Introduction:

Laptops have certainly gotten hotter and faster during the past few years. While newer CPUs such as the Core 2 Duo are more energy efficient, inside the small enclosure of a laptop they can still generate a hotspot. Keeping a laptop cool is just as important for system stability as with a desktop, and so we've seen the introduction of many external laptop cooling devices to help solve this problem.

We've reviewed several Titan notebook cooling pads, such as the G4T and the G3T, and found them to be quite decent. Today, we'll look at the G5T, one of Titan's newest notebook coolers that also has a set of built-in speakers.

Specifications:

The G5T deviates from most notebook coolers in its design. First and foremost, there are no fans in this "cooler"; indeed, there is not even an aluminum base from which heat can be effectively dissipated. Instead, the device props up the back of your laptop, allowing for more effective airflow from your laptop's built-in fans. This is shown in an animation on Titan's site.

• Outline Dimension: 220 x 70 x 34 mm

• Driver Unit: 1.5" 8 Ohms, 2W x 2

• Satellite Output Power: 0.6W RMS per speaker

• Total Output Power: 1.2W RMS

• Frequency Response: 180 Hz ~ 18K Hz

• Power Supply: USB powered (DC 5V)

Right away I was suspicious - after all most coolers have fans and some sort of metal base to draw away heat. Titan's G5T is effectively a set of speakers that prop up your laptop, and seems like a case of trying to fit a square into a hole for a circle. Nevertheless, the unit expands, like the earlier G4T, to support a wide size of laptops.

The G4T came in plastic packaging that was surprisingly easy to open. It didn't require you to perform dangerous surgery, and was closable. Upon opening the package, you'll find the cooling pad speakers, a carrying pouch, the USB cable and a set of rubber feet. The rubber feet are not for the cooling pad (which already has rubber feet on it), but instead for the bottom of your laptop to prevent it from slipping off the G5T while on it.

Friendly packaging.

Back.

What's included.

From looking at the G5T, you can see that it doesn't look like a traditional laptop cooling pads, which are usually flat and have fans. Instead, the G5T is long and thin, and is meant to only sit underneath the back of your laptop, propping it up for more airflow. It has no fans of its own; the two bulbs at each end house the speakers, since (in my opinion) this is primarily a USB audio device.

Your laptop rests on the black bulbs at each end, and you can see that they have a bumpy surface for traction. In the case that your laptop's built in feet do not rest perfectly on the bulbs, the included pair of rubber feet can be attached to the bottom of your laptop where it makes contact with the bulbs, to prevent slippage. Some may not like having to stick extra things on their laptop.

The Titan G5T.

Bottom has good traction.

Laptop rests on speakers at each end.

The bottom has four big rubber feet of its own, ensuring that this unit will not slip unless you put it on wet ice. There are also some plastic legs that flip out; these serve to prop the G5T up on its side, if you are just using them as speakers and not as a laptop pad. Looking at the profile of the G5T, you can see that the bulbs that your laptop will rest on are quite thick, propping up your laptop over an inch.

Speakers are under the black bulbs.

Extendable.

Supports a wide size of laptops.

The G5T can easily be extended by pulling apart the two halves, allowing it to be used with smaller portable units and desktop replacements as well. This is a very useful feature. On the bottom of the laptop, you can see two USB plugs. One is for use when the cooling pad is placed flat; the other is for when the unit is propped up on its side for use purely as speakers. This is to provide an accessible connector depending on the unit's orientation, and was a nice design consideration, but might be a bit confusing.

Bumps are for traction.

Two USB connectors.

Speakers propped up from behind.

When propped up, the speakers face directly towards you for better listening. This is really what the main purpose of this device should be, as in my opinion the laptop cooling function feels tacked on. Nonetheless, when used as a laptop cooler, it props up and tilts your laptop towards you, which may provide for a more comfortable typing angle.

Speakers propped up.

The G5T being used.

Installation:

Installation is straightforward. You place your laptop on the pad, and then use the supplied USB cable to plug into a port on your laptop. The unit draws both power and signal from the USB port, and functions as a USB audio device, separate from any other audio devices on your laptop. The power draw of the speakers is 1.2 W RMS, which is within the USB specifications for power draw, thus there shouldn't be any problems.

When plugged in, the device was auto-detected by Windows XP SP2 and the proper drivers were installed. Windows Vista was not available for testing, but assuming that it has similar USB audio support, things should turn out the same. The device was detected as a C-Media USB Audio Device under Windows. It provided separate playback options from the built-in audio of the laptop, and but no advanced options. (The only "Advanced Option" was a checkbox entitled "Loudness", which merely increased the maximum volume setting of the speakers.)

Testing:

I tested this with my old Inspiron 5100, a laptop that uses a hot Intel Desktop Pentium 4 running at 2.8 GHz. The unit was setup just as in the pictures above, with the cooling pad propping up the back of the laptop as intended.

I noticed no real temperature differences with the use of this cooling pad. As this device merely props up the back of your laptop, and provides no heat dissipation of its own (it doesn't even have any fans), this was expected. The situation might have been different under some circumstances. For example, I had recently cleaned out the dust from my laptop using canned air, and the laptop was placed on a flat wooden table top during the tests. If your laptop was suffering from bad airflow previously (for whatever reasons), propping it up with the G5T might've helped. Otherwise, it's of limited aid.

Sound quality was not all that great, either. There tended to be distortion at moderate volumes, and compared to the laptop's built-in sound, the experience was not that much better. Bass response was slightly better, but the mid and high-end sounded muddy.

Conclusion:

I had high expectations of Titan, especially after the previous G4T turned out to be a decent notebook cooler supporting a wide range of laptops. However, the G5T is less of a notebook cooler, and more just a pair of budget USB speakers. Trying to label this as a notebook cooler seems a bit weird, as it doesn't provide any airflow of its own. Even as a pair of USB speakers, it doesn't provide too much incentive for the end-user.

However, the G5T does tilt your laptop nicely towards you, which can improve typing comfort. However, it's a stretch to recommend it just for this purpose, as you could easily accomplish the same thing yourself for less. If you're looking for a notebook cooler, I'd much recommend Titan's previous offering, the G4T, over the G5T.

Pros:

• Easy to install/setup

• Props up notebook and tilts toward you for typing comfort

• Comes with a carrying pouch

• Can be used as standalone USB speakers

Cons:

• Doesn't provide any airflow of its own

• Cooling ability comes only from propping up the back of your laptop

• Sound quality is unremarkable

Thanks go out to Titan for making this review possible.

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