Today, Cooler Master launched its new laptop cooler dubbed the NotePal LapAir. As the name would suggest, Cooler Master designed it to provide maximum comfort while keeping it in your lap but, since the airflow is now solved by rear outlets, it really doesn’t mind what you put it on.

Anyone who’s ever used a laptop in the summer probably has one by now, and it can be a blessing come those high temperatures. LapAir is currently priced at €25, making it one of the most affordable coolers around.

NotePal LapAir comes in a pretty large box with CoolerMaster’s standard design. As usual, you’ll find plenty of pictures and details on the box.

As you can see, LapAir is designed to comfortably sit on your knees and angle your laptop while it’s at it.

Thanks to clever design, airflow will not be blocked when you’re working on your knees or couch. The device uses an 8cm fan that’s placed center-top.

The fan has a mesh grill cover that can be taken off and cleaned.

LapAir is angled for two reasons – your posture while working and optimum air-circulation.

Bottom of the LapAir has soft mat surface and your knees will surely appreciate it.

However, soft matte is pretty slippery so Cooler Master put a thick rubber strip on the other side to stop LapAir from moving.

The fan is powered via USB cable, which is physically connected to the fan. The USB tip is a pass-through connector, meaning you still get to use the port for something else.

You can route the cable via channels (above) to where you have a free USB on your laptop.

We used a 15’’ Acer 5745DG laptop, of which you can learn more here.

The fan is pretty small – only 8cm in diameter. This means that it has to spin pretty fast while running, which in turn made it pretty loud.

Taking the grill off is a piece of cake.

The fan in LapAir is B9225-18RA-2RN-F1 (DF0922505RFUN; DC 0.5V, 0.60A) running at 1650 +- 15% RPM with airflow of 65 CFM. It is rated at 23 dBA, which means that it won’t be too loud, but not quiet either.

Fan speed is constant and the fan will run until you cut off power. The design allows for constant and unobstructed air intake, despite the position of LapAir.

LapAir has enough space and will take laptops up to 17’’. The edges are smooth but since it’s made entirely o plastic, it doesn’t quite look attractive. However, the pricing is attractive enough.

Users with insufficient USB connectors on their laptops will love the pass-through connectors.

Acer 5745 DG has an almost 2cm tall battery; however, there’s plenty of room for airflow beneath it so using a cooler is probably overkill.

For this test, we took the battery off so it was pretty much like any other laptop.

Temperatures: without NotePal LapAir

Temperatures: using NotePal LapAir

Conclusion

Cooler Master NotePal LapAir is a laptop cooler for laptops up to 17’’. It’s pretty comfortable and designed to be used on your knees. Thanks to a fast but small fan, the cooler has pretty good performance. However, the performance comes at a noise cost as this little bugger is quite noisy for its size.

NotePal LapAir is priced at €25, which is pretty affordable for a 17’’ laptop cooler with included fan.