Cooler Master Choiix C-HL04-KP Air-Through Stash Notebook Cooler Review

And now for the grand finale.  The data transfer test.  Okay, it’s not going to be that grand, but it’s part of the Choiix tour, so we have to check it out.  Using HD Tach 3.0, I ran a Long Bench test with 32Mb zones.  It took about 15 minutes and gave a speed of 28.4Mbs, which is about as much as you can expect from USB 2.0.  It would take a little while to transfer large files to and fro, but watching movies or accessing data would be a snap.

In conclusion, I have to say I was a little disappointed with the main goal of the cooler… the cooling.  Sure, it can store efficient amounts of data, but what good is that if it’s not accomplishing its main goal?  You can buy an external enclosure that would do the same thing and take up less space.  It does keep your hardware off your legs, resulting in less of that “burning sensation” that we tend to get during long computing periods.   It is my experience that notebook coolers really don’t cool all that much, but do lift your laptop up from soft surfaces that clog proper ventillation.  The Choiix Air-Through Stash is no exception as it doesn’t provide much effective cooling, but does expand the features of your notebook.  Essentially, I have to give this one a thumb up for innovation and a thumb down for being poorly thought out and not having the foresight to use a decent fan and some gaskets.

	REPORT CARD : Cooler Master Choiix Air-Through Stash Notebook Cooler category rating comments Quality 3 Not nearly as sturdy as an aluminum cooler. Innovation 4 Clever idea to include hard drive with the cooler, but placement of the fan is inefficient Performance 3 Hard drive performance is as good as you can expect for USB 2.0, but the cooling performance is below average. Installation 4 Just place on top and plug in a USB cable. Value 4 Notebook cooler for $30 that’s portable, has extra USB ports and hard drive storage FINAL VERDICT: 4 out of 5 stars