# Laptop cooling mats



## LvDemWings (Sep 11, 2005)

Are cooling mats for laptops necessary? Are they designed to keep the computer cool or to protect a users legs? I find that I like laying on the couch so the computer is on my lap. It was very warm but I found that if I popped the battery out it stays much cooler. Someone at work suggested a cooling mat to cool the computer down. So what does a cooling mat do?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I haven't tried one, but calling my laptop a "laptop" is a stretch. It gets too hot to sit on anyone's lap, even when wearing heavy jeans.

I'm sure they're a good thing from a life-of-product standpoint though.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

If your use your laptop a lot while setting in a cloth cover chair or in your lap where fabric blocks the air intakes and exhaust then yes they can be helpfull.


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## Teresa S. (Mar 2, 2006)

I have one and I think it does both. The laptop and my leg's temp drops a great bit. I purchased mine new for 9 dollars.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

LvDemWings said:


> Someone at work suggested a cooling mat to cool the computer down. So what does a cooling mat do?


Near as I can tell, a cooling mat is designed mainly to separate you from some of your money. Laptops have their own fans and most will keep themselves at an OK operating temperature, in which case the only issue is where it's putting the heat when it leaves the laptop. If that's a problem, a board will solve it just as well, and a board is cheaper, quieter, and less likely to break.

Of the 8 or so laptops I've had in the last 10 years, only one could sometimes be uncomfortable to hold on the lap, and it was a (now) old one that didn't do CPU frequency scaling. My next laptop was the same model, but a slightly newer version that did frequency scaling, and heat wasn't a problem. So maybe you need to check your power management settings and make sure your CPU is slowing down when it's not needed. If it's staying at high speed all the time, it's putting out more heat than it needs to.


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## LvDemWings (Sep 11, 2005)

Thanks everyone for your replies.


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

I don't use a cooling pad, but I do use a laptop "desk". It's just a kidney shaped flat piece of wood, about 1/4 inch think. I can sit in the recliner, and balance the "desk" over the arms of the chair. The main purpose is to keep the fans flowing freely. When you set a laptop on a soft surface, you block those vents and it can overheat.


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## sage_morgan (Dec 18, 2005)

We like our Coolpad, but I think if you put ya laptop on half of one of those bamboo dish strainers (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JKqlL16lL._AA280_.jpg ), you'd have plenty of ventilation and relieve the hot place on ya lap, and we DO get hot even in the winter, but bad in the summer. 

Older hotter laptops do better with ventilation, and it gets very hot here in the summertime.


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## MadAussieInUSA (Sep 21, 2006)

just get a serving tray and sit it on your legs and put the laptop on it.

keeps the ventilation ports clear and your legs happy


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## RainyDay (Feb 11, 2008)

If your just going to be using your laptop at home, sure, a serving tray or black of wood would work fine. But, if your going to use your laptop in public, and don't want to look like an idiot, I'd invest 7 dollars into a cooling pad.


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