APC Forced Air Cooling Notebook Computer Stand

Nearly indistinguishable from the excellent Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand we looked at as part of our recent laptop cooling device roundup, the APC Forced Air Cooling Notebook Computer Stand, $29, offers effective laptop cooling for mid-size and smaller systems.

Though it shares the same single-fan, USB-powered design, and ergonomic kickstand as the Belkin device, the APC cooler is slightly smaller and lighter, and it feel less sturdy, especially when used with a larger, desktop replacement laptop. It's cast in a dull gray and doesn't look nearly as sharp as the Apple-friendly white Belkin.

Measuring 11 inches wide (with deep V-shaped cutouts on both sides) by 10 inches deep by a little more than 1 inch high, the unit is suited best for midsize or smaller laptops. A larger desktop replacement will have to balance on top, and the nonslip rubber pads on the top are much smaller than the ones on the Belkin.

A small plastic panel folds out from the bottom of the device, elevating the rear slightly for better ergonomics. The single fan, powered by a USB port on your laptop, sits in the middle of the slightly concave top face.

Using a popular business laptop, the Lenovo ThinkPad T60, we put the APC Forced Air Cooling Notebook Computer Stand to the test by running CNET Labs' grueling Multimedia multitasking test on the system and recording the CPU temperature.

Running the test without the laptop desk, the CPU got as hot as 80.8 degrees. After a cool-down period, we ran the test again, this time with the laptop sitting on the APC stand. The highest temperature recorded during the second test was 76.2 degrees, a reasonably solid decrease, although 1.2 degrees higher than the similar Belkin device.