Xena Notebook Cooler Author: faceless105 -- Posted: 2007-12-12
One reoccurring theme I've been touching on a lot recently has been cooling. Everyone should by now know that proper cooling can increase performance as well as lengthen the life of your hardware. This is true especially in notebooks. So today we're going to review a notebook cooler that goes above and beyond your typical cooler, the Xena by Vizo.
Before I got into the cooling aspects I want to talk about some of the other features that this cooler is showing off. This cooler has a lot of features that I'm surprised I haven't seen before. To start, since this cooler is USB powered (as most are), they've comboed a USB hub. This to me is a great combination because you can honestly never have too many USB ports.
In addition to offering the extra USB ports, this has one other very cool feature. In addition to cooling I've always talked a lot about external storage. This cooler has a slot for a SATA 2.5in HD. This cooler has really impressed me so far by taking one basic device and adding as much additional functionality to it as they could. The cooler will ensure that your drive has a long life. In addition to that, they add the convenience of one touch backup to this drive, so your data should always be safe.
One aspect that has always really struck me about notebook coolers is that they aren't the most mobile devices. It's true you can carry them around just as easily as the notebook, but they take extra time to setup that a number of people don't want to be bothered with unless they'll be sitting around for a long while. With the addition of the USB ports this really allows you to treat the cooler as a USB Dock. You can leave all your devices like a normal mouse, a printer, and anything else all connected to the hub while you take your laptop and go.
Now it's time for the first hand experience. The fans aren't the most powerful in the world, but this is completely expected since it is being powered off USB. Normal fans inside the computer draw 12v of electricity while USB supplies less then half of that with a max of 5v. While the fans have less power, they are still able to move a fair amount of air.
One concern for the cooler was that it may sit to close to the ground to properly vent air. I've seen it before. With two rubber feet, this cooler sits very high off the ground and proper air circulation should never become a problem.
Time for some nice specs...
- Housing Material : Aluminum
- USB BUS Power : 5V / 500mA
- Power Adapter : 5V / 2A
- DC Fan Dimensions : 70 x 70 x 15 ( 2 PCS )
- Bearing Type : Sleeve Bearing
- Speed : 2000 RPM
- Noise Level : 20 dBA
- Max Air flow : 13.72( Min:11.22 )CFM
- Rated Voltage : DC 5 V
- Rated Current : 0.24 ( Max:0.34 ) A x 2
- Compatibility : 8" ~ 15" notebook PC
Overall I'm incredibly happy with this notebook cooler. Looking at it as just a cooler, it has good air flow, the fans run nearly silent, and an all aluminum body helps dissipate any heat. Amazingly this cooler goes well beyond the standard specs. The HD tray adds a lot of options. This can be used for general storage or as a backup device. Notebook hard drives generally have a shorter lifespan due to the mobility so this is a great option to have. The USB hub really lets you expand beyond the realm of just a cooler and use it more as a dock. This is an excellent feature if you use a laptop as your main device and don't want to spend the time disconnecting all of your other devices every time you go out.
I'd like to thank Vizo for giving me the opportunity to review the Xena Notebook Cooler. I'd really recommend anyone with a notebook taking some time to check out this cooler. It's definitely a great addition for anyone with a notebook, and an even better buy for those of us who use our notebook as a primary computer.
As always if you guys have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!!
