Belkin CoolSpot Anywhere Laptop Cooling Pad

It makes a very quiet purring hum as it cools my new 2017 Macbook. It is also very aesthetically pleasing, as all Belkin products are. I got this at a great price from Amazon, and I wanted to purchase a well known, good quality brand. I was shocked to see that this Belkin Cooling Pad was far more affordable than other unknown brands. It was an instant buy! The only thing I wish (but this is not a problem with the Cooling Pad, so much as it is a problem with my 2017 Macbook 12") is that the new Macbook, although extremely beautiful and light and powerful, does NOT come with any ports. Only the one port (USB-C?) for charging. So I cannot charge & cool this laptop at the same time because this Cooling Pad runs by plugging into a USB port. I use my laptop almost all day at work, and then when I'm home to watch TV, check emails, browse the web, etc. And often, I stream TV shows online while I lay in bed at night (with some wine!) and on my duvet or on a pillow, the laptop gets VERY hot and my Macbook gives me a notification that I should close certain applications to prevent over-heating. So after getting a dozen of these notifications in the last week, I knew that I needed to invest in a good quality cooling pad. This is GREAT for your lap, on your bed or couch, or anywhere that the ventilation is slim to none. This product works GREAT and I recommend it for anyone in the market for one, or needs something for the same problems I have.

This is a great cooling pad! I am totally satisfied with my purchase! My laptop kept overheating and turning itself off, so I knew I needed to get something quick. I really like the design with a lip on the front so my laptop stays in place, and the fan is pretty quiet too. The only thing I would change about it would be to add something softer on the bottom so you can place it in your lap comfortably. I keep mine on a lap desk since it is not the most comfortable design.

I bought this product in 2012. Its performance over the year has been fine and has only needed a bit of cleaning of the dust the gets into the fan. It is fairly quiet and also good to use when you want to put the laptop on your lap. My only issue is that while you can feel the air coming from it, it doesn't seem like enough to continuously keep the laptop cool. The laptop size is 15.6". Sometimes I have the position it a little higher on the pad to get the air to where is hot.

I must say I was hopeful, yet a teeny bit skeptical about this purchase; 1) because it was borderline on being more than I wanted to spend on something that might not solve my problem; and 2) because I had become crazy with frustration as my laptop continued to heat up and then shut down (a safety feature) while I was in the middle of my projects! I even stopped watching videos and movies on it because it would heat up and shut down just was the story was getting good. Problem is, I EDIT videos, so I really needed to get the issue fixed, and fast. I tried everything.. defragging, discontinuing the slide-show desktop scenes, shut off all the resident programs floating around in the background..... and I finally hooked up a clamp-on fan to the bookcase just over my right shoulder, aimed directly at the laptop keyboard. I like my air conditioning, but with the little fan on high shooting cold air over me like that - well I was beginning to feel the chill! That's when a friend mentioned a cooling pad. I had never heard of it, so I did a TON of research. I'm interested in keeping my laptop functioning, but also require it to run as quietly as possible, because I use it in voiceover recording - definitely a project I DO NOT want spontaneous shutdowns to occur during! I decided on this model because I use my laptop on both hard and soft surfaces, so the padded one that I liked because it was light-colored was out. I didn't want to spend a lot, especially when some reviews were less than perfect. The bad news is that I didn't learn of it sooner. The good news is that it works perfectly, it's super-lightweight, AND it is quiet! I waited a while before writing my review because I wanted to get the cooling pad through a "shakedown cruise" first. I ran videos non-stop for 8 hours. I had multiple windows open. I was working on my videos and on my websites. I played CDs and DVDs constantly for several days. Knock on Wood, my laptop has NOT heated up and shut down - not even once! This was the best $30 I could have spent on this issue.. and I don't have to wear a flannel shirt to keep the draft off my shoulder and arm anymore! You can buy this little gizmo with confidence. There's no need to frustrate yourself with a hot-bottomed laptop and constant, spontaneous shutdowns! All that overheating and shutting down can't be good for the innards of the laptop. So help the health and longevity of your laptop. Spend the $30 - this one, with a single fan, is adequate for my needs.. it should be fine for yours.

