Manufacturer and Sponsor: Cooler Master
Product on review: Cooler Master Notepal W2
Street Price: £19.94
Overview
Cooler Master's minimalist packaging theme stays true here with virtually nothing on the box front except a picture of the Notepal W2 and a little selection box in the bottom right corner showing you which of the three available colours Silver, Black and Titanium is contained within. As you can see from the picture, this time we are getting a cooler with 3 smallish fans in an all-metal construction.
Once again, on the back we get the standard Features and Specifications data, some pictures of said features, and this time the language section has a little more details... Built in 70mm fans, placed in strategic locations, create optimum airflow for truly comprehensive cooling. along with the ever present For more information, please visit our website!
Features and Specifications
Sleek shape made of stylishly brushed high quality aluminium fits easily into any surroundings
Active cooling: built-in three 70mm fans, placed in strategic locations, create optimum airflow for truly comprehensive cooling
Passive cooling: thermally enhanced aluminium alloy allows for fast and efficient heat dissipation
Uniquely curved design enhances natural convection to prevent laptops from overheating
Excellent silent notebook cooling solution
Raises screen height to provide a comfortable viewing angle and help reduce neck strain
Powered through USB port with on/off power button no AC adaptor required
Two built-in USB 2.0 ports
Non-interference front design provides complete clearance for easy front port access on all types of laptops
Laptop is held securely in place without any overhang or risk of metal scratching the underside of your laptop
Extremely sturdy structure accomodates for most notebook dimensions, including widescreens
A Closer Look
The immediately obvious thing here is the three small fans spaced equally across the width of the unit each with their own little mesh grille leaving the bulk of the surface completely unbroken. This is possibly a bit limiting when you consider the massive variety of notebooks out there and how each has it's vents etc arranged I wonder how this arrangement will fare against those more open designs on test here today? There are no anti-slip pads in evidence here either and with the all metal construction that could prove to be mistake too.
What can I say here? Nothing is hidden with the Notepal W2's deisgn of a single piece of folded sheet a couple of small rails hold the fans and at first glance could possibly allow for some sideways adjustment but of course the front has only the small openings instead of a strip of mesh going right across so I think Cooler Master have maybe missed a trick with this one, although that would have needed slightly longer fan cables too! The cabling from all three fans joins into a single USB connector on the rear of the unit and you can also see here the provided power cable in the bag taped underneath.
We get two USB ports with the Notepal W2, although of course one is required to power the unit's fans and there is also an On/Off switch which I like to see. There is no variable speed control on this one, but to be honest if the fans are quiet enough then that's a bit wasted anyway.
In use the Notepal W2 had one instant issue for me which was it's lack of rubber pads on that huge surface for anti-slip properties both my laptops had a slight tendency to slip a bit when being typed on as they were reliant on only their own feet for grip. The Notepal W2 is also one of the largest cooling pads we've got on test today and whilst that wasn't a problem for me with 15 laptops I doubt it'd really be suitable for anything smaller that that. The fans were once again pretty decent and Cooler Master do seem to have realised that silence (or as near as can reasonably be achieved) is a primary factor with these devices! Due to the size of this unit I would expect it to be used primarily in an office and therefore possibly even with an external mouse and keyboard, so the extra USB is nice as we don't lose one overall and if used like this the slight slippage that I mentioned earlier shouldn't be an issue at all.
| Pros Three 70mm fans Very strong construction Additional USB port Cons Rather industrial looks (although some may prefer this!) No top surface rubber anti-slip pads |
