• Review: Logitech Cooling Pad N200

    Review: Logitech Cooling Pad N200

    Nachiket 'therapist' Mhatre, Jul 22, 2011 2255 hrs IST

    Cools like a ninja - only more comfortably.

    Lightweight; Comfortable padding with breathable fabric; Good cable management; Speed adjustable fan; Silent operation

    Single-fan design; Plastics feel cheap; Flimsy bottom vents

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Logitech Cooling Pad N200
MRP: Rs 1595


Anyone who's used a laptop for more than 10 minutes at a stretch will agree that it's a gross misnomer. You can't use one on your lap to play a game of solitaire without risking a Kapura Fry. However, it's not just your family jewels at stake. Place the laptop on your bed, and the pliant surface suffocates the vents, which in turn puts your expensive hardware under potentially catastrophic thermal stress. Unless you intend to use your laptop as an expensive desktop replacement, it's wise to invest in a decent laptop cooler. That's why we called in Logitech's latest Cooling Pad N200 for review.


Review: Logitech Cooling Pad N200


A single fan design may not be powerful, but it's silent.


Design And Build Quality
Unlike its confounding cousins - the Cooling Pad N120 (Rs 1195) and Cooling Pad N100 (Rs 1545) - which exhibit identical features and specifications yet different prices, the N200 sports significant revisions; the most important being the inclusion of a padded base sporting a breathable mesh. This gives the cooler an edge over its plasticky counterparts. The N200 is a pleasure to use, thanks to its light weight and soft padding that prevents sweat even in humid climates.

The cooler can house laptops up to a 16" screen size. A protrusion along the bottom edge, along with a pair of rubber bushes at the top, arrests your laptop from sliding down. That means you can use it at an angle without a sweat. The quality of plastics is disappointing, though. Logitech should have employed better materials than the hard, shiny, and evidently cheap plastics used with the N200. The slats on the bottom vent are thin, flimsy, and liable to break if inadvertently sandwiched between the weight of the laptop and a protrusion of some kind.


Review: Logitech Cooling Pad N200


Cable management is a great addition.


The cooler features nifty cable management through multiple channels housing the USB cable, flush with the chassis during both storage and operation. The cable emerges from the centre and can be routed through the channels on either side. This is a godsend if the USB ports are occupied on one side.


Review: Logitech Cooling Pad N200


The two-speed fan controller.


The aerodynamics are well thought out in the N200. A hollowed-out bottom ensures adequate airflow even if you place the cooling pad on the bed. Air is sucked in from the bottom and dissipated through vents that force cool air all round the base. However, a single fan design focuses only on the centre of the laptop, as opposed to twin fan coolers that employ a dedicated fan to cool the hot exhaust vent, which usually lies at the top-left hand side. The upside of the N200's design though is whisper-quiet operation. If things get hotter, you can switch between high and low cooling modes using the two-speed, in-line fan controller. The fan purrs along at this setting, but that's hardly noticeable over the laptop exhaust fan, which will anyway be roaring away at full blast.


Review: Logitech Cooling Pad N200


A concave bottom helps maintain good airflow.


