Solved Laptop Cooling Stands

[WartHog]

I'm looking @ buying the xpad for my wife's laptop. Any insight or are there better ones out there?

Thanks.

 

[Devux]

Looks like that would be tops for anyone that puts their laptop on their...lap I keep my laptop on a table almost 100% of the time so I just use a little Antec piece;
http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MjIyMA==
passive laptop cooling pads are the way to go though.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Beau,
I bought two of these X-Pads and they work extremely well. But this is what I'm using now and I'll never go back!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006HVM4A

 

[SlasherIT]

Don't bother using a laptop cooling pad, they are a waste of money and aren't very good in general. You should actually fix the overheating problem by cleaning out the laptop from the inside such as the heatsink (which will have loads of dust), replacing internal fans for a better one, applying Arctic Silver thermal paste, and, if you have the time, undervolting the laptop.

 

[WartHog]

Devux, thanks for help.

Alan, that thing looks awesome, but when Patty's using the laptop it is almost always on her lap. BTW, tried to rep ya, but I need to spread some more around. Sorry.

 

[WartHog]

Don't bother using a laptop cooling pad, they are a waste of money and aren't very good in general. You should actually fix the overheating problem by cleaning out the laptop from the inside such as the heatsink (which will have loads of dust), replacing internal fans for a better one, applying Arctic Silver thermal paste, and, if you have the time, undervolting the laptop.

Thanks Slasher. I apreciate the input. Now if I can just figure out how to get this thing apart?! On reflection though I'm not sure it is an "overheating" problem. The computer stays on my wife's lap, so I need something to raise it up and allow the computer's colling system to do its job.

 

[SlasherIT]

Even though it goes on the laptop, it shouldn't heat up much really. Could you tell me the laptop model and make?

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Beau,
Then this is the baby for your wife. This little bad boy is just flat out awesome.
Logitech - Lapdesk N700 with Speakers

 

[dogbert2]

I use a lapcool 3 (dual fan unit) which is USB powered, works well enuf to keep the laptop cool during use.

Opening and cleaning the fans is a good idea also, but I would advise caution when doing this. Diagrams of
laptop internals help also (see vendor's site for information).

 

[WartHog]

Alan, that thing is SUHWEET!

dogbert, the lapcool 3 is a great price. And looks really functional. Do your legs get warm from the plastic case?

 

[WartHog]

Even though it goes on the laptop, it shouldn't heat up much really. Could you tell me the laptop model and make?

Slasher, it's a Compac Presario CQ70. I DL'd SIW and the temps are all within the normal range.

 

[SlasherIT]

SIW? Never heard of that program before. Can you try checking your temperature with HWMonitor CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting and posting the results you are getting when:

a) Laptop is on desk.
b) Laptop is on lap.

Btw, can you flip the laptop face down and take a picture of the rear and attach it so that I my figure out how you may go about cleaning the fan/heatsink.

 

[whs]

One of my HP laptops overheated from day1 - so there was nothing to clean. I ran it for a year with a coolpad which lowered the temp by appr. 5C. Then I replaced the HDD with an SSD which finally fixed the problem.

 

[SlasherIT]

Well of course it depends on the laptop, but his laptop seems to be 2-3 years old, therefore it must have plenty of dust to be cleaned. Besides, some OEM's do a pretty bad job of applying thermal paste to the laptop, which is bad for the laptop in general, so manually removing and replacing the thermal paste is recommended. Switching a HDD for a SSD is a very good idea but is quite costly and not everyone can do the switch, not to the amount of GB they would want in their drives anyway.

 

[WartHog]

Slasher, here's the SIW program. I've been using it for years along with HWMonitor, CPUID, etc... I trust it. Good basic program.

This is a screenshot of the laptop on the desk soon after idle:

Here's the pics you requested:


Here's a snip after use still sitting on desk. Not gaming, but general surfing, etc...


Here's the temps while sitting on a towel for 1/2 hour:

 

[WartHog]

One of my HP laptops overheated from day1 - so there was nothing to clean. I ran it for a year with a coolpad which lowered the temp by appr. 5C. Then I replaced the HDD with an SSD which finally fixed the problem.

I don't think the laptop is overheating. Just too hot to sit on Patty's lap for a long period of time. She lets it hang over her left leg to keep from blocking the screens. I'd love to throw an SSD in there.

 

[WartHog]

Beau,
Then this is the baby for your wife. This little bad boy is just flat out awesome.
Logitech - Lapdesk N700 with Speakers

Thanks Alan and everyone else!

