Good cooling pads for a 17 inch Macbook Pro

[Dutch Mac Fan]

I have a early 2009 17 inch Macbook Pro. I usually have the laptop connected to an external monitor with the lid closed.

When the lid is closed, the laptop somtimes becomes very noisy, especially when using heavy applications.

That is why I am thinking of buying an external cooling pad.

Will that help? And if so, which cooling pad would you advise?

 

[thegoldenmackid]

I'd look at either a vertical stand, like Twelve South's BookArc or something like Bluelounge's Cool Feet.

The reality is that cooling pads don't really work.

 

[Pax]

The reality is that cooling pads don't really work.

+1

For the latest unibodies, very little heat comes out through the case. It all gets dumped into the air moved by the fans. The case only gets to 30 C or something like that. A cooling pad simply won't be able to pull much heat through the case, so I think it will have very little effect.

This could start a huge flame war about whether Apple's cooling system is genius or a disaster. But the unibody cases simply don't get very hot, so I doubt that cooling them down with a fan will affect the internal temperature very much.

Why not just leave the lid open? It's effective, and free!

Or buy the cooling pad, and look very hard at your fan speeds and CPU temperatures with/without the cooling pad. If it doesn't help much, send it back and get your money back. Oh, and post your results here so we can all see!

 

[Relznuk]

+1

For the latest unibodies, very little heat comes out through the case. It all gets dumped into the air moved by the fans. The case only gets to 30 C or something like that. A cooling pad simply won't be able to pull much heat through the case, so I think it will have very little effect.

This could start a huge flame war about whether Apple's cooling system is genius or a disaster. But the unibody cases simply don't get very hot, so I doubt that cooling them down with a fan will affect the internal temperature very much.

Why not just leave the lid open? It's effective, and free!

Or buy the cooling pad, and look very hard at your fan speeds and CPU temperatures with/without the cooling pad. If it doesn't help much, send it back and get your money back. Oh, and post your results here so we can all see!

Could not agree more. The only thing coolpads do is keep your lap from roasting.

 

[Dutch Mac Fan]

But the unibody cases simply don't get very hot, so I doubt that cooling them down with a fan will affect the internal temperature very much.
(...)
Why not just leave the lid open? It's effective, and free!
(...)
Oh, and post your results here so we can all see!

The underside of my Macbook used to become quite hot (at the back). But now I have put my Mac in a rack the heat can get away and hence the machine is much more quiet

And regarding your question why I don't leave the lid open...

1) Esthetic reasons
2) With the lid closed it won't gather dust

 

[Pax]

The underside of my Macbook used to become quite hot (at the back).
...

1) Esthetic reasons
2) With the lid closed it won't gather dust

Yes I can imagine with the lid closed, the fan air is forced downwards onto the table and that could make the table and the rear lower case warm. And I quite understand your reasons for keeping it closed!

You could try it with your Mac upside down on the table. The fan air would be blown upwards. (Just kidding. Well, mostly).