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Evercool Royal Notebook Cooling Pad


Date
: 10/6/08 – 05:57:54 AM

Author
:

Category
: Cooling

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: EVERCOOL Thermal Co., Ltd.

You might have seen a lot of Evercool ads on Overclockers Online. If you haven't heard of Evercool, it is a Taiwanese company which focuses on computer cooling products and accessories, with everything ranging from fans, heatsinks, to fan controllers.

As more and more high performance components are packed into smaller and smaller laptops, the heat output will naturally increase in spite of more efficient technology. This is where a laptop cooler can help prolong the life of your laptop as well as keep it operating at comfortable temperatures. In this review, we will be looking at the
Evercool Royal
, a large laptop cooler with a ‘regal’ theme.

Page 2 : Package, Features & Specifications

Starting out from the outside, the package strikes us with a royal aura with its black color. The top of the box has a carrying handle, which helps considering the unusually heavy weight of the package.

The front face features a large image of the aluminum cooler itself. The royal theme is apparent with the coat-of-arms-looking insignia present on both the box and the cooler. It is marketed as being for 14′-17′ laptops.

The sides of the package do not have any information other than the name of the product.

On the back, we can find all the features and specifications. Based on the graphic, it seems like the fans suck air down through the surface and exhaust it through the sides.

Let's take a look at the features and specifications before going on to opening the package. They were taken from here, Evercool's webpage for the Royal.

Features:

Specifications:

Interesting features include the storage drawers as well as the fact that the Royal doesn't ‘use up’ a USB port because it has two – one is used to supply power from your laptop while the other one replaces the one that is used. Of note is the size of the Royal; since it can handle even 17′ laptops, it has a huge footprint. This might be a good time to tell you that I have a 13.3′ Dell XPS m1330 laptop so the Royal is going to be a bit of overkill.

Page 3 : Package Contents

Opening the package, the royal theme is immediately apparent thanks to a soft, red velvety material surrounding the all-aluminum Royal.

The cooler is very subdued apart from the fan ‘grills’ which look like insignia you would see on coat-of-arms. Though they serve to characterize the product, they perhaps do a better job at impeding airflow. However, the design does look good. There are three specks of red to offset the otherwise grayscale cooler. A ‘Royal’ logo as well as an ‘Evercool’ logo at the bottom right on the lip completes the design.

The right side of the Royal features the two USB ports, labeled, as well as an On/Off switch. There is a green LED above the switch which glows when power is supplied. The back is slightly elevated to provide a more comfortable and ergonomic typing position; the front lip helps keep your laptop from sliding down.

Both sides feature slide-out compartments, with the one on the right side holding the retractable USB cable that supplies power while the one on the left is empty and has space to store perhaps a flash drive or other small accessory.

Flipping the Royal over, we can see the three 80mm fans which do all the work.

If you recall from the previous section, the noise level was 13.8 dBA. I'm assuming that's the rating for just one fan but we have three so the noise is definitely going to be higher.

Now that we've covered everything, let's put the Royal to the test!

Page 4 : Testing & Performance

To test the Evercool Royal, I will be using my Dell XPS m1330 laptop and using HWMonitor to measure the temperatures under different conditions.

Setting up the laptop for testing is an easy process consisting of setting the laptop on the cooler's surface and connecting the USB cord for power.

HWMonitor will be used to measure the CPU, GPU and HDD temperatures under both idle and load conditions with the Royal's fans turned off and then with the fans turned on. The idle measurement was done with the laptop idling at the desktop for 2 hours with no intensive programs running and taking the minimum temperature reported by HWMonitor. Load temperatures were taken while running 3DMark06 for an hour and taking the maximum temperature reported by HWMonitor.

The average ambient temperature was around 26ºC throughout all the tests.

We have some interesting data here. In general, it seems that turning the fans on actually increases the temperatures! However, it isn't by a lot, only 1 or 2ºC at most and despite what the numbers say, the surface of my laptop felt noticeably cooler with the fans on. I have no idea why this could be – it could be perhaps the laptop's own fan throttles down or it could be due to the orientation of the fans.

In any case, I cannot comment on whether or not the Royal makes a difference really other than in the sense that it cools the outer surface of the laptop – the innards are still running at the same temperatures for the most part regardless of whether or not the fans are on.

On the topic of the fans, they are quiet and you can even reverse the airflow direction, if you are so inclined, by removing the fans and flipping the orientation. This would make the fans exhaust air from the laptop to the bottom instead of blowing air onto the laptop, which is the default setup.

Page 5 : Conclusion

Though the tests were inconclusive, I really like laptop coolers in general and the Evercool Royal is no exception. It is well-designed and the ‘royal’ theme is very attractive. The raised back is ergonomically sound and is a feature my wrists welcome. Though its effectiveness at cooling your laptop's components is dubious, it does make the surface cooler which equates to a more comfortable experience if you use your laptop on your lap.

One thing I did not like about the Evercool Royal is that it is a bit large, especially for people with smaller laptops. It is also very heavy, weighing in at more than 3 pounds (1380 grams). This is significant considering my laptop itself only weighs a couple pounds more.

However, all things considered, the Evercool Royal is a decent laptop cooler but not without its flaws.

Advantages:

• Quiet operation

• Attractive design
• Slide-out trays are useful

Disadvantages:

• Big and heavy

Overclockers Online would like to thank Evercool for making this review possible.