Cooler Master Notepal U3 Laptop Cooling Pad $17.99 after MIR + FS

the u3 is a pretty decent laptop cooler... and this price is about as good as it gets for the U3... cooler master rebates do take a long time, but they come... used to be a check but my last one was a rebate card...

Cooler Master Notepal U3 Review

I just received it today and I think I am going to return it. It's nice, elegant and simple but wasn't aware that the fans were pushing only 15cfm/each which is not much help for my L702x. I could mod it and install a 120mm or 140mm or 200mm fan, but it won't solve my other dilemma which is it won't fit in my laptop backpack. It would fit if the height of the rear was 2 inches or smaller, but it's 2.56".

Let me do a pros and cons about this laptop cooling pad.

Pros = Nice, elegant and simple design and love the brush aluminum finish.
Cons = But the cables hanging and clip-on speed controller ruin the elegance of the unit.

Pros = Adjustable clip-on fans.
Cons = Adjustability doesn't make up for low airflow/cfm. When someone is looking to purchase a laptop cooling pad, they need as much airflow as they can get and noise is not an issue since I'm sure their laptop's fan can get really loud under load.

Pros = Portable and lightweight.
Cons = Will not fit in my Belkin Evo 17" Backpack because of the rear height of the unit is too high. Length and width on the other hand are almost exact or a tad bigger than my L702x 17.3" Dell Laptop which is fine and will fit in my backpack if it wasn't for the tall height.

Pros = USB plug is passthrough, so you won't lose a usb port if you needed all your usb ports.
Cons = USB is fixed and might fail eventually, unlike if it has a built in usb port and use a separate usb cable to connect the unit to the laptop. Also the unit's USB plug I think is best used for laptops with USB ports on the right side and not the left side.

Pros = Can be used as a carrying case.
Cons = The rubber grip which is supposed to be a handle when using it as a carrying case comes off easily and handling it on the handle is kind of awkward. It's like it wasn't really made to be a handle, but it is somewhat a handle .



It's a great unit, but to me i think it is still in its beta form.

It would have been nice if it had the following:

1. Lose the fans and install a few built in 3-pin fan connectors, so anyone can use any case fan of their choosing (Deltas or Kazes but would need more power for these types of fans).

2. Lose the clip-on speed controller and make it a fix mount in the rear close to the corner if possible.

3. Built in USB Ports and no fixed usb cables, so it's tangle free when packing or moving.

4. 1½ or 2 inches max height would be nice.


Hope Coolermaster come across my review and suggestions and maybe their next Laptop Cooling Pad would be much better.


I'm looking at the Notepal X2 and X3 currently, but leaning more towards X3 since i need tons of airflow.

I went with the new Notepal A200. I'll see if it's better than U3.

Quote from YanYan_001 : I went with the new Notepal A200. I'll see if it's better than U3.

Please let us know I'm also debating between the U3 and the Notepal A200
thanks

Quote from wilhelm_thomas : Please let us know I'm also debating between the U3 and the Notepal A200 thanks

Will do. It's arriving today and will let you know my thoughts of it.