Netbook Network

Previously reviewed on Netbook Network was the Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad, a product that worked quite well, but was a bit expensive. This review covers the ArtDio Laptop Cooling Fan CF-100, a much cheaper gadget at a mere $10. So how well does this cheaper alternative as a cooling fan stack up? Read the full and in-depth review on the product to find out.

This review was conducted mainly in comparison to the recently reviewed Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad. The notebook used in this review is the Asus Eee 1005HA netbook.

Right out of the box, I found the cooling fan to be really lightweight. It was notably lighter than the Belkin cooling fan. In terms of size, it’s not as tall as the Belkin, but it’s wider, making it better for laptops with widescreen displays.

The front has two fans, unlike the Belkin cooling  pad. The words “USB FAN” are written on the top. Each corner of the cooling pad has a bit more elevation to increase airflow. At the bottom sits the ArtDio logo. My first complaint goes: The ArtDio cooling pad feels rather cheap. The plastic isn’t too sturdy and can be pressed down in some cases. In some areas, most notably the fan covers, the plastic is really thin, and I see it becoming a problem after constant use.

Here’s a closeup shot on the cooling pad. For some reason, there are shiny reflective stickers in the middle of both fans. It makes the cooling pad look childish and cheap, and from what I see, they’re impossibly hard to remove because you can’t access the fan. If you’ve noticed the rectangular hole above the fan, it’s because that’s where the air intake is from. I did a bit of looking around and it turns out that’s the only place air comes from to be circulated. I don’t exactly get the purpose of having the air circulation holes where the fans are – Wouldn’t that just take in the hot air and spit it back out? The Belkin cooling pad had a design where cool air would go through the bottom and go out the top, much more efficient than sucking in the hot air created by the laptop and pushing it back out in the same relative location.

The backside of the cooling pad consists of a giant information sticker, a USB cable, and some stands that can be flipped open. The information sticker is oversized, takes up a ton of space, and makes it looks really ugly. I couldn’t peel it off easily, it was well stuck on. The flaps on the top allow you to elevate the cooling pad by about a centimeter. They feel rather flimsy and aren’t much use.

The USB cable is tucked in nicely and can be easily removed and inserted in the cooling pad. Although it looks long, the cable comes out from the center of the cooling pad, so in the end, you only get to use a couple inches of cable.

Now, on to seeing how the cooling pad performs.

The first thing I found after plugging it into my netbook was that it was really quiet. The cooling pad was much quieter than I had expected. It sounded a bit like the hum of an external hard drive. My netbook sat pretty nicely on the cooling pad itself, much better than the Belkin cooling pad, because the ArtDio cooling pad is wider and not as tall.

Performance-wise, though, the ArtDio cooling pad doesn’t stack up so well.

I ran my netbook at about 90% CPU at the standard clock rate of 1.6 Ghz. After about 20 minutes, I came back to check and see how hot it was. The starting CPU temperature was about 41 degrees Celsius. But when I came back, the temperature was around 39 degrees Celsius. The bottom of my netbook was notably warm compared to when I tested the Belkin cooling pad. There was a reduction in CPU temperature of only 5%. Compared to the Belkin cooling pad, that’s only about 30% of the performance the Belkin cooling pad got.

What does that mean? As a $10 product, it pretty much barely worked. Sure, it was cheap, but it does a pretty bad job cooling my netbook down. I think it’s time to wrap up this review.

Conclusion:
Cheap and lightweight, the ArtDio Laptop Cooling Pad is for people who don’t have too much budget on their hands. However, performance wise, the ArtDio Laptop Cooling Pad is barely effective at all, and most users will find them selves disappointed.

Pros:
-Cheap ($10)
-Lightweight
-Quiet
-Uses only one USB port that tucks in nicely

Cons:
-Not very effective
-Feels cheap
-Easily bendable, isn’t very solid in terms of build quality
-Has stickers that are impossibly hard to remove
-Method of air circulation isn’t very smart

You can pick up the ArtDio Laptop Cooling Pad at most electronic stores for around $10. Unfortunately, I could not find a way to purchase from ArtDio’s official website.