(Reprinted from my Epinion. Note that there are several different types of gel coolers on the market, such as Thermaltake, Targus, et al.)

I’ve owned several fan-based laptop coolers. After going on the third one because the fans are cheap and die after several months, I decided to look for something different.

I had read a review on a computer news site and was intrigued about cooling without fans. After looking around at several others sites, I decided to give this cooling pad a shot. Being cheaper than most other fan-based coolers, it wasn’t like I had anything to lose. > more <

Having a MacBook Pro means you have to deal with heat. The MBP is built with an aluminum case, which is becoming a popular option among the desktop “home-brew computing” world. However, in a laptop it means much of the heat that would be absorbed by a plastic case is now transferred to the case; the case effectively acts as a large heat sink. > more <

On Slashdot today there was an article from Computer World entitled 10 Things We Hate About Laptops. As I was reading it, I couldn’t believe some of the things being said. I’ve used laptops for a while, though I’ve never had to support them for other people. However, I found much of what was said to either be fallacious or misleading. > more <

I just treated myself to an early Xmas present. I bought a new Macbook Pro earlier this week and it’s great.

The laptop it replaces was a Sony Vaio, which is roughly five years old. The hard drive was starting to die (lots of clicking noises) and the CD drive was effectively dead. Oh, and the PC Card slots were also toasted. Linux ran reasonably well on it so that’s why I’ve kept it for so long. > more <