Coolermaster NotePal P1 - R9-NBC-APMS-GP

Introduction:

    CoolerMaster has a lot of wonderful products in their line up. In today's review, we will be discussing the CoolerMaster NotePal P1. The NotePal P1 is a smaller-than-average laptop cooler, about half the size of the ones currently on the market. This unit has a fashionable aluminum construction, dual 70 mm fans, and a stylish, well-hidden power button. On the underside of the NotePal P1 is a storage area for the supplied USB cable. Also offered is an optional rubber stand to store the NotePal P1 when not in use. The unit I have for review includes this optional stand. Let's take a closer look to see if the uniquely styled NotePal P1 can really take on the job it was designed for: to efficiently cool a laptop computer.

Specifications:

Package:

Retail Front

Retail Rear

Revealed

    I was surprised with the size of the box. I was expecting something more square and not rectangular. The graphics and colors on the package display the typical layout for CoolerMaster products. The front of the package has a window so you can see the dual 70mm fans and aluminum construction, and the top of the box has a carrying handle. Just an aside: I've noticed that more and more items are coming with these handles. When looking at the NotePal P1 through the window, this carrying handle gives the unit the impression of a boom box.

A Closer Look:

NotePal P1

70mm fan

Sleek design

USB and Power switch

    After opening up the package, I was still shocked about the size of the notebook cooler. I was expecting something much larger and, well, more square - something that the entire laptop would sit on. The design is completely different than the current laptop cooler I have. First off is the shape... it's a rectangle. At first I thought this wouldn't work well and was, like, how is that going to support the laptop and keep it from sliding off the cooler? More on that later... let's get back to the design.

The aluminum top skin is fastened to a plastic base plate. The under side of the plastic base has five soft rubber feet (2 up front and 3 on the rear) to help keep the NotePal P1 in place without scratching the surface it's sitting on.

Back to the aluminum top skin, which is constructed from a single piece of aluminum and is two-tone in color. The aluminum skin is design with 3 sections: the upper and lower sections are polished, while the middle section has a sand blasted effect. The middle section is also where the two 70mm fans are located. The fan grills have honeycomb shaped openings, and sit flush with the aluminum top skin.

Around the fan is a clear ring; at first glance I thought it was plastic, and maybe even had some LED's inside for that bling effect. Well, I was wrong. The ring is softer, like silicon, and there are no LED's. On the back of the NotePal P1 is a large area of intake openings. There are also openings on the back side just under the fans. Fresh air intake shouldn't be an issue with all these openings.

Optional stand

Standing

    Now, the two 70mm fans are controlled by a single push button switch on the side of the cooler. CoolerMaster made a great design choice here by hiding the switch. The switch has been incorporated into a design feature on the side of the NotePal P1. This feature is a round chrome cap: on the left side it is just decoration, but on the right side it's the button for the switch. Also on this side is the location of the two USB ports. Included with the NotePal P1 is one USB cable. This cable is used to power the fans on the cooler from a laptop.

Underneath

USB compartment

USB Cable

USB Cable Stowed

    I have a question for everyone... How many of you have a laptop cooler with fans and lost the USB cable for the fans because you had nowhere to store it? Yeah, me too. Well, CoolerMaster took care of this problem and incorporated an small storage area on the underside of the NotePal P1. This storage area is not very large and is intended to just hold a single USB cable. As I mentioned in the intro, I also got the optional rubber stand. This rubber stand serves no real purpose (that I could find) other than to store the NotePal P1 in an upright position. Since mine will be stored in my laptop bag, that's a feature that I can do without. However, I suppose for those of you who would need it, it's good to have the option available. 

Testing:

My

Laptop

is HUGE!

    For testing, I used my HP Pavilion Media Center Laptop. This laptop sports a dual Intel P4 3.0Ghz CPU, which generates a lot of heat and sucks up the battery. Unfortunately, this laptop doesn't have any thermal probes to read temperature of the CPU, so basically you will have to take my word on how it performs.

    I used the CoolerMaster NotePal P1 for about a week and I was very pleased. The dual 70mm fans are quiet and perform well. I can't give you numbers to go by, but, obviously, anything blowing cool outside air into a heated space will reduce the temperatures in that space. The other thing I like is the size. The NotePal P1 is half the size of any other laptop cooler or stand that I know of. This size is what really sets it apart from the other products out there.

Conclusion:

    The goal with laptop coolers is, well, to aid in the cooling of the laptop... DUH... but the NotePal P1 does that and one other thing. It raises the back of the laptop, which changes the angle of your wrists when you type, helping to improve ergonomics. I personally hate typing on a laptop, and the other laptop cooler I have raises the whole laptop - the back slightly more than the front - but it's still uncomfortable to use. The NotePal P1 actually makes typing on my notebook more comfortable... but I still hate typing on it; I prefer to use a natural style keyboard. 

    Now for the cooling portion of the conclusion. Since my laptop doesn't have anything for temperature readings, I was stuck using my hand to feel the air coming through the vents. My laptop has 3 intake fans on the underside that blow cool air over the heat-pipes. It turns out that the location of the two 70mm fans and the location of 2 intake holes line up almost perfectly. So I had fresh air blowing right into the laptop, which is great. Now for my favorite thing about the NotePal P1: the size. I would almost call it compact since it's close to half the size of other units out on the market.

    OK... I found some features that I really liked: the small size, the performance, the USB cable storage box, and the ergonomics. All of those features really appealed to me, and using the NotePal P1 for the last week was very comfortable. I would like to thank the fine folks over at CoolerMaster for letting me review another terrific product in their line up. 

**Note**

Coolermaster just informed me they will not be carrying the NotePal P1 model with the stand. Although shown in the review, it will not be available for sale.