What kind are good?

The kind with fans or Peltier coolers in them.

But you shouldn't need one unless you have a cheesy, poorly-built notebook.

I've never had any problem with my IBM.

(OK, that is, until Fedora 8 - which by default dials-down the fan speed, and even if you dial it back up, insists on dialing it back down when it returns from sleep. Annoying as heck, as it trashes the screen contents. So, I can't let it sleep in Fedora - Windows is fine.)

The iLap is awesome
[amazon.com...]

It's made of aluminum which actually does dissipate heat well. No need to plug in to USB or whatever to run fans (I had one like this and using the USB all of the time caused some sleep/wake issues for some reason).

It's expensive but imo worth it as it makes it possible to use your laptop on your lap for an extended time.

Note: I never use the cushion on the front. Make sure to stick the pads on the top so your lappy doesn't fall off.

i have the usb dual fan gizmo and it doesn't do anything to keep the laptop cool... waste of $

Yeah, I got one, too, but I'm not impressed. My stupid HP overheats if you have more than one or two apps running or two IE windows. How lame is that?

There should be some kind of universal heating rating in the spec sheet of laptops. You drop $1,000 or $2,000 or whatever and then find out it overheats.

My mat has a fan to cool via USB, but I think if it's running, it drains the battery. The battery sucks, too. I was hoping the mat/cooler would be good, but I'll probably get a new Mac Air--if that 3lb machine doesn't overheat.

It's 2008; laptops have been around for decades? Why are the engineers and inventors so lame the overheating issue wasn't solved years ago!?

But hey, if it's only your computer and not the battery that overheats, you shouldn't worry? Right, Dell? :-P

p/g

I have a 2 year old Dell XPS notebook. I live in Southeast Asia where year round ambient temps are very high. Recently my Dell started getting worryingly hot, even when not working hard. Cool pads are totally useless.
I got my screwdrivers out and had a fiddle around inside. I wish I could post images here so I could show you the filth inside the machine. This model has two fans and three radiators, two of which were completely blocked with dust...

... runs as cool as a cucumber now :)

[edited by: Asia_Expat at 9:59 am (utc) on Mar. 19, 2008]

I wish I could post images here so I could show you the filth inside the machine.

I'm always amazed when a computer comes to me for service from a friend. They sit the machine on the floor, run it all the time and never clean it. The components get packed with dust and begin to fail. Sad. A couple of computers that I keep clean have run flawlessly for 6+ years.

I have a laptop cooler and it does alright. I have a tiny little Sony laptop that gets really hot despite the fan running as hard as it can. I guess it wasn't designed well, but it's about the size of an 8.5x11 piece of paper so I put up with it. I have a USB powered cooler for it which I use when I'll be working for a while. (like on a plane or a hotel) It works fairly well and the air that comes out of its ports is warm when the laptop is hot so I know it must be helping.

[edited by: SEOMike at 7:38 pm (utc) on April 1, 2008]