Conclusion:
Anytime you can get air to circulate in or around a closed system such as a laptop, you help to cool it, allow it to run more efficiently, and prolong its life. Two added benefits of a laptop cooler like the Zalman ZM-NC3000U are that it positions your laptop keyboard at an excellent angle for typing (from an ergonomic perspective) and if you use your laptop without a table, it helps to prevent direct contact of warm to down-right-hot surfaces from burning your appendages.
The addition of three USB ports is also a nice feature, since most laptops have so few of them to begin with. The Zalman ZM-NC3000U takes up two ports while in use, and in our case it used the only two we had.
The only drawback we ran into using the Zalman ZM-NC3000U was that on our MacBook, the USB ports are closer together than on other laptops. The USB plugs have "ears" that protrude and prevented us from getting them completely seated. We solved this issue by adding an external USB hub. To confirm the issues was with our MacBook and not Zalman's cable, we plugged it in an HP laptop we had lying around without issue.
While the Zalman ZM-NC3000U ultra quiet notebook cooler can be found for around $50-$60 (which is on the end of the pricing scale for a laptop cooler). A quick check of the
Bigbruin.com shopping engine reveals that the ZM-NC3000U can currently be found at places like
Futurepowerpc.com for $51.80.
The Zalman ZM-NC3000U ultra quiet notebook cooler is a very nice accessory. Adding additional cooling is always a good thing, but when you throw in the added ergonomic benefit, it becomes much more appealing. The ability to use the cooler without any additional power source is a big bonus, as well as supporting everything from a 9" netbook all the way up to a 17" desktop replacement. As usual, we were not disappointed in the Zalman ZM-NC3000U. The build quality and super quiet operation make this a must-have for any laptop user. With all of that in mind, we give the
Zalman ZM-NC3000U ultra quiet notebook cooler the Bigbruin.com "Highly Recommended" award.
Pros:
» Built-in 3 port USB hub
» Whisper quiet operation
» High quality construction
» Lightweight and versatile
Cons:
» USB cable may be an issue in smaller laptops
» Priced at the higher end of the category
» Cooling effect wasn't dramatic
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