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ineo I-NC01 Notebook Cool Pad
Submitted by jwhitakr on Thu, 06/26/2008 - 20:08.
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ineo is a relatively small company that has expanded its product offerings with the I-NC01 Notebook Cooling Pad. It is not aimed toward enthusiast users who are going to be pushing the limits of their laptops on a regular basis, but rather toward the day-to-day notebook users who need a practical solution for keeping their notebook computers cool. There are a lot of different options on the market for cooling your notebook, so let’s take a look at the I-NC01 to see how it fares against the competition.
Design
The I-NC01 is made from a brushed aluminum alloy material for the top, and a hardened plastic material for the sides and bottom. The aluminum alloy gives the cooler a clean, industrial look. Each of the 4 corners has a small white plastic protrusion that serves the purpose of anti-slip mats. Two 80mm fans dominate the top and serve solely to provide cool airflow to the underside of the notebook.
The side of the unit houses the On/Off switch, a fan speed control knob and two USB ports. Included with the unit is a USB cable, which is required to be plugged in to power the unit. On the underside, the vents for the two fans can be found as well as two latches for standing the unit up at an angle. These are the same types of latches that are found in nearly all keyboards, and allow you to angle the notebook at a position that is comfortable to use for typing.
Features
- Aluminum Alloy Material
- Fan Speed: 3000RPM ±10%
- Fan Life Expectancy: 25,000 hours
- Bearing Type: Sleeve Bearing
- Maximum Flow Rate: 31.22 CFM or more
- Fan Size: (W x D x H) 80 x 80 x 15 (mm)
- Dimensions: (W x D x H) 330 x 160 x 41(mm)
- USB Cable: USB2.0 Cable 90cm A to B
- Noise Level: 31.06dB (A) or less
- USB Port: USB 2.0 x 2
- Power: Via USB Port
Package Contents:
- I-NC01 Laptop cool pad
- User manual
- USB cable
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Out of the Box Setup
The device is extremely easy to use and does not require any previous knowledge of notebook coolers in order to use it. You simply plug the USB cable into a free USB port of your notebook, and then press the On switch on the side of the unit. The unit has one extra USB port that can be utilized so that you do not lose the availability of a USB port on your notebook. You then just place your notebook on top of the unit and use the speed knob on the side to adjust the fan speed to your liking.
Using the I-NC01
All of the testing of the I-NC01 was done using my wife’s Toshiba Satellite computer with 17” screen. It is a couple of years old, and is definitely bigger than most of the newer laptop computers that are sold in today’s market. It does suffer occasionally from overheating, especially during the warmer spring and summer months, and so it provided a good test of how well the I-NC01 performs.
Initially I setup the unit on a hard, flat surface desk where we tend to keep the notebook. It powered on right away after I plugged in the USB cable, and I used both the low fan speed setting and the high fan speed setting during testing. The low fan speed is very quiet and provides adequate cooling for most notebooks in day-to-day use. With the low fan speed setting, I could hardly hear the fans and pretty much forgot that they were running after a few minutes use on the notebook.
Now that it is summer and temperatures are rising both outside and inside, my hefty Toshiba Satellite requires more airflow to keep it cool. I cranked up the fan speed knob to its highest setting and could feel the airflow increase quite a bit. Using the high fan speed setting, you can definitely hear the fans whirring and the unit is much more noticeable as you are working on the computer. The additional air did a great job of keeping the underside of the notebook cool, which usually is quite hot if you do not have any cooling solution in place.
Additionally, the high speed puts more of a drain on your laptop battery. I found that using the high speed sapped about 10-15% more battery power than the low fan speed setting. Keep this in mind if you need a lot of cooling, but have an older battery that does not last as long as it did when it was new.
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Portability and Other Considerations
The small size of the unit is nice in terms of portability, and I could easily see it as a necessary accessory that you would throw into a laptop case or backpack for travel. However, the small size limits the usefulness of the unit with larger laptops. I found that the big Toshiba Satellite would not sit evenly on the unit when I tried to use it on my lap, and the notebook would often dip forward or to the side as I was typing or when I readjusted my seating position. This was not handy and I ended up using it almost exclusively on a hard desk surface.
The anti-slip mats also would only marginally well for the large laptop that I was using. As I readjusted my seating position, I always had to hold on to both the cool pad and the notebook. This made it hard to adjust myself, and also awkward to move in case I needed to move the notebook and the cool pad to stand up.
ineo I-NC01 Notebook Cooling Pad
The ineo I-NC01 does a good job at its primary function - keeping your notebook computer from overheating during normal usage. The fan speed control is quite a nice feature to allow you to adjust the speed according to the ambient temperature and the specific cooling needs of your notebook. The unit also has a nice look to it and is small enough, and light enough, to easily carry around with you while traveling.
However, the usefulness is limited to normal-sized and small-sized notebooks. Using it with a large notebook will work, but you will need to raise the fan speed and also learn to live with less than ideal ergonomics.
If you are looking for a day-to-day notebook cooler that won’t break the bank and you have a 15” screen notebook or smaller, the I-NC01 is definitely worth a good look. If you have a large size notebook or a gamer/desktop replacement notebook, I would look for another cooling solution.
Pros: Solid cooling performance, quiet operation at low fan speeds, light and portable.
Cons: Not well suited for large notebooks, noticeable noise at high fan speeds.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