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Discussion Board
(11) Comments
Anonymous
,Mumbai, on Nov 24, 2011 11:01 PM
1. What is the CPU temps under no load? 2.And which is the CPU that you are using? 3. What is the room temperature (Since I;m planning to buy it in Mumbai)
Dr Anil Mehta
,Mumbai, on Jul 27, 2011 10:32 AM
Nachiket. Now that is good information. Now based on that what do you conclude? Do you think there is ANY use of this laptop cooler what-so-ever? You are absolutely right. But why do you have to be +ve about reviews? If it is a crappy product then say so. At 86 degrees and 80 degrees this cooler is not making any difference what-so-ever. That is the whole point. That the price of 1595 is a total waste of money.
Rohan Naravane
,mumbai, on Jul 23, 2011 01:24 PM
total fanboy review:.... this product is crap if you go by this review. 90 degrees CPU temperature? must be an awful laptop with even more awful cooling. 1300 bux for something that does not do anything is a waste of money. 1. 86degrees to 80 degrees CPU temp? R u kidding me? U CPU will get fried anyway sooner or later. 2. 47degrees to 45 degrees bottom temperature.. ehhhhh woh my feet feel cooler already.. doesnt make AOTA of a difference. Its not like hey ur lap is fried baby. I expected better from TT after Trivone took over.. zilch..
Gaurav
,Delhi, on Jul 23, 2011 02:58 PM
You are absolutely right. Cools like a ninja my foot. Totally useless product
Rohan
,ex-TechTree, on Jul 24, 2011 10:12 AM
Hmm...I thought I was the only Rohan Naravane on the Internet...
Nachiket
, TechTree, on Jul 24, 2011 02:21 PM
Dear fake Rohan Narvane, I'm afraid you don't quite understand the concept of a stress test. That and a questionable grasp over basic physics, which is further compounded by a lack of common sense. You also seem very butthurt with TechTree post Trivone takeover, but I'll ignore that fact and assume this isn't a troll post for now. Like I mentioned, a stress test is designed to take the CPU to such temperatures. That's why it is called a STRESS freakin' TEST, you know. These temps can be attributed to CPU and heatsink \ cooler design, and not on the laptop cooler. The test shows that the cooler can arrest rising temps and prevent them from exceeding the thermal threshold. I humbly submit that you are a retard, if you expect a laptop cooler to a freeze a CPU, operating near the point of thermal failure, down to the room temperature. You conveniently ignore the fact that the cooler has several layers of plastic, metal, and flippin air between it and the CPU. Do you even understand how utterly impossible it is to cool something occluded by an air pocket? That's just as daft as putting boiling water in a thermos (vacuum) flask, closing it, and then expecting to cool it by getting an asthma patient to blow over it for 2 minutes. All this is besides the fact that I have already explained the same concisely in the last paragraph. Please read the full article before proceeding to have periods all over the comments section. PROTIP: The next time you intend to impersonate Rohan Narvane, run your post through a spellchecker. I still can't guarantee success, because even a spellchecker unfortunately cannot catch bullshit.
Jaadu ki Jhappi
,Blore, on Jul 25, 2011 10:04 AM
Wow, you're following M&A, you must be a very smart TT reader. Or an ex-employee. Going by your poor logic and flawed grammar, I suspect the latter. :D
Dr Anil Mehta
,Mumbai, on Jul 26, 2011 09:25 PM
Nachiket are you reviewing a cooling pad for the first time in your life? Do you know what a CPU temperature is? Do you know how temperature affects the performance and reliability of a CPU? If not forget physics, I think you should pick up a book on basic Thermodynamics. Do you know what an ideal threshold temperature for a CPU us? If yes, can you put the figures here in public for everyone to read? Since you are so smart to understand that a cooler cannot cool a CPU to such an extent, why dont you say so in the review itself? Let us analyse what the last paragraph says. It says the cooler will keep the laptop safely under the threshold temperature. If you got the guts Please specify what the threshold temperature for a CPU's thermal failure is. Also under normal conditions' if the laptop is NEVER gonna reach those temperatures then why are you misguiding people by simulating something that is never gonna happen? What is the point? If a user is never going to experience something what is the point in testing a product that way? Isnt that a flawed system?
Nachiket
, TechTree, on Jul 27, 2011 01:32 AM
@ Fake Rohan Narvane \ Dr. Anil Mehta: Didn't I already tell you that a spellchecker won't catch bullshit?
Nachiket
, TechTree, on Jul 27, 2011 02:24 AM
At the risk of feeding the troll, I will answer the question raised by Dr. Anil Mehta (aka Fake Rohan Narvane). The question is: "If you got the guts Please specify what the threshold temperature for a CPU's thermal failure is".
Nachiket
, TechTree, on Jul 27, 2011 02:32 AM
The Thermal Threshold varies from processor to processor and it also depends upon the stepping within the same processor family. It is represented by the TJunction Max value. Both Intel and AMD release specifications for the same, so you may want to head over to those websites. The processor I reviewed has a TJunction Max rated at 111 degrees C by Intel. However, the TCC (temperature control circuitry) kicks in 5 degrees C earlier and tries to throttle the CPU to keep things cool. If that fails, the CPU undergoes thermal shutdown at 111 degrees C. So the thermal threshold for the CPU mentioned in the review is 106 degrees C, which is also the TJ Max mentioned in Core Temp.

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