im looking for a cooling pad for my laptop because im about to buy a laptop for the first time and will probably use it on the carpet and bed so whats a good pad i can use to keep my laptop safe?

i was looking at this http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/C...mp;sku=A1656321

is that good enough?

Seems like an interesting product. Here's more info and pics from the manufacturer if you're curious: http://www.thermaltake.com/product/cooler/...n01/r15on01.asp .

Although the idea of a heat absorbing surface is certainly intriguing, I can't help but wonder if it would actually do more harm than good since it's a flexible and soft surface which would certainly cover the air intake ports on the bottom of the laptop, thus preventing proper air flow through the components and out the sides and\or back exaust ports.

I usually recommend something that will elevate the laptop slightly above whatever surface it's being used on so that the ports are all clear and can more easily move air through the notebook's internal parts. This product seems like it would certainly cool the outer surface of the notebook's casing, but would do little, if anything, to keep the internal parts cool, which is the greatest concern for extending the life of your notebook with regards to heat damage.

If they made something similar with holes that run through it so it looked kinda like a waffle from the top and also had holes going through from all sides, that would create space for air flow through the laptop's own ventalation system and this could easily be accomplished with a lightweight and flexible rubbery plastic that absorbs heat. There are many such materials available, but I don't know if anyone's ever made a cooling pad like the one I describe.

I remember reading about a person that left their laptop on a sofa and it overheated causing a fire and a casualty:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Laptop...3108/story.html

Maybe something like this would be better?
http://www.belkin.com/pressroom/releases/u...olingStand.html

I've had a Targus laptop chill pad and a Targus notebook chillhub. Both worked very well initially. I especially liked the 4 USB ports on the self powered chillhub. Unfortunately, in a short period of time both developed noisy fans (bearing noise). I now have an Antec USB-Powered Notebook Cooler which seems to be high quality and has worked very well for several months.

There are a number of laptop coolers available at Amazon.com including the I-xoft Fanless Notebk Cooler you are interested in. Most of the cooler pages have reviews by customers that have purchased and used the items. I recommend that you take a look there. FYI, the I-xoft is much less expensive on Amazon.

Here's the one I use: Antec Notebook cooler.

It elevates the laptop like exile mentioned, has 2 fans with 2 fan speeds (low and high), it's powered through USB and it isn't extremely noisy. Mine was an open box and came with a faulty USB cable that I have to play with in order for the cooler to get power but it does work. I should have checked the box when I bought it at Staples a little better. The black elevators are a little tough to get in at first but a task that is not impossible.

Since you intend to be on the carpet and bed maybe you should check this out
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_...duct_id=0202384

and this is the cooler I use, have no problems with this one.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_...duct_id=0202400

or something like this.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_...duct_id=0282021

I use a Vantec LapCool3 cooler, but Zalman probably makes the best ones though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....amp;name=Vantec

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....%20Co.%2c%20Ltd

Even have them at Radio Shack:

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp...cooler&sr=1

the belkin one kenny showed look's good. I want one thats not bulky and is easy to move

i think this is the same one but black http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/C...mp;sku=A2165752

Radioshack and those other brick and mortar stores seem to be overpriced. I would check for deals elsewhere first before purchasing. That same Antec cooler in your link is $28 at Newegg. Well, if you add shipping, they may end up around the same price But you get my point!

@ swagger

I agree with you but, I tossed it out there as an FYI, Labor Day store prices here matched with what you posted in price. sometimes they will extend it to the end of the week? (store policy varies)

Very true... In this economy, anyone would be a fool not to check all the stores and websites for the best deals.

is it a good idea to take out the battery if your going to plug in your laptop using a ac outlet?

If you don't want to overcharge the battery, I think it would be best to take the battery out.

people tell me to occasionally open up my desktop tower to clean out the dust that gathers over time which seem's like a good idea but should i also be doing this too, to my laptop

Laptops are much more difficult to open safely so I wouldn't recommend trying it unless you know what you're doing .

I agree with exile... Laptops are a very different beast from desktops and take a lot more to open... The tough part isn't necessarily taking it apart most of the time, it's putting it back together the right way when you are done. I would definitely make sure the fans or vents on the outside of the laptop, wherever they are located, are clear and free of dust. Also, ensure that there is airflow coming from those vents as the fans often die in laptops.

something that i noticed on my laptop since i bought it was it states it has only about 105 free gb of free space to use when it came with 250 gb in total. Obviously i dont expect 250gb of free space since thats how it works but shouldn't i have around 200gb of free space, strange? i looked up the biggest files that take up space with a software program and nothing takes up alot of space but yet it says when i go to start>computer that i have only 105gb of free space to use out of 218gb. I first thought maybe it was the kaspersky sandbox thingy when i installed kaspersky to try it out but the trial has passed and kaspersky is gone and it still says around 100gb of free space. I am not running any sandboxes either

I'm assuming you're running Vista since it's a new laptop. You might have a look at the following links to figure it out :

• What is the WinSxS Directory and Why is it so Large?
• Assembly Searching Sequence

maybe he got bundled software, everything from soup to nuts? http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

Bundled software wouldn't explain the discrepancy described here:But the WinSxS folder does because they aren't actually files so they don't show up in most file size/directory size analysis programs but they do take up tons of space in Vista and that WinSxS only gets larger as you install and uninstall programs because you can't remove anything from it once it's been put there without risking hosing your system .

but you know how to fix it...right

Yep, I sure do . FORMAT . That's the only way I've seen that's safe. There are plenty of other files and leftovers (particularly after Service Pack installs) that can be removed to free up hard drive space though, and that helps a bit. From here:

exile im not sure, are you sure this is the problem? after reading that i find it hard to believe this is the problem and not only that but my deskop computer i bought this past january 2009 it also is a 32bit vista home basic and it doesn't have this issue. I had a issue with my desktop computer when i bought it, the computer was taking up big chunks of space but that was because of system restore points so i just stopped them and deleted them and everything was fine. But when i saw this on my laptop it was so huge i knew it wasnt a restore points issue. Im starting to think the computer is defective its taking up an extra 100gb of space more than its suppose too?

It's possible that that's not the cause but you can check by right clicking the WinSxS folder and selecting properties. That'll tell you how big it is. You can also check to see if there's a recovery partition which is taking up space, but it shouldn't be that large at all. If you believe something is amiss then you can of course contact the tech support for the PC's manufacturer, just be sure to back up any files you'd like to keep because they'll swap out the drive and they usually don't back up your files for you.

it has a ton of files but its not big at all its 528mb

check to see if you hard drive has multipule partitions.

how strange, it was returnil. I deleted it and everything but yet it was still hidden in my system and taking up huge amounts of space

Mystery solved .