Targus Chill Mat HD3 Gaming for up to 18-Inch Laptop, Black (AWE57US)

My Dell laptop was my main computer for a long time, and I had a chill mat for it that barely produced any cooling effects before it died an untimely death. I started gaming with the laptop and noticed that the very demanding game I was playing made the laptop run very hot, so I knew it was time to get a replacement mat for it. I did a lot of research and decided to buy the Targus HD3 Gaming Chill Mat.I have been quite happy with this chill mat. My laptop is 16" so it fits well with room to spare. When the dial is turned to maximum, there is a good amount of air moving, and the laptop runs a whole lot cooler. The sound at maximum is not extremely loud, either. It's a tad noisy at max level but I wouldn't say it's annoying. I always turn it down after I'm done with the laptop and at the lower levels I don't even really notice it.I read one review that said that the lower fan levels do not work unless you switch the dial to maximum first. This has not been my experience. I've turned the unit off when my laptop has been off, then dialed it up to low level and the fans started working as expected. What the dial doesn't do, however, is give you a continuous increase in fan speed as you turn it up. It's got "clicks" where the power changes from off to low to medium to max.I am really pleased with this chill mat. I've been using it for nearly 6 months now and it's reliable and definitely does the job I need it to do.

BLUF: Great product for excellent laptop cooling! I ended up buying two of these!The first purchase was for my new Sager NP9377-S superwhamadyne gaming laptop. It's a 17.3" beast with lots of power which I set up this past weekend. After several gaming sessions of a few hours with the Chill Mat underneath it the Sager's high speed fans did not have to kick on! As I said, the Sager is a beast but it sits perfectly on the Chill Mat. No overhang at all. The cooling pad has two USB plugs but I'm finidng it cools the superwhamdyne just fine with only one plugged in and the fan on "3". I have no reason to adust the setting and since the cooling pad is USB powered is turns on and off with the laptop I pretty much never have to touch the dial.I tested the Chill Mat initially on a four year old 15.6" Sony VAIO laptop (my previous gaming computer) that did a fair job of getting hot after an hour. Although I had a laptop board to rest the VAIO on I would still put a towel over my leg due to the exhaust. Just testing it on the VAIO convinced me of the cooling properties of the Chill Mat. There was not a bit of hot exhaust being ejected out the left side of the laptop as I've experienced in the past. My wife was very impressed with the cooling that I ordered a second Chill Mat that day since she's keeping my VAIO as her primary computer now. She didn't want a smaller cooling pad; she wanted this one because it does the job.Pros: Light weight. USB powered; turns on and off with your computer. Provides excellent cooling. Very, very quiet. You could call it "whisper" quiet or "hardly noticeable" quiet, even on the highest setting. Perfect for a 17.3" heavy duty notebook computer.Cons: The USB cable is a little bit too long for my liking and with the additional USB plug it's difficult to frap out of the way. Will add some "height" to your set up and could be an ergonomic issue for some people.Overall: I did a lot of shopping around on Amazon comparing specifications, sizes and reveiews. If you have a large notebook computer then this is the cooling pad you're looking for.

I read a lot of mixed reviews about this cooling pad, but with all the other cooling pads I was checking out as well they all had their good, bad and ugly side. After reading a few comments on Amazon about the HD3 I decided I would test this one as the one I had was at end of life.So about the Pad well start with..THE GOOD:It works, my Alienware M17xR4 has never ran as cool (5c cooler) as it does now with my old cooler pad.It looks good, great finish, goes well with my M17xR4.Its flat all over and one height.My old cooler pad was higher at the back where the fans were but it angled down at the front but this was a nuisance as the laptop slid down, that problem doesn't happen with a flat cooling pad.THE BAD:The sound, this pad is LOUD!!!It's definitely due to the huge fans inside I can honestly say I am not bothered by it as I am wearing headphones generally the whole time I use my laptop but when I take them off my ears are harassed by the whirl of the fans.THE UGLY:2 USB slots is a huge nuisance, for this device to run at its optimal it requires the 2 slots.The M17xr4 has 4 USB slots, 2 on the left, 2 on the right, I need a mouse port on my right, the 2nd port on my right is for my portable HDD this I always need connected. I have 2 on the left I have USB soundcard (Asus Xonar U3) for my headphones to experience full DDL, not only that I need a USB slot for my headphones Mixamp TX (Astro A50's). To make all this work I had to purchase a USB HUB (D-Link Hi Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Powered Hub) it can be a mess of cables if my laptop had more ports it would be easier but unfortunately laptops generally only have 4 ports so you can see the dilemma.I am a really picky person and am not easily pleased but overall if you want a cooler pad that works well and don't mind the small things (how loud the pad is, 2usb ports to run) like myself and can adapt to what you have with ease definitely BUY this cooler pad you won't be disappointed at all, but do bare in mind if you use your USB ports to buy a USB HUB with at least 4 ports on it to accommodate this item requiring 2 slots.