Antec Notebook Cooler 200 Review

Convection is when moving air transfers heat to or from a surface. This is the method used by most laptop coolers to keep your CPU, GPU and other critical components from overheating. There are three major factors to effective cooling (or heating), namely temperature difference, surface area, and air flow. Any differences in these factors will lead to differences in performance, even for the same cooler. The Benchmark Reviews team tries hard to provide you with fair and repeatable testing. The Antec Notebook Cooler 200 uses all three factors to achieve effective cooling with minimal power. Our tests show which of those factors makes the biggest difference.

1. Temperature Difference: A warm laptop sitting on a warm lap doesn't provide very much cooling. Most laptop coolers have equal gains simply by getting the computer off your lap. Exposing the laptop underside to cooler ambient air causes a larger difference in temperature which results in faster cooling. For comparative testing the temperature difference between laptop components and the air should be held constant. Even if the laptop cooler sits on your lap the air fed through the fan might get some pre-warming and not be as effective.
2. Surface Area: It should seem reasonable that the more area you cool, the better the cooling. If a fan is pointed at one small spot, well, that one spot may get cool, but the rest of the laptop is probably still hot. This is because heat "travels" slowly through most objects. As mentioned above, cooling the surface increases the speed at which heat travels. So if you only cool one spot, you are only increasing the speed at one spot. More area equals more cooling!
3. Air Flow: Surface area and temperature difference are relatively easy to hold constant and to measure. The differences in laptop coolers will largely be differences in air flow! Understanding air flow requires a little bit of magic and large amounts of mathematics! For starters, the air needs to get to the hot parts. Additionally, the faster the flow, the better the cooling. A turbulent air stream (pounding against the surface) cools better than a smooth air stream. There are many more aspects to air flow that we won't cover.

In our tests we'll focus on performance by keeping things constant and simple. While performance is important, function is only part of a good product. Laptops are high movement objects and take a small beating. The laptop cooler needs to take a similar barrage and look cool in the process.

Manufacturer: Antec, Inc.
Product Name: Notebook Cooler 200
Price As Tested:$57.21 (Amazon) or $59.99 (Newegg)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Antec.

Antec Notebook Cooler Features

• 200mm Antec Big Boy fan with two speed settings delivers maximum cooling
• Powered by a USB connector - no batteries or power adapters!
• Internal blue LED illumination delivers unbeatable style and can be toggled on or off through a convenient switch
• Unique design enables effortless operation on either a flat surface or the user's lap

Notebook Cooler 200 Specifications

Closer Look: Notebook Cooler 200

My laptop is often a couch-side, bed-side, coffee table companion. It rides on the airplane, in the car, and sometimes even to church. I've never toted around a laptop cooler, but the handle on the box of the Notebook Cooler 200 made me actually consider taking it along.

Actually, the Styrofoam inside made me consider putting my laptop in there instead. Not really, but it was good packaging. The name seems a little generic which is probably why Antec nicknames this the NBC200.

Smooth metal and hard poly plastic comprise the bulk of the cooler making it very light and solidly constructed.

The front and back grills are both metal; protecting the business part of the cooler. A single, gigantic fan is housed in the middle of the cooler. This is the biggest fan in a cooler I've personally seen.

The underside consists of three legs for support and the extended fan housing. Rubber feet on the bottom keep the cooler fixed even on glossy surfaces.

The back leg contains the circuitry, USB cable and controls for the LEDs and fan. The USB cable is on the short side but should be just enough for the larger laptops.

Antec Cooler Detailed Features

One 200mm fan services all cooling needs. Everything looks to be held together with machined threads and screws.

With nine big blades, the fan spins quietly and almost seems slow. Even on high there is no noticeable sound.

The four plastic surfaces provide more than style; they lift the laptop away from the surface allowing room for air to flow. Open channels more evenly distribute the air across the entire surface of the laptop; factors one and two at work.

Controls are simple and functional with an on/off switch for the LEDs and high/low switch for the fan speed. There is no off switch for the fan aside from unplugging the USB cable.

Testing & Results

Testing Methodology

In order to test the power claims, a Kill-A-Watt Model P4400 was used to measure power consumption. The baseline reading was taken with the laptop at idle with no extraneous processes. The Notebook Cooler 200 was then plugged into the laptop's USB port and allowed to idle for 5 minutes. Power consumption readings were taken with the fan speed set to low and high. The LED power consumption was also checked to see if they pulled any noticeable power. For reference purposes the power consumption is listed in VA (apparent power) and watts, and the current draw is listed in amps. All readings are at AC 60Hz 123V (standard household circuit).

