Do Laptop Cooling Pads Work?

Laptops are most popular due to their portability. The Achilles' heel of this technology is the overheating problem, which drastically affects its performance and in some cases, leads to system failure. A cooling pad is an external solution to this problem of heating.

The price of compactification is heating problems. Laptops are made possible by miniaturization and compactification of electronic devices. They have heavy duty electronic devices, ingeniously cramped in a very small space. Heat is generated in every electronic device that has a resistance. More the devices, more is the heating.

The CPU chip, graphics chip, audio card, and hard drive are some of the components in a laptop, that heat up with time. Especially, if you are a gamer or you run multitasking operations on your notebook, then the heating problem is bound to plague it.

The irony about laptops is that you cannot really put them in your laps anymore, due to heating problems. They can keep your lap warm during winter though.

There is a limit up to which the inbuilt integrated circuit devices can get heated and stay operational. Even the laptop cooling fans, which constitute the basic cooling system, has its limitations.

Once the device temperatures go beyond a threshold, there is an inbuilt software provision that simply shuts down the laptop to prevent permanent damage. So, it's very important to monitor laptop temperature.

Now, there is an effective solution to the overheating problem, which is a cooling pad. There are other maintenance techniques which can help bring the temperature down. They will also be discussed further.

These pads are known to reduce laptop temperatures, by as much as 15% to 20%, according to some studies. To cool your laptop, you just place it on the pad, after connecting its power cable to a USB port. Some of them work on batteries too.

How does this mechanism work? There are two main techniques of cooling, which are active and passive. A cooling pad is manufactured in a variety of ways, based on active and passive cooling techniques.

Active ones use air or fluid circulation to draw heat away from the laptop. Whereas, a passive pad is manufactured from materials which are thermally conducting. They are usually made up of aluminum, plastic, or special heat dissipating smart materials.

One example is a pad with multiple fans, which simply cools the laptop base, through blowing. A type of passive pad uses a crystalline material, which turns into a gel, with heat absorption and solidifies again, when the laptop is cool.

Besides using a pad, following are the ways which will cool your laptop even more.

• Clean up the laptop fan and vent regularly.
• Use a laptop cooling stand, that elevates your laptop, giving it breathing space and ventilation on the downside.
• Select low power usage settings on the laptop, to reduce power usage and thereby, reduce heat generation.

Use a cooling pad and follow the suggestions given. These measures will be enough to keep your laptop functioning happily, day in and day out.