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Evercool Zodiac Notebook Cooler
Submitted by jwhitakr on Wed, 04/01/2009 - 21:42.
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Laptop computers have continued to become more powerful, and along with the additional power comes more heat. I have worked lately with some laptops that have pretty atrocious heat issues. Five years ago the laptop was much slower than a comparable desktop, and part of bringing them up to par, is dealing with the heat that we never see from desktop cases. This heat usually ends up searing your legs or at least causing you a lot of discomfort. In the worst case - discoloring your desk surface. To combat these heat problems many different types of cooling pads and auxiliary fans have marketed by manufacturers. Today we will take a look at the latest notebook cooler from Evercool - the Evercool Zodiac NP-301.
Design and Setup
The Zodiac boasts a size of 12.7”x9.7”, with a smooth aluminum laptop surface that adds a 1.3” raise. A front bevel keeps the laptop from sliding off, while making a comfortable curve with no sharp edges to hurt your hands. The bottom of the stand has four small rubber feet to keep from scratching the surface of your desk.
Form definitely should be a part of function, and the laptop surface is adorned with all the signs of the Zodiac as well as two pillars on each side. For the office space that needs a little more life, this pad will keep your desk from looking bland. The back rise is also done with a inset beveled arch that returns slightly upward to form the back leg.
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| Evercool Zodiac Box | Overhead View | Fans |
The back arch also is slotted to hold the two small drawers in place allowing them to slide open easily. One drawer slides into each side of the zodiac and latches with a press-to-open mechanism. The overall construction of the drawers is good and solid. These drawers are handy if you have small adapters that you need to keep with your computer, however they are rather small so don't expect to put your printer cable in them. Included in one of these drawers in the retractable usb cable to attach the pad to the laptop to power the fans. There are two standard USB ports built into the Zodiac, but there is no label indicating which port you should plug the laptop into. Either one will actually work, but this could cause confusion for some users.
Specifications
- Overall Dimension : 324 x 270 x 35 mm
- DC Fan Size : 70 x 70 x 15 mm
- Speed : 1500 ±10% RPM
- Weight : 1 Kg
Testing
To test the cooling performance of this pad, I used it with both a 13.3” white plastic shell Macbook (Core Duo 2.0 Ghz), and a 17” Aluminum shell Powerbook (g4 1.33Ghz). Both models were worked extremely hard under load - running multiple programs as well as virtualization software to keep the hard drive, and the processor, running at full speed.
The Zodiac kept the temperature comfortable on both units. On the Macbook, the front hinge got a little hot, but the bottom stayed relatively cool compared to a regular desk surface. The Powerbook worked even better, probably due to the metal-to-metal contact. The fans on the zodiac run so quiet that after turning it on, I literally picked up the laptop and held my hand over the fan exhaust on the pad to make sure the fans were on. These fans really do run whisper quiet. It also is important to note that using the Zodiac kept the internal fans from running on both laptops.
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| USB Ports | USB Cable |
Portability
The Zodiac is definitely at home on a desk, but trying to use the cooler on your lap is another story. Make no mistake about it, this pad was not meant to be used on human skin with or without pants. I tried to use it on my lap, but it simply doesn't work well and was not at all comfortable. The aluminum digs into your legs, and the rubber feet don't help with this. This pad is definitely designed to stay on the desk.
Evercool Zodiac Notebook Cooler
At a very reasonable price of around $25, the Zodiac really works well if you only use your laptop on flat desk surfaces. However, the road warrior won't see as much use from this product. It's just a little too bulky to travel well in laptop cases, and it does not work well on your lap. The major selling points of the Zodiac are that it is quiet and does effectively cool laptops under full load conditions. On top of that, it will spruce up even the most boring looking office spaces.
Pros: Good looking, excellent cooling, quiet fans, inexpensive, USB cable included.
Cons: For desktop use only, poor USB labeling.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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