Having just purchased a laptop I was chosen to review the Vizo Mini Ninja. It also doesn't help that my laptop is know for running very very hot. The test laptop is a Asus G1s series gaming laptop. The specs can be found in my previous review HERE.
Review Sample Provided by : VIZO
Review By: 8BitGeek
Pictures By: Garfi3ld
Official Specs :
- Housing Dimensions : 350mm x 170mm x 40mm
-Housing Material : Aluminum
-USB Bus Power : 5V / 500mA
- DC Fan Dimensions : 70 x 70 x 15 ( 2 PCS )
-Bearing Type : Sleeve Bearing
-Speed : 2000 RPM
-Noise Level : 20 dBA
-Max Air flow : 13.72( Min:11.22 )CFM
-Rated Voltage : DC 5 V
-Rated Current : 0.24 ( Max:0.34 ) A x 2
-Compatibility : 7" ~ 15.4" notebook PC
-Weight : 600 g
First Impressions and Design:
The first thing I noticed about this cooler was the size. This thing is very small ... the mini prefix fits it quite well. It’s made out of aluminum and has a black matte finish that complements it nicely. It has 2 fans that are adjustable tape in the world, but using tape to attach a component seems a little amateur to me. This is easily overlooked when so you can direct the cooling and has a honeycomb mesh where the fans can blow through. Turning over the unit you can see that the honeycomb grill is held on with tape. This may be the most adhesive you look at the interesting shaped usb plug. It is a T shaped plug that allows you to plug another usb device into it thus this cooler doesn't even take up a usb slot. Also this cooler seems to be shaped for resting on a desk rather than your lap or knees.
Testing:
For the testing environment we used a combination of Prime 95 and DX9 Real-Time High-Dynamic Range Image-Based Lighting to tax the gpu and the cpu. Temps were monitored with HWmonitor. I also asked Wes and Tom to offer their laptops to make the test more diverse Wes was using a generic Gateway laptop and Tom used a Gateway P-6831 FX. For the idle test we let the laptops sit on the operating system and after about 10 minutes we recorded the temps.
Then the Idle with the fan
We then ran Prime 95 and recorded the load temps.
After about 10 minutes we fired up Prime 95 and ran it while the laptops rested on the cooler.
Here are the temp differences the VIZO Mini Ninja made
Conclusion:In the end the cooler did do its job and lowered the temps when they were taxed the most. Unfortunately at a retail of $29.99 none of us would go as far as to purchase this item. If the price point was around $20 Wes and I would consider going for the plunge. Wes also noted that he liked the fact it put the laptop in a comfortable position for typing and general browsing. It should also be noted that it will depend greatly on where the laptop's vents for cooling performance. But it did show a noted that when used on your lap you do feel a noticeable difference in heat; its too bad its not comfortable in your lap. This also goes for the placement of your laptop on the cooler, if its not in the perfect spot you might see differing results; as we saw with a few or out tests.
3.5/5
Pros:Does cool off your laptop puts laptop at nice angle
Cons:Price tape to mount mesh
Review Sample provided by: VIZO
Review Writen by: 8BitGeek
Pictures By: Garfi3ld