VGA & Other Cooling by stefan @ 2013-05-13
The new Notepal A200 Laptop Cooling Pad from Cooler Master comes with a 2-fan solution, one fan controller and two extra USB 2.0 ports. The pad can be also set at an angle, for more comfortable typing and the top brushed aluminum finish gives the product an overall professional look.
At first we would like to thank Cooler Master for sending a sample of their NotePal A200 Laptop Cooler for testing and reviewing.
"Vision
Enrich the user-experience of mobile devices by incorporating unique innovative design in accessories which increase quality of life.
Mission
Develop accessories constructed out of carbon and / or aluminum for mobile devices inspired by high-tech devices.
Pay-off
Embrace your mobile lifestyle"
Dual 140mm fans with fan speed control
Ergonomic design for better viewing / typing angle
Two adjustable height settings
Elegant brushed aluminum pad
Supports up to 16" laptops
In this review we will take a look at one of Cooler Masters’ products from their Mobile series; the Notepal A200 Dual Fan Laptop Cooling Pad is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard box, with a photo of the product in front, and also with the specification that it supports laptops up to 16’’ in size:
The back side illustrates some of the main product features, in multiple languages:
The box also comes sealed and with a plastic handle, so it is really easy to carry out of the store:
Inside we will find the cooler itself, in Styrofoam and also wrapped inside a transparent plastic bag:
The N200 features a brushed aluminum cover, with perforations in the middle for permitting the air to pass through:
On the lateral sides we will find some plastic areas which can be used when handling the product:
On the top cover we will also find 4 small rubber feet, which will help the laptop remain steady onto the surface:
The middle area also comes with the Cooler Master logo:
On the left side of the product we won’t find any connectors or switches:
However, when looking at the right side of the pad, we will discover some additional connectors:
By looking a little closer, we will find the fan speed controller, one USB port which powers the pad and two extra USB 2.0 ports:
The bottom side of the cooler features two large 140mm fans and some extra rubber feet:
In the middle of each fan we will see a small circular sticker featuring the name of the product and the Cooler Master logo:
The top pad feet can be raised, in order to use the product at an angle:
Here are some views with the feet in the standing position:
Besides the pad, we will also receive a small User Guide and the USB cable which links the pad to a spare port from our laptop:
For testing the cooler, we have used the ACER E1-531 laptop, which features a Pentium B960 CPU, 4GB of preinstalled RAM and the original 500GB drive was replaced with a OWC Mercury Extreme 120GB SSD. The laptop was first used one hour for office work and watching some movie clips and afterwards we have left it sit in IDLE for about 30 minutes. For heating up the internal components we have used the AIDA64 Stress Testing module and for monitoring, we have downloaded the latest version of HWiNFO64. The testing was conducted in 3 modes, each which had 30 minutes of IDLE time for cooling down.
No Cooler Installed
NotePal A200 Minimum Fan Setting
NotePal A200 Maximum Fan Setting
During the time of testing, the temperature inside the room was kept at a steady 20.5 degrees Celsius.
The new Cooler Master NotePal A200 laptop cooling pad is built from high quality materials and permits using the computer at an angle, for a more comfortable typing. The dual fan solution is quite silent at the lowest speed setting and is quite efficient; when using applications or games, we would recommend using a higher setting in order to shave off even more degrees.
By connecting the pad to our laptop, we lose one USB port, but the product is also equipped with a 2-port USB 2.0 hub, so this is not a real issue.
In consequence, if we would like a notebook pad which looks really good, cools decently and features extra connectivity options, the Cooler Master NotePal A200 is a solution we could consider. Nowadays some of the laptop coolers that have been introduced also feature speakers, but most of them also have a larger footprint and judging by their power, these products are not meant to replace standalone audio systems, which would produce much higher quality sound.
The Notepal A200 laptop cooling pad is available online for about 22 Euros.
I would like to thank again to Cooler Master for making this review possible!