# Quick Review : Coolermaster Notepal L1 - VFM cooling pad



## marvelousprashant (Nov 3, 2012)

I bought the Coolermaster Notepal L1 about a week ago from Flipkart. Priced at Rs 900 this is probably the best cooling pad you can get on a tight budget.
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Build quality - 8/10*
Build quality is pretty good. It feels sturdy with no creaks that you will find in cheap plastic cooling pads available in the market. The frame is made of high quality plastic while the grill is metallic. The body is somewhat scratch resistant too. One of the problems I have faced with belkin F5L055 is that it gets scratched very  easily. 
The only issue is with the USB. It feels a bit flimsy. Not a dealbreaker

*Size and Design - 9.5/10*

Size is perfect for a 15.6" laptop. The back portion of the frame is slightly raised (non adjustable) but it adds to the typing experience. The front edge is slightly raised to prevent thee laptop from slipping. The grill is not flat. It has two rectangular grooves to maintain good airflow.

*i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g430/marvelprash/IMG_1753.jpg

Compared to Belkin F5L055, the main difference here is size. F5L055 is more suited to 11" laptops. As you can see in pictures, Notepal L1 is a perfect fit for my 15" HP dv6

*i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g430/marvelprash/IMG_1752.jpg

*Performance - 9/10*
The L1 has a massive 160mm single fan. Compared to F5L055 the fan is almost 3 times bigger and faster (1400rpm). (See the first image for fan size )

In Idle mode laptop (watching movies, browsing) temps show marginal decrease of about 5 degrees. With i7-2630, idle temps are 38-42 degrees and peaking out to 46 degrees max 

While gaming this biggie blows F5L055 out of water. I played CoD Black Ops for 90 minutes (room temp 24 degrees). My past experience says Peak Temps should have been around 75 degrees without cooling or 70 degrees with belkin. Now see the performance of L1 yourself

*i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g430/marvelprash/CoreTemp-Scr.png

Last bot not the least. L1 also offers an additional USB port so that you are left with the same number of ports even with the cooling pad plugged in.

Thanks for reading


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## lovedonator (Nov 4, 2012)

I bought this from flipkart. Has started making strange noise after 2 months of use.


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## clickclick (Feb 14, 2013)

@prashant

Mate my laptop gets heated majorly on the left hand side and in the center, right side is cool, do u think the is the cooling pad for me? I have attached the pic of my laptop below

*i.imgur.com/e6a6It9.jpg


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## pratyush997 (Feb 15, 2013)

How about 2/4 Books with 2-3 USB Fans under it ?

Btw good review. My u2 sucx at cooling

Btw good review. My u2 sucx at cooling


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## swiftshashi (Jun 4, 2013)

@Prashant
Your claimed maxm temperature is with Cool Sense in which mode-Coolest, , performance or Quiet mode??


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## marvelousprashant (Jun 7, 2013)

@swift Performance mode with MAX Processor set to 99% ( Disables only turbo boost)


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## alchemist (Jun 14, 2013)

I also got the NotePal L1 recently for my Asus K53SM. I see no difference in peak temps from before (over 90 degrees). The hot summer is a factor, but I expected at least some reduction in temperatures. I am a bit sceptical now about whether cooling pads actually work or not.


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