Cooler Master’s ErgoStand keeps your Notebook Cooler with Style

Notebooks tend to run hot and this editor’s 17” widescreen Compaq powered by a 2.0 GHz Athlon X2/GeForce 8200 M combination is no exception.  As a notebook gets a bit older and a little dust builds up, internal temperatures will tend to creep up and if there is no action taken, there can be serious thermal issues.  My own notebook shut down during video transcoding at CES due to thermal issues and a lot of productivity was lost. Certainly a hotter running part will not last as long as a cooler running part.  Since then, my notebook has been running very warm and I jumped at the chance to review a notebook cooler.

Enter Cooler Master’s NotePal ErgoStand Notebook cooler.  Using a large 140mm variable-speed fan, Cooler Master’s ErgoStand promises to keep your notebook running cooler while still being quiet. It also securely holds your 9” netbook to widescreen 17” notebook at a choice of five angles and it also offers some extra USB connectivity.  It manages all of this with flair and with good practical features.

Notebooks Run Hot

We have appreciated Cooler Master’s dedication to excellent and well-priced PC cooling solutions in everything that we have reviewed by them.  If cooling is important for desktop PCs, then it is critical for notebook/laptops, tablets, and netbooks.   These small PCs often lack room for cooling their components and they also use small fans which are easily clogged with dust.  It is not unusual for many notebooks to run in the 80s C but often they run much hotter.  I was shocked to see high 90sC when I ran thermal tests with CoreTemp and CPUID’s Hardware Monitor in preparation for this review.

Ouch!  100+ degrees C for the CPU is very hot and the GeForce 8200 M is also hitting nearly 100 degrees C !!  Clearly we shall be looking for a remedy – or a new notebook.  So, let’s put Cooler Master’s ErgoStand through its paces and see if we can save our hot-running Compaq from a premature death due to constant overheating.  First, let us look closely at the ErgoStand.