hot on the bottom. If you’re using a laptop on your lap or any other non-flat surface, and the laptop is overheating or rebooting, get a laptop cooling pad.
How do laptop cooling pads work?
One of the most common questions we get is whether or not cooling pads actually work. The answer is yes and no, and here’s why. Most laptop cooling pads work by keeping heat away from your laptop’s internal components. So in that sense, they do work. But if you’re expecting your laptop to run faster as a result of using one, that’s where you might be disappointed.
A laptop cooling pad is an electronic device that utilizes air convection (hot air rises) and can make your work on your computer much more comfortable. Simply place your laptop onto it, and it will immediately begin pumping cool air into its vents.
Not only does it keep your laptop from overheating, but it will also help keep you more comfortable during those long working sessions at home or in the office. The main purpose of a cooling pad is to allow your laptop to run under stable conditions without shutting down due to overheating.
Laptop Cooling Pad Types
Passive Laptop Cooling Pad
A passive laptop cooling pad denotes a laptop cooling pad that has no other moving parts.
They mainly serve to lift the laptop and allow it access to mostly unrestricted airflow from beneath.
These are usually advertised as laptop stands with ventilation but still fit into this article. As long as your laptop’s intake is at the bottom, these should actually work pretty well.
However, they’re unlikely to do very much for laptops that have weak fans or don’t have fans of their own. Very few laptops exhaust from the bottom, but if they do this may also be the ideal choice for them.
Active Laptop Cooling Pad
An active laptop cooling pad is probably what you initially pictured coming into this article: a flat mesh rectangle with case fans inside, usually for about twenty-to-fifty dollars.
Some of them can be a bit flashier or have more or fewer fans, but this is generally what you’ll be looking at. Most laptops use bottom vents as intake rather than exhaust.
With these laptops, a cooling pad like this will be the ideal choice over a passive pad due to improving the existing airflow. However, if the laptop exhausts from the bottom, the fans will actually be working against good airflow.
In this case, you’ll definitely be better suited with the passive option.
Attachable Laptop Cooler / Vacuum Laptop Cooler
Last but not least, let’s talk about attachable laptop coolers, also called vacuum laptop coolers.
The way this work isn’t by improving intake, but rather by accelerating exhaust.
You attach these to wherever your laptop’s exhaust vent is (as long as it’s on the sides or back), and they will push hot air accumulating out of your laptop faster than the built-in fans can.
Unfortunately, these are a lot tougher to recommend than an active or passive cooling pad, since compatibility is also dependent on device thickness rather than just surface area or intake/exhaust location.
Even if your laptop is compatible, having stronger exhaust may not be particularly helpful, especially if choked intake was the problem.
Benefits of Laptop Cooling Pads
There are several benefits of using laptop cooling pads for your computer:
Lower Temperature
The first and most obvious benefit of using laptop cooling pads is that they can help your computer achieve a lower temperature, and, as a result, stave off overheating (which can be detrimental, if not fatal, for laptops).
Provides a sturdier work surface:
Apart from helping your laptop cool down a bit, cooling pads provide that much-needed sturdy surface under your laptop.
This feature could come in extremely handy to you if you are someone who doesn’t like shifting your laptop from your bed or couch to a desk while intensely gaming or doing any other activity on your laptop that requires you to type.
With this sturdy surface, you will have the exact same experience of typing on a tablet keyboard while you are typing, sitting on your couch, or on your bed. And as a gamer, it could also give you a slight edge over your opponents.
Greater Physical Comfort
We all know the feeling of a warm (or maybe even a hot) laptop on your lap. It’s not always the most comfortable thing in the world. Whether the laptop is on your lap, on a desk, or table, a cooling pad can help regulate the temperature of your work area and keep you more physically comfortable. And when you’re more physically comfortable, you can be more productive!
Another way that laptop cooling pads may induce greater physical comfort while working is through the added height they can provide to your work setup. You can reduce neck strain and gain a steadier working surface with the addition of a laptop cooling pad.
Easy to Use
Another benefit of laptop cooling pads is simply that they’re easy to use. The setup is minimal, and there’s no learning curve for how to operate them; simply place the pad under your computer, turn on if needed, and you are good to go.
More Amenities
Many laptop cooling pads also offer benefits like additional USB ports, which can be helpful if you’re trying to connect your computer to multiple external devices.
Disadvantages of Buying a Laptop cooling pad
Cooling pads could be very helpful. And just like every other product in the world, they come with their own set of disadvantages. Let’s explore them:
Difficult to choose:
Similar to all of the other laptop accessories, when you are choosing a cooling pad, it is very important to choose the one that is compatible with your laptop. You just cannot go wrong with this because if you do, then your laptop could easily get negatively affected by it.
And choosing the right cooling pad is not easy, especially for those who don’t have a lot of experience in buying laptop/ computer accessories.
If you are also new to buying laptop accessories, you need to do a lot of research about your pc and all the types of cooling pads available so that you can make that perfect well-informed choice. And this process, as you can already guess, is very time-consuming.
Increases the ambient temperature:
As the laptop cooling pad cools your system down, it releases the heat into the atmosphere around you, and it slowly increases the ambient temperature. This could be a huge disadvantage if your workspace is not very big in size.
And this increase in the temperature is not something a lot of people prefer as it not only gets a bit uncomfortable but also a little toxic after long hours of use.
Not everyone needs a cooling pad:
Although you can still gain access to all the features we have mentioned above, it is still not an “absolute necessity,” especially if you are a casual user who doesn’t spend a lot of time on your laptop.
As I’ve already mentioned earlier, many laptops have a cooling system. And that can easily handle the processing if you don’t run heavy files very often.
How to choose the best cooling pad for your laptop?
When shopping for a laptop cooling pad, you’ll notice that they’re usually marketed as portable models or desktop models. The key difference between these two types of pads is their size and portability.
Convenient laptop cooling pads are small and lightweight, allowing you to easily carry them with your laptop. Desktop models tend to be larger in size and weight because they offer more space for fans. However, some manufacturers have created hybrid pads that combine both features into one product.
If you travel frequently with your laptop, it might be best to invest in a smaller model. On the other hand, if you use your laptop primarily at home or work, then a larger model may be ideal.
Conclusion
In conclusion, laptop cooling pads are an impressive and low-cost way to resolve your laptop overheating problems. Though not every laptop requires it, most can benefit from one. They’re cool to use, do their job well, and won’t cost you an arm and a leg. If you’re looking for relief from those annoying computer issues, look no further than cooling pads—get yours today!
