Monster Technology

As another reviewer says… it worked for about 8 weeks and suddenly died.

So very short longevity is a major issue especially considering the poor warranty which is, of course, a “Lifetime Limited Warranty”. To quote the actual waranty *inside* the package: “…this product shall be free from defects in materials and workmanship for the reasonable lifetime of the product.” Naturally, *you* have to pay return shipping which will cost over half the purchase amount only to get another piece of short-lived landfill fodder. Oh… and for technical support they want the model # of your computer along with the OS version for a USB powered device that doesn’t load *any* software on the system!?!

The package claim is “Whisper Quiet Operation”. To whom? It’s very loud when running. Much louder than most notebook fans when the CPU has gotten a bit warm and the fans speed up to cool it down. Loud enough to have to raise your voice a bit when it’s on. Louder than the power supply fans in my desktop.

In addition it has a poor venting design. The fans vent out the bottom. While there *are* small rubber feet to elevate the unit above a table or other flat, hard surface, this doesn’t work at all if you are using it on your lap or have it sitting on the bed, couch, other fabric covered soft surface… the places *most* people will be using this. Placing the unit on these types of surface causes the fans to speed up and choke off leading to little or no heat reduction on the computer. Whether or not use on this type surface contributes to the premature lifespan of the product is difficult to say, but it can’t help.

Save your money and apply it to a better engineered product.
Rating: 1 / 5

I bought one of these things at Big Lots, my computer overheats all the time so I thought it might work. I’ve had it for a little while now, it worked ok at first, but now it only works if I sit in a certain position and I have to keep moving the cord around in order for it to work. Plus it’s terribly loud. I’d rather spend the extra money and buy one that isn’t a piece of junk.
Rating: 2 / 5

I had two separate problems with my Compaq Presario laptop and both were related to the motherboard becoming too hot that the computer technician had to open and resolder things. Each time they advised me to buy a cool/chill pad before the problem got worse and more expensive to fix (replacing the motherboard or DC adapter rather then just resolder things).

I got lucky and ran into a Pick n’Save/Big Lots advertisement of this chill pad for only $10. Why not give it a try at that price? Roughly two years later I’m on here looking for a new chill pad, and writing this review. The plastic holding the fan broke off and the fan became loose, getting stuck on one of the vent openings. I tried looking for a new fan at Radio Shack to fix this myself but had no luck finding one that fits, so time to buy a new one.

This fan was very durable for the $10 i spent. It only became noisy about 3 months ago when the plastic piece holding the fan was breaking, causing the fan to become loose and therefore make noise as it spun. Unlike cable issues with other chill pad brands, this cable is still looking new. I do plan to keep it and use on my next chill pad. At this very moment, with just 1 working fan, the temperature behind and on the closest corner to my AC/DC connector & motherboard is only slightly warm. All other areas around my laptop feel at room temperature. Noise level on this one fan is very low. I may have just been lucky but this chill pad’s performance went above and beyond what I expected a $10 product to do.

CONS: The cable is USB on one side (connects to PC) and regular plug connector (connects to chill pad) on the other end. The plug connector is larger then the connection on the chill pad causing part of the aluminum made plug to be exposed; however, this has not caused me to experience any performance problems.

For the big time tech people out there, the specs are:

Air Flow: 12.37CFM

Speed: 1600+-10% RPM

Noise Level: 19.04 DBA

Voltage: DC 5V

Fan: 80x80x15mm

M.T.B.F.: 25,000 Hours

Dimension: 310x240x28mm

Would I recommend it? Well every chill pad will break down sooner or later. For $10-$15 you arent lossing very much if you give it a try and breaks down within months, and you got a bargain in your hands if it lasts you over a year.
Rating: 5 / 5