Does what it was intended to do, keeps my computer running cool. Nice and quiet while running. I don't care for the angle of the keyboard, but that's a personal preference. As for the product, very well made and functions very well.

INITIAL REVIEW: ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ I chose this one over other cooling pads because of the second air intake vent in the back, since I like to use the computer in bed sometimes, and the bottom vent often gets blocked. I also like that the bottom of this pad is smoothly contoured and elevated without having to pull out any "legs" that would poke out if I put my computer on my bed, stomach, or lap. However, it's just way too underpowered to be actually usable for me and my hot laptop. I heard it was less powerful than some other fans, but the airflow is just so incredibly weak I can barely feel anything when I put my hands up to the sides, and my computer gets so hot that I have to switch back to my old cooling pad. I'm inclined to say that having this pad plugged in and running does an equal or worse job than my old cooling pad does without even being plugged in! My old cooling pad: Belkin F5L001-BLK Laptop Cooling Pad (Black) UPDATED REVIEW: ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾ I later bit the bullet and bought the more expensive upgraded version of this cooling pad ( Belkin CoolSpot Anywhere Ultra Laptop Cooling Pad ), which has a second fan and more ventilation. (The air holes cover the entire surface on both sides of the pad rather than just around the fan area.). The Ultra finally has enough airflow to keep the heat at bay. I still don't think it performs as well as my old cooling pad, but at least I don't have to worry about the vent getting blocked in bed. Though I don't think the extra holes and extra fan should have warranted that big of a price difference, so I'm still rather unhappy about that. I wish I could have returned this (unupgraded) one, but sadly I missed the return window by a tiny bit. I've subtracted one star from my review of this product, as the upgraded version has the same side-vent feature I liked but actually works at keeping my computer cool. This one is cheap but doesn't work for me, so the price doesn't matter since I don't use it anyway. Finally, I noticed both versions of the CoolSpot Anywhere could use a second rubber strip on the top/back end like their more basic cooling pads do, as I keep tilting the laptop back and getting a scare when it slides off the cooling pad and I have to catch it. I don't understand why the company would remove one rubber strip in the more "deluxe" versions of their cooling pads, especially if it's supposed to be taken "Anywhere" and is more likely to get moved around and tilted.

Positives: It's quiet. It's reasonably comfortable in my lap, wearing shorts, with no padding... well, I am getting little circular imprints on my legs from the vents on the bottom, but not too badly. It is circulating quite a bit of air and, unlike my last, dead, cooling pad, doesn't have any annoying bright lights on it. The USB power cord tucks into grooves neatly with no bending or stress on the plug. All good. Negatives: My very small notebook gets very hot on the front, left side where the CPU is. Very hot to the point where I can't leave my hand resting on it comfortably. Not good for the computer. This cooling pad has its fan only in the back, center. Even though it's putting out a lot of air, it's not cooling my notebook where I need it cooled. Comfort and other features all move to the background because what I really need is my computer kept cool and it's not doing that.

I started watching a Twitch stream every Thursday called Critical Role, a D&D campaign that runs for 3+ hours. Whenever I'd watch a session live, my 13" Macbook would get unbearably hot, even if I tried propping it up and allowing plenty of airflow to run underneath it. The fan would be on constantly and just being close to the laptop would make me uncomfortably warm. It was also impossible to leave it on your lap. I Googled around and saw a lot of Twitch users complaining about the same thing - that watching live channels made their CPU go insane. I decided I needed to buy a cooling pad, but I'd never owned one before, so I had no idea which to buy. I honestly I picked this one up because it looked nice enough to keep on your lap, and because the price was below 10 dollars. I've been using it all week with great success, and last night was the real test. I used it during another CR streaming session, and my laptop stayed nice and cool for the entire 3.5 hour stream, even though it was on my lap the entire time. It looks like your laptop is going to slide off, but there's a small lip at the very bottom of the pad that keeps the edge of your laptop almost flush with the edge of the pad, so using the pad is very comfortable.