Notebook Cooler Fan/Pad.

Hi there.

I've started to notice that recently, during excessively hot weather, my HP Pavilion ZD8228EA has been getting close to over-heating. The fans are working over-time and appear to be struggling with dissipating the required amount of heat to keep the system running cool - I've even had it shut down on me a couple of times; Something I've attributed to a fail-safe mechanism that causes the system to shut down as it nears critical temperatures.

So I decided that, to be better safe than sorry, I should purchase one of those Notebook Cooler Fans/Pads. I forget, exactly, what they're called. You should know what I mean, though?

Trouble is - I can't seem to find one that fits a 17" Wide Screen laptop.

Well, I can, but they're bloody expensive - I'm looking at £40 including VAT, minus shipping, for one.

So my question is as follows:

Could anybody recommend a Notebook Cooling Pad that would be best-suited for my HP Pavilion ZD8228EA? The cheaper, the better, because I'm currently in the process of moving house; So every penny counts for me right now, as I'm certain a lot of you will attest to.

I live in England, so of course, any website would have to ship here.

eBay was a fine place to start looking, but most seem fitted for much smaller notebooks than mine... Is this a problem? I'd imagine it would cause some instability whilst using the notebook, as there would be much of it (the notebook) hanging over the edges of the cooler pad.

I play WoW regularly on the notebook, for long periods of time, which is partly why it heats up as much as it does - That, and the general air-flow in my current house is rather poor; It heats up easily, and takes a long time to cool down after.

I've taken to having my bedroom's tower-fan blowing towards/against the notebook to generate some form of cooling air-flow beneath/around it, whilst deciding which notebook cooler pad would be best to purchase.

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Sorry the above post was long. I just wished to explain my situation and request in as much detail as possible.

Thank you for taking time to read it, even if you've no advice to offer me.

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EDIT: I've noticed that the plethora of cooling pads/mats out there, whilst all promising to do the same job, which would be cooling down your notebook... there are two distinct ways of doing so.

The first is blowing cool air up against the base of your notebook, thus lowering the over-all temperature by creating a better, cooler air-flow.

The second is extracting hot air from the base of your notebook, thus lowering the over-all temperature by removing excess heat/hot air-flow from beneath your notebook.

Is one of these better than the other? Or more suited, at least, to my style of notebook?

If you're unfamiliar with the underside of a HP Pavilion ZD8228EA, then I'd happily post a picture of it if you so wish.

Sufficed to say - It's got a bunch of vents and three (I believe) fans based towards the back of the underside, in a line.

Once more - Thanks for any insight/advice that you give me. ^^

 

Yes a pic of the bottom of the notebook would be great! Thanks. Also can you get some temperature readings with HWmonitor?

 

I'll take a picture of it tomorrow (the underside) as the notebook is in use right now. I hope that's OK.

As for the temperature readings:



The picture on the website shows so many more readings than just those two. I have reading-envy.

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EDIT: I may try my hand at this "undervolting" business, too.

Although the prospect of a BSOD, no matter how harmless, worries me - My last notebook died (also due to heat; I'm bad at this!) and always boots up with a BSOD (Unreadable_Boot_Volume) so I get a chill down my spine whenever I'm viewing one. Can't afford a second replacement notebook within the space of a couple of months. That'd just be ludicrous. >_<

So I plan on doing all I can to cut the heat and prolong the life of this one.

 

First thing, you should try cleaning out some dust from the vents if you havent already done so. Have a look a the NBR Cooling Central for some tips.

 

I'm bloody useless when it comes to things like this. Software, I'm fine. Hardware, I get a little iffy.

Don't suppose you've any idea how to get at the fans on this laptop model?

Perhaps it'd be easier to tell, once I take a picture of the underside?

Hopefully I can cut the heat down, as right now... it doesn't look too good, does it?

(Luckily, Winter is just around the corner... and the room I tend to use my notebook in... gets freezing during around that time.)

 

Well there arent really enough numbers to judge. But from what you have just said, it seems you have never cleaned the vents, and seeing your notebook is fairly aged, there should be plenty of dust. You should see a good drop in temp after you've cleaned the vents.




EDIT:

Ok I found this...
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01383095.pdf

Personally I wouldnt open it up...lol But I dont think there is much you can do un less you completely take it apart. Also it has a P4 CPU which is going to be hot anyway. You must also consider what an expensive notebook cooler can do to an aged notebook stuffed with dust...

 

It was cleaned a few months ago by a friend, who no longer lives anywhere near me, so is unable to do so again.

I suppose it's about time I learned how to do all these things.

I must admit - I have recently started to notice the rather distinct smell of dust, or rather "hot dust" emanating from what I believe is my notebook, after prolonged use, especially whilst playing WoW.

At least, I think that's what the smell is. Can't think what else it may be.

I'll do a google search for my notebook's model and see if I can find out how to get at all the fans - If it requires the removal of any part of the notebook, do you think it would be best to ground myself, first, so I don't discharge any static electricity into the notebook itself? Or does that not really matter these days?

(Told you, I'm useless when it comes to the hardware side of things.)

Thank you, also, for all the help you've been thus far. ^^

Hopefully, once I get a picture of the base, you (or somebody else) will also be able to suggest a decent cooling pad which'll best-suit the underside of my notebook.

A cooling pad, along with cleaning the vents and undervolting, should cut the heat down in a rather drastic manner... I hope. Which should prolong the life of this notebook a lot.

That is to say, so long as I figure out how best to clean the vents, and dare undervolt. ^^;

 

Check the link I posted above, should have all the instructions on how to take apart your notebook. Yah ground yourself, you can never be too safe.

 

Jesus... So basically, I have to take the WHOLE THING apart, just to get at the fans?

I wonder if I can skip some steps, and just pop off the keyboard, along with the cover beneath the keyboard.

That'd give me near-full access to the fans, and make cleaning it a whole lot easier...

Any last pearls of wisdom before I decide to take this course of action?

I wonder if paying some guy £10/£20 at my local PC shop would be safer...

 

Yah...that might be the wise thing to do. But then whether or not the computer guy knows how to take apart an old HP P4 notebook is another question. At least you can blame him...haha

 

If I can hold him liable should something happen to it... Then I'd go for it.

If not, I'd sooner trust myself.

We'll see. I'll post a picture tomorrow. ^^

Thanks for everything.