A laptop/notebook cooler, cooler pad or chill mat is an accessory for laptop computers that helps reduce their operating temperature. Normally used when the laptop's fan device is unable to sufficiently cool the laptop, a cooling pad may house active or passive cooling methods and rests beneath the laptop. Active coolers move air or liquid to direct heat away from the laptop quickly, while passive methods may rely on thermally conductive materials or increasing passive airflow.
One example of passive cooling for laptops involves using a unique type of cooling crystals to cool laptop computers. This unique material comes in a solid crystalline state. As a user places a laptop on top of this crystalline material, the solid crystalline material changes into a gel over time. When there is no heat coming from the laptop the gel-like material changes back into a solid.
Though many cooler pads support the use of a power adapter, they typically run on power drawn through one of the laptop's USB ports. Many cooler pads therefore compensate with a built-in USB hub. Other advanced features include card readers for various forms of media such as keydrives, Memory Sticks and 2.5" Laptop hard disk drives.
Some of these "powered" coolers are designed to draw heat from the underside of the computer; others work in the opposite way by blowing cool air towards the machine. The fan speed is adjusted manually or automatically on certain models and on others stays at a fixed speed.
The contribution of heat from the energy requirement of the cooler is very minimal impact as USB ports are limited to 2.5 watts of output power, therefore the cooling effect is dominant.
Studies conducted by California Polytechnic University show that heat build-up in notebooks is reduced by 15 to 20 percent, when a laptop is situated at an angle compared to a laptop in a horizontal position. Free air cooling which is a passive method and requires no additional power has been proven as an effective method of laptop cooling.[citation needed] Many coolers that utilise this passive method are also available.
 |
This computer hardware-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
