Belkin F5L001 Laptop Cooling Pad by Belkin Components
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List Price: Our Price: $17.49 You Save: $12.50 (42%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $14.00 (click here) Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Belkin F5L001 Laptop Cooling Pad
Digital camera Review: *Hahaha-Belkin does it again ... crap
Summary: 1 Stars
Another badly designed item from Belkin. It does nothing to cool the laptop, only effect is drain the battery quicker. As for the height of the stand ... you have to buy a new desk so its lower. The height makes usage uncomfortable. Don't put it on your lap, as your legs will obstruct the air flow. Plus its very uncomfortable, the legs on the stand dig into your legs after prolong usage.
This is Belkin signature, make crap sell it. Then dump the line for a new model with a new wrinkle. I'm glad this wasn't something I bought, but someone gave it to me. Now I'll pass this item on to the heap or recycling.
Digital camera Review: A Good Start, but a (Much Too) Quick Finish
Summary: 2 Stars
I've had this Belkin laptop cooler exactly 3 1/2 months. And from day one until yesterday , it did a reasonable, although not perfect, job of keeping my laptop cooler.
However -
This is a noisy cooler, and, from time to time, the fan has stopped dead. But the real problem came when the port for the connector popped out. It is nowhere to be found, so this cooler must go back to Belkin. Meanwhile, I'm suffering a very hot laptop.
Now I realize that a $30 cooler is not the high-tech equipment that you expect to deliver outstanding performance.
But, really -- 3 1/2 months of use, and then Splat? Even from the least expensive peripheral, I would expect better performance.
On the positive side, the design allows for air circulation by lifting the laptop away from whatever surface you're using. And, when working, it does reduce the heat my laptops produce. So it's not entirely useless.
Two stars!
Update: January 18, 2007
Belkin's replacement cooler arrived today. While I was out the cost of shipping, the replacement itself was provided quickly and at no charge. So far, it is working well. We'll see how long this replacement lasts.
UPDATE: February 3, 2008
The fan on the new cooler has stopped --- dead. So, I've gotten approximately three weeks service from this new one.
Not a good omen.
I will return this one for a new one, but the shipping on these coolers is adding up to more than the actual cost of the product, so this will be my last try. If the third cooler fails, I will ask for a refund.
I really like the design of this cooler, so I am very disappointed that the quality is so poor. Amazon will not allow me to change the stars, but if I could I'd change my rating to one star!
Digital camera Review: A Great Choice
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm sorry to see all the reviews from people having quality problems with this item. I suppose Belkin deserves it - my first unit became noisy and I had to have them replace it because the store from which I bought it was too far away to drive back. But the fan really is teriffic.
It is not noisy at all. It is as quiet as can be. It's intelligently designed so that the fan isn't in direct contact with the bottom of the laptop, enabling it to pull air out and away, and it's very effective at cooling.
It doesn't LOOK like it would be comfortable on your lap, but it is.
I haven't had any problems with the power cord, but the newly-designed one is shorter than on my first unit, so now I have to use a USB extension. Not a biggie, because I already had one I wasn't using, but I do think they could (and should) have made it a few inches longer.
I got a second one at Costo for $18.95. If this one ever dies, I'll buy another. Perhaps they should have designed the fan to be more durable (judging by others' comments here) and charged more for it, but I'm pretty happy with this unit, and you can't beat the price. I'd recommend it to a friend.
Digital camera Review: A couple design flaws
Summary: 2 Stars
Unlike other reviewers, I didn't really have any problems with noise. I have to put my hand to feel the air blowing to know that it's on.
There are two problems with it, though. The electricity port in it is very poorly constructed. The port where you attach the cord can fall into the unit, so you can't plug in. Other people who have reviewed this had the same problem and had to send the item back to be repaired.
It's easy to fix yourself though. I did mine by removing the screws at the bottom, then putting the port back in its proper place just using some clear tape. It's easy to do. It's better if you fix it yourself than to have to waste money and time on sending it back to Belkin. They won't cover the defect.
I have another laptop cooling fan and it sucks the air downward. This Belkin one blows it upward. This can be a problem because it would get the inside of your computer dusty and that could damage your laptop in the long run.
The whole reason why you buy a laptop fan is to extend the life of your laptop by reducing heat, but in doing that, this product could blow dust into it and eventually kill it. The purpose is defeated.
The problem with the elctrical port doesn't bother me that much (thought it is a waste of time and I shouldn't need to be doing that). The problem with dust, though, is what makes this product sub-par.
Digital camera Review: A notch better than expected... but a black power cable? Ugh.
Summary: 4 Stars
Despite the mixed reviews, I decided to give this a try because of the low price and free super saver shipping.
Unit operates quietly; very satisfied in this department. It is not silent, but it is quieter than the internal cooling fans on my MacBook. Definitely seems to reduce fan speed on my MacBook when chewing up processor cycles in Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
My single complaint is the supplied USB/power cable. When you have a nice white computer, and a nice white power cable, and nice white accessories, and you buy a nice matching white cooling stand, what on earth makes Belkin think you want a black power cable to go with your white cooling stand? This seemed like a cheap and tacky oversight on their part. Fortunately, I had an identical, but clear, USB power cable from another unused accessory, and I'm using that.
Because my MacBook often sits on a desk in a very high-traffic, high-visibility area, I probably would not have used this stand at all if I had not had a less-clashing power cable. I know it has nothing to do with the functionality of the product, but it just amazes me that they would supply a black power cable with a product that you have the choice of choosing black or white, especially when they know that most of the purchasers getting white are probably getting it to use with their white or silver Mac, for which power cables, iPhone cables, and so on are also white.