Targus TORNADO NOTEBOOK CHILL PAD

works great, but be careful with on/off switch

Posted Jan 31, 2006 - I'm on my second one of these, and I really, really like it. It's thin, light, quiet and does a great job of keeping my legs cool. It seems to keep the computer cooler, too, but, honestly, preventing leg scorch was my primary goal. ;^) Caution/suggestion: I'm on my second one of these because the tiny on/off switch on the cord snagged on something (laptop case? couch? who knows...) and ripped apart. A person with do-it-yourself skills could probably have fixed the torn wires, but that person isn't me. I don't know why you'd ever want it turned off, anyway, so I've covered the switch up with electrical tape on my new one. Hopefully that will protect it. Note on size: I use it with my Dell Latitude D400, and it's exactly the same dimensions. I'll be getting a new, larger, Dell laptop soon, so I'm hoping it will work just as well when the computer overlaps the edges of the chill pad. Actually, that might even be better, 'cause it will put more air between the laptop and whatever surface it's on... we'll see.

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LOVE this product! it works PERFECTLY! The fans ar ...

Posted Aug 8, 2006 - LOVE this product! it works PERFECTLY! The fans are quiet, you cant hear it run at all! I can run my laptop hours on end, and it stays ice cold! No heat at all! Its lightweight, easy to transport, quiet! I have a big Toshiba laptop and I have NO issues with the chill mat size at all! LOVE IT! A must have!

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Targus Chill Pad

Posted Aug 7, 2006 - After using the Chill Pad for @ 1.5 years, I can vouch for its effectiveness. This product works. You can actually feel the difference if you touch the bottom of your laptop before and after using the pad. I have yet to figure out why the fans are sometimes noisy. Usually you cannot hear them, but occasionally you can. I think the blades may be occasionally rubbing against the plastic shell. A minor problem. I think the Chill Pad is worth what I paid (I got it on sale).

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I got the targus chillpad (PA248U) for my Dell Ins ...

Posted Dec 28, 2004 - I got the targus chillpad (PA248U) for my Dell Inspiron 600m laptop since it would get pretty warm on the underside as well as at the left palm rest. So far I have been happy with it mainly because its very silent (you won't feel its around) and cools quite effectively. After a while even the palm rest cooled considerably. One thing I did notice is that the laptop fan (atleast for my model of laptop) sucks air from the underside while even the chillpad does the same (thus they work against each other!). But this shouldn't be of much concern since the overall temperature is cooler.

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I would highly recommend this product. It effectiv ...

Posted Jul 21, 2004 - I would highly recommend this product. It effectively cools my notebook and is a great addition under one pound. An excellent investment to protect expensive notebooks. Would recommend to all notebook users.

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I've used this chill pad for about 4 months now an ...

Posted Mar 31, 2005 - I've used this chill pad for about 4 months now and it does do a decent job at cooling my notebook compared to when I was using it before w/o it. The fan is really quiet without a loud wind-up sound and it's pretty light to carry around. The problem with this unit is that the bottom might now be stable for some notebooks due to the size of the footprint. Larger notebooks might run into this problem. Overall it's pretty decent for anyone who suffers from heat problems on some notebooks.

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I'm glad for this purchase. I have a notebook whic ...

Posted Jan 18, 2005 - I'm glad for this purchase. I have a notebook which frequently shuts down due to overheating. It never did this after using this cooler pad. It's very quiet. For the price I paid, I'm pretty satisfied with its performance. I would like to recommend it to my friends. Too bad it only has 2 fans. I have another cooler which comes with 3 fans. I would think that the effectiveness is proportional to the number of fans.

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I highly recommend this product, the pad is light ...

Posted Nov 3, 2004 - I highly recommend this product, the pad is light and quite. You can put it in your laptop backpack or put it on the table. Very nice one.

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My notebook computer always overheat, and I absol ...

Posted Jul 13, 2004 - My notebook computer always overheat, and I absolutely need something like this to help my notebook to keep cool. However, the power of the fan is a little bit less than I was expected. My notebook computer will got overheat and turn off by itself. But it helps a little bit.

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I would recommend this product to keep your laptop ...

Posted Feb 2, 2005 - I would recommend this product to keep your laptop functioning well. I could not find any weaknesses in this product beacause it gives everything you need. I found some reviews stating that it has failed, but then again, everything fails for someone.

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I like this chill pad a lot. I've noticed the diff ...

Posted Dec 14, 2004 - I like this chill pad a lot. I've noticed the difference before when I didn't have the chill pad. The base of my laptop would get extremely hot..and the built-in fan in my Toshiba laptop would kick on every 10 seconds. I think this is a useful product and should be considered by everyone. It may extend the life of your laptop.

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Used it for always with my IBM notebook and it did ...

Posted Nov 6, 2004 - Used it for always with my IBM notebook and it did cool my notebook - BUT just average in performance. The case is made of plastic. Well, for the price $19 after $10 MIR, you get what you pay for! Better than nothing to cool my IBM notebook. Will buy this if it will be FREE after rebates.

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Really useless. It is just pieces of plastic. That ...

Posted Mar 21, 2005 - Really useless. It is just pieces of plastic. That's all. I don't understand why people wrote a good review about this product.

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Only owned it for a day. I think the original item ...

Posted Jul 22, 2004 - Only owned it for a day. I think the original item looks much better than the one I ordered from a PriceGrabber recommended store. Mwave.com was offering the best price, so I went for it. their page showed just "Notebook Chill Pad" (without the Targus brand), but the description was copied verbatim from the Targus description - including the name of the model Tornado. I ordered it assuming (incorrectly) that it would be the Targus model. The model that arrived was a generic "JustCooler notebook cooling pad" which even had spelling mistakes printed on the pad ("Pouer Consumption") and of course was not the shiny metallic silver color of Targus but a drab plastic gray color. Anyway, the fans work and hopefully will keep the notebook cooler than now. and I hope that the quality of item is not as bad as the manufacturer's spelling :)

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cheap fan, but works great

Posted Dec 7, 2005 - this thing is all plastic w a few rubber pieces here and there to keep it in place. it really does work though, the laptop fan never turned on. this is my 2nd, and has lasted a whole year. the first lasted 8 mos. i called customer svc and they asked me to send it in, they sent me a replacement. the same problem though... the power connection, i have to jiggle it around for it to run now. would totally buy it again, but not at retail price. i paid $12 AR on the original. hard to find that price again.

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