Cooling Pad?

A couple of family members have the Targus, and they're very happy with them. The fans are very very quiet. They don't have the USB Hub version, but I can't see it being any different.

 

These things work. The idea is to get the hot air away from the heat source and move cooler air towards it. This is the same way fans cool your body. Our body heats up the air around us, moving this air away lets us heat up this new cool air and thus removes heat from our body (same idea as why wind makes you colder in the winter).

They work in theory and in practice.

 

I purchased the Antec Cooling Pad. See: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=239997

I can tell you that it makes a huge difference on the surface temperature of the machine, under-side and top-side. The internal CPU temperature was effected by about 10 degrees (cooler of course).

The fan noise is noticeable in the Antec model, especially on the higher setting. Not enough where it bothers me, but I wouldn't run it during any recording sessions.

 

The targus one is too expensive. Its made of cheap plastic. It works well though.