I bought her one of these from Newegg. Free shipping and $64.99. I'll just return it if she doesn't like it.

Slasher, I'm still interested in your thoughts (and anyone else's) on the temps and opening this thing up. I have some Arctic Silver and I'll put new on the CPU if I can.

 

[whs]

One of my HP laptops overheated from day1 - so there was nothing to clean. I ran it for a year with a coolpad which lowered the temp by appr. 5C. Then I replaced the HDD with an SSD which finally fixed the problem.

I don't think the laptop is overheating. Just too hot to sit on Patty's lap for a long period of time. She lets it hang over her left leg to keep from blocking the screens. I'd love to throw an SSD in there.

LOL, although it is called a "laptop", you should not really use it in your lap without a solid surface under it. A better suggestion for that kind of usage would be a tablet - e.g. a RiM Playbook (my preference) or a Motorola Xoom. They produce quasi no heat at all.

The switch to the SSD cost me appr. $100 for an OCZ Vertex2 and I had an enclosure lying around into which I stuck the HDD for external storage. But USB2 enclosures are cheap anyhow.

 

[SlasherIT]

@whs, Ya $100... for 60GB. To me its just not worth my $100 for just 60GB of disk space, even though it is way faster and doesn't produce heat.

Well, your temperatures are actually really good for a laptop, my laptop idles at 50 C, gonna fix it soon, but this HP is very complex in the insides (have to disassemble EVERYTHING from the laptop to get into the heatsink ).

Ok, I finally managed to find a tutorial (consists of 4 vids) to disassemble your laptop (in the tutorial, its a CQ60, but its really similar to the CQ70, so it should be ok).

Watch the videos, then go ahead and clean the fans/heatsink and then if you want go ahead and place Arctic Silver on the CPU. . Good luck.

Here is the tutorial:

YouTube - ‪Part 1 of 4 How to take apart/disassemble a Compaq presario CQ60 laptop‬‏
YouTube - ‪Part 2 of 4 How to take aprat/disassemble Compaq presario CQ60 laptop‬‏
YouTube - ‪Part 3 of 4 How to take off your Compaq presario CQ 60 monitor, and remove the keyboard.‬‏
YouTube - ‪Part 4 of 4 How to take aprat/disassemble Compaq presario CQ laptop full take down.‬‏

 

[WartHog]

One of my HP laptops overheated from day1 - so there was nothing to clean. I ran it for a year with a coolpad which lowered the temp by appr. 5C. Then I replaced the HDD with an SSD which finally fixed the problem.

I don't think the laptop is overheating. Just too hot to sit on Patty's lap for a long period of time. She lets it hang over her left leg to keep from blocking the screens. I'd love to throw an SSD in there.

LOL, although it is called a "laptop", you should not really use it in your lap without a solid surface under it. A better suggestion for that kind of usage would be a tablet - e.g. a RiM Playbook (my preference) or a Motorola Xoom. They produce quasi no heat at all.


The switch to the SSD cost me appr. $100 for an OCZ Vertex2 and I had an enclosure lying around into which I stuck the HDD for external storage. But USB2 enclosures are cheap anyhow.

whs, $100 for an SSD is a great price. However, since zi just spent $65 don't think I'll be spending the $100 any time soon.

@whs, Ya $100... for 60GB. To me its just not worth my $100 for just 60GB of disk space, even though it is way faster and doesn't produce heat.

Well, your temperatures are actually really good for a laptop, my laptop idles at 50 C, gonna fix it soon, but this HP is very complex in the insides (have to disassemble EVERYTHING from the laptop to get into the heatsink ).

Ok, I finally managed to find a tutorial (consists of 4 vids) to disassemble your laptop (in the tutorial, its a CQ60, but its really similar to the CQ70, so it should be ok).

Watch the videos, then go ahead and clean the fans/heatsink and then if you want go ahead and place Arctic Silver on the CPU. . Good luck.

Here is the tutorial:

YouTube - ‪Part 1 of 4 How to take apart/disassemble a Compaq presario CQ60 laptop‬‏
YouTube - ‪Part 2 of 4 How to take aprat/disassemble Compaq presario CQ60 laptop‬‏
YouTube - ‪Part 3 of 4 How to take off your Compaq presario CQ 60 monitor, and remove the keyboard.‬‏
YouTube - ‪Part 4 of 4 How to take aprat/disassemble Compaq presario CQ laptop full take down.‬‏

WOW Slasher!!!! You sure spent some time doing this research. Thank you very much!