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Targus PA248U Notebook Chill Pad

User Review: 2 out of 5 stars - Poor quality...you can do better.
I picked this up a couple of months ago, and it worked decently for cooling my laptop, just not great. It, like many other cooling mats, makes the mistake of blowing air INTO the laptop, rather than drawing air away from it. This is not the way that you cool a computer effectively. Look at any desktop machine these days, while some higher end machines have fans drawing cool air into the machine, nearly ALL computers have fans that blow hot air out. So while this does a decent job of cooling, it's far from ideal.

My biggest complaint is in the quality of the materials. Opening this package initially left me very disappointed, as it is constructed of a very cheap and flimsy plastic. The fans are cheaply made too, which I could have easily seen failing if something else didn't break first.

My biggest problem is with the power cable. It is extremely thin and fragile, disappointing considering it's designed for a product that's supposed to be mobile and durable. The end of the cable that plugs into the pad itself does not fit snugly, it jiggles around quite a bit and can easily come loose without realizing it. Many times I was using my laptop wondering why it was getting to hot, just to realize that the cord had become unplugged without my knowledge. The USB end of the cable does not have any sort of piece to prevent the cable from being bent too far at the connector, which is a certainty if you're plugging in the cable on the left hand side of your computer (and judging by the unnecessarily long cable, it's almost as if the designers expected you to plug in the cable there). The constant bending of the cable at the USB side caused it to be frayed within a couple of weeks, leaving the wires exposed at the connector.

I didn't have this pad for 2 months before the cable just snapped entirely, rendering the entire pad useless. I realize that I could have been a little more careful, but the fact remains that it's an unacceptably low quality product for something that's supposed to be used in a mobile setting. I will be looking for a more quality product next time around, hopefully from a manufacturer that understands that laptop accessories actually need to be somewhat rugged and durable.



User Review: 5 out of 5 stars - keep my laptop nice and cool and no freezing up
very good price for the notebook chill pad, so far so good i love it.



User Review: 3 out of 5 stars - gets the job done decently, but nothing amazing; NOISY
I bought this a few months ago for my Sony Vaio (13.3" display), which is notoriously hot. All in all, my laptop is much cooler when I use the Chill Pad, so I am able to use it on my lap or around the house without worrying about overheating everything it touches. That's about it. Nothing amazing.

A few things I should mention: The Chill Pad is very noisy. In addition to its general noise, it often makes grinding noises when I first turn it on or when I move it- so I wouldn't recommend it if you are using it in office spaces or community areas. Also, the Pad isn't able to cool one section of my laptop, so that portion remains hot unless I shift it awkwardly over the Chill Pad fan. Overall:

Pros--> good price; gets the job done; very light weight so easy to store and carry around

Cons--> noisy; sometimes makes grinding noises; seems a little fragile; format of Chill Pad may hinder it from cooling the entire area of your laptop

I hope this helps!



User Review: 2 out of 5 stars - Works but won't last long
I bought this Chill pad and had it for about 6 months before the fans stopped working. Targus was nice enough to send me a replacement free of charge. That one worked for about 3 months before it stopped working and once again Targue send me what appeared to be a better more expensive model (Not this one I'm writing the review for). I'd highly recommend looking elsewhere for a laptop cooler unless you want to be stuck having the frustration of sending it back to Targus every few months.



User Review: 5 out of 5 stars - exellent product
this notebook chill pad is a great product. It's quiet and it does cool the notebook off very well. great price compared to dept. stores.


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