To test the cooling effectiveness the laptop was again allowed to idle until temperatures stabilized. Temperatures from the hard drive, and both CPU cores were recorded using SpeedFan, and surface temperatures were recorded using an Exetech 42505 IR thermometer. The fan was then set to high, allowed to idle for 5 minutes and readings taken again.

Test System

• Motherboard: Toshiba Satellite P105
• System Memory: 1014 MB RAM Samsung 266 MHz DDR2
• Processor: Intel Centrino Duo T2050 @ 1.60 GHz
• Video: NVidia GeForce Go 7900 GS
• Disk Drive 1: 100GB Hitachi ATA SATA
• Optical Drive: LG Electronics ATAPI DVD
• Operating System: Windows XP SP3

Results

With the fan on, the differences in power consumption were very small. Because the differences were near the resolution of the Kill-A-Watt there will be some measurement error. The following table shows the power consumption of the laptop at idle, with fan on low and with fan on high.

In all temperature tests the internal notebook fan was disabled. All the cooling resulted from the Notebook Cooler 200. The measured temperatures in degrees Celsius are listed below.

This test would be considered conservative since the CPU was not stressed. A stressed CPU reaches higher temperatures resulting in a larger temperature difference. This would cause better cooling results. This is considered a transient heat test because 5 minutes is not long enough for the internal temperatures to stabilize. This type of test was chosen because CPU loads change frequently, and 5 minutes represents typical use expectations. The surface temperatures were used to construct a thermal profile with and without the fan.

Red represents hot spots while blue and purple represent cooler spots. The thermal profile on the left represents the temperature without the fan while the image on the right uses the same scale to show the external temperatures using the fan. Overall cooling was improved, but one hot-spot still remains.

Notebook Cooler Final Thoughts

When I grab my laptop I'm most likely headed for the couch. The NBC200 sits comfortably on top of my legs. I found it most comfortable to put my legs between the cooler feet and the fan housing. This allowed plenty of room for cooler air to get through the fan. But I'm rather slim. I think that thicker legs will require resting the cooler feet on top of your lap. The narrow bars did not bother me much, but they could cause some discomfort with long use.

Having the switches located on the back was somewhat inconvenient. Trying to flip switches is like trying to stand on a bathroom scale holding a large box and trying to read the numbers. The locations and setting could probably be memorized after some use, but it would be more convenient to have them at least on the side. It would also be nice to have additional USB ports. The USB power cable does not have a pass-through so you need to free up a USB port for the cooler.

My favorite feature is the huge fan; slow spinning and bathed in blue light. It was both effective and stunning. This cooler is bound to get good responses while on the road. Antec assumed that one size fits all. This might be true for laptop, but not for laps. I did not have any comfort issues, but since there are no adjustments, others might.

Antec Notebook Cooler 200 Conclusion

Antec did their research with this notebook cooler. They used all the important factors in convection cooling to get large cooling with minimal power. In all tests the power stayed well under the specified values. The degrees of cooling using this cooler was up to 60% more than other coolers reviewed on our site.

A large front grill with hexagon holes brings attention immediately to the fan. The blue LEDs shining on the fan blades make for a cool look; especially in a darker environment. The raised panels are meant to improve performance, but they make a large contribution to the look of this cooler.

The frame is mostly machined metal held together by machined, counter-sunk screws. The raised panels that contact the laptop are made of a hard plastic allowing for both durability and more gentle contact with the computer. It is light and very sturdy. It can be grabbed by one side and easily hefted along.

Two different fan speeds allow you to meet high or low cooling requirements. The LEDs can be turned off if they might be inappropriate for your environment (maybe at work). The USB cable is short, but not too short and allows you to draw power right from the laptop. There are no additional USB ports which can be inconvenient. Also, no adjustments for height or angle might cause discomfort for some.

The Notebook Cooler 200 has top performance at minimum power draw. The platform is extremely robust and contains the essential features. It sells for $57.21 (Amazon) or $59.99 (Newegg) with the high performance laptops. Though it lacks frills, it belongs in the top of the pack due to excellent performance. Given the price it should probably have at least one USB port. Prices from more online retailers can be found using the Benchmark Reviews price comparison tool.

Pros:

+ Very light, strong frame
+ Large attractive fan
+ Top-notch cooling
+ Fancy blue LED
+ Low power consumption
+ Quiet operation

Cons:

- No USB ports
- No ergonomic adjustments
- Pricey

Ratings:

• Performance: 9.75
• Appearance: 9.50
• Construction: 9.75
• Functionality: 8.75
• Value: 7.25

Final Score: 9.0 out of 10.

Excellence Achievement: Benchmark Reviews Golden Tachometer Award.

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