Hi guys and girls,

I just bought a Dell XPS M 1730 for portable gaming, however i wanted to know what is the best cooling system for it as i am REALLY afraid of it overheating.

I was looking around and i was thinking about getting this:

Thermaltake iXoft Notebook Cooling Pad
www.pccasegear.com/prod5622.htm

however it has some mixing reviews. one website says it lowered temps about average 10 degrees while the other said it increased the temperature!

OR

Should i get the $10 USB notebook cooler with 3 fans from www.fluidtek.com.au ?

does it matter if its a USB? i am scared if it will chew more power = more heat.

any help soon would be great, i would like a cooler before my laptop arrives hopefully soon!

i just bought 2 of the usb notebook coolers from fluidtek today

please go look at the laptop cooling thread that was posted yesterday. i made i huge post explaining the process.
forum-replies.cfm?t=776081

the thermaltake and antec ones are just expensive cause they are brands, there are equivalent ones that are much cheaper. so dont let price determine wat to get.

remmeber laptop coolpads are "heat dissipators" they dont COOL ur laptop directly, they cool the air before it gets pumped into ur laptop. and disspate the heat from the base.

the thermaltake and antec ones have just one extra bonus depending on the model is that some of them are the aluminium designs with the grills that are nice in aiding heat disipation. and some of them have the elevating stand for comfort.

as for usb, it would be stupid and pointless if they made one that heated up more than they cooled wouldnt it? if you look at the inner packaging of the fluidtek one, it will give you a power reading etc. you will find it cools sufficiently, but nothing that you will notice significantly. by that i mean, its always doing its job, but in the end it comes down to, your laptop design, what programs ur running, and the temp of the room. laptop coolpads are only good for 3 things
1) heat dissipation to AID cooling
2) a surface you can stand it on, which u can then place anywhere, i.e. you cant put a laptop on a bed, but you can put it on a coolpad THEN put the pad on the bed.
3) some hae additional features like tilted angles, and usb hub.

the only implication with usb is that it drains battery, but like i said in the other post, if your running on batteries, make sure you change the power settings, cause you dont need that much cooling anyway.
when your plugged in, you need more cooling cause your running at higher power settings and the added heat from charging and inflow of electricity requires cooling.

for example, my POS old laptop goes silent the moment i take out the power cable because thats the main contributor of heat.

also, if you want more $10 range stuff but fancier
have a look at these
www.chinavasion.com/adva...e0fbb7def3b0c0a1
(scroll down)
$11 - $14 aud (u can change the currency on the side menu)
plus $17 delievery

beats a $54-$100 brand name anyday

im getting the 5th one and last one for christmas, so ill have four coolpads for all my laptops then :)