Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand user reviews (white)

Pros Good cooling; Good non-slip strips on the top and bottom edges of the stand

Cons Arched design prevents storage in a laptop bag; narrow width and length causes average laptops to hang off of all four sides of the stand resulting in poor stability

Summary 90% of the time I strongly agree with CNET's ratings, but I strongly disagree with CNET's rating of this product. I suspect CNET's rating was primarily based on cooling and style.

I have a Gateway M250, which is a widescreen laptop. My laptop significantly hangs off the left and right sides, and slightly hangs off the top and bottom sides. This over-hanging causes my laptop to be somewhat unstable on the laptop stand. The only thing that keeps my laptop from falling off is the non-slip strips on the top and bottom of the laptop stand. This laptop stand has a sleek look and cools appropriately, but its awkward shape prevents it from being portable and its small size makes typing an endeavor with fear of rocking your laptop off the stand as you type. (I cannot pack this product in my laptop bag and my bag is reasonably spacious). This is one type of product in which the importance functionality far outweighs style. I recommend buying a more functional, flatter, longer, and wider laptop stand.

Bottom Line: While cooling is important, flatness and surface area matters.

Pros Cool looking, quiet

Cons Could be wider, stand does not lock out solidly, fan bite

Summary While this cooler may have been designed for a 15" computer, I have no problems using it with my 17" Dell. The rubber grips well and as long as the laptop is centered, it will stay solidly on the cooler. The angle is very nice and ergonomic. I only bought this for desktop use to help extend the life of my laptop (I keep it on all the time) and 99% of the time, that's where it stays where it does a fine job. The one time I did pick it up to move it and use it on my lap, my finger went into the fan on the back and I almost dropped the the computer. Watch out for fan bite! When I put it on my lap, it blocked the fan completely and clothing was able to get into the fan slot and stop it. Also, the legs don't lock out solidly so moving it around on the desktop will cause them to collapse. Not major, just annoying. Not good for lap use, but fine for desktop.
Would love to see a two or three fan extra long version come out for large laptops like mine that stay on desktops for more cooling and stability, but this is ok.

Pros please see summary

Cons please see summary

Summary All laptops have the same design fault. The cooling port is blocked off by lap, pillow, rug etc. Cooling Stands help, but not because of their fans. The small "centrifugal fans" necessarily suck in their centre and blow on their perimeter. The CPU fan sucks air from directly beneath up into the laptop and out the sides. A Cooling Stand fan sucks down and sideways from the same space the laptop is trying to suck up. This doesn't help. It takes power and makes noise. However the Stand does solve the real problem but doesn't need the fan to do it. It conveniently and cheaply makes sure the normal laptop cooling air passage is not impeded.

Here's a solution with hobby store materials.
hahyonhwatha
http://1journey.net/1candle/cp/cooling.htm

Pros Looks nice. Does cool enough-when it's working.

Cons Poor quality, not a good value.

Summary One part of fan blade broke off and jammed fan within 6 months. Not going to bother looking for the receipt. I disassembled the unit and removed the broken blade. Works OK, but I don't have confidence that it will last. I have always had a good experience with Belkin until this product. Will stay away from Belkin in the future because of this.