The bad part about many laptops is that they really push the thermal limits of their generation, which translates into hot knees if you actually have the computer on your lap. To counter this, vendors have produced many different contraptions meant to cool the underside of your portable PC, while trying to add additional functionality at the same time.
There are so many laptop coolers on the market that we really can’t keep track of them. All of them have some sort of cooling mechanism by the way of fans, but they all differ greatly in different respects. Some are quiet, some are metal, some have speakers, some offer additional storage, but I have never encountered the “one cooler to rule them all”.
Coolink has produced their entry into the fray with their LapChilla notebook cooler, which tries to cater to different laptop users. It is very light, and therefore portable, but also supports a tilt feature that many road warriors may appreciate when they reach a temporary camp. Here’s the marketing fluff…
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Are you tired of getting a hot lap when working with your notebook on your legs?
Thanks to its big base area as well as the adjustable tilt angle that ensures optimal ergonomics, the LapChilla is perfectly suited for both office use and working on your lap. The built-in 220mm fan will provide your laptop with quiet, highly efficient cooling, thereby reducing the risk of heat-related failures.
Weighing only 0.8kg, the LapChilla can be completely collapsed so that it easily fits common laptop bags. Whether it’s on your couch, on campus or in the metro: The LapChilla looks great just about anywhere!
On the next page we test this sukka out…
The LapChilla comes with the unit itself and a small user’s manual and no-slip clear silicone feet. The unit is made of white plastic with a large blue fan. From the top there are ventilation holes for the fan and markings to help guide the front when making the unit tilt. Since the unit is only 12 x 10 inches, then it is really intended to support 15″ notebooks only.
What makes this laptop cooler different is its large 220mm fan. It is colored blue and spins at a very low rotation speed (600rpm) which translates into practically noiseless airflow. The quietest of rooms can have a 25dBA rating, so this fan’s 16dBA makes it completely silent.
Like other notebook coolers, the fan is powered by your laptop’s USB drive. Normally you would have to sacrifice one of your PC’s USB ports, but Coolink has a pass-through USB plug, which is kept close to the unit via a coiled cable.
One of the LapChilla’s most touted features is its ability to tilt. To make this adjustment, you must remove the top of the cooler from the bottom and insert the top front into tabs on the bottom, and align it just so. Taking this unit apart is what makes you realize just how cheaply built this thing is. The plastic bends and gives (hence why it cannot support the weight of 17″ laptops), and setting up the tilt is rather difficult. Putting the unit back together into its original position is nary impossible.
In terms of performance, the LapChilla does about as good a job as other notebook coolers. Under full load our Dell Inspiron was cooled from 91 degrees to 85, and our GPU was cooled from 59 degrees to 55. Idle temps were only a few degrees less for both the CPU and GPU.
On the next page we analyze if it’s worth your money…
The main point that should interest you about the LapChilla is its tiltability and light weight. It can easily be stuffed into your laptop bag without a hassle, and can actually make your computer more usable. Imagine parking your laptop at a guest cubicle and not having to creen your neck downwards to read.
While the LapChilla does what it’s supposed to do, it feels rather cheap, and is rather unweildy. It just doesn’t satisfy our craving for a solid product, which is what you’d expect from something that hoists hundreds of dollars worth of technology into the air.
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