Review: Aerogel Extreme LapDesk
Hot laptops are nothing new. Even with smaller processor fabrication, laptops keep getting smaller making it hard to effectively cool them without a large heatsink or loud fan. Case in point - my MacBook Air is a heater and it doesn’t help that the exhaust vent is angled down. I end up moving it around in various awkward lap positions while in classrooms with stadium seats that offer little desk space to place a laptop.
Enter LapLogic’s Aerogel Extreme LapDesk (G800) and LapDesk Wide (W800). They are rigid and insulated surfaces for lap computing. The key selling point is what LapLogic uses for insulation: aerogel. If you’re not familiar with aerogel, it’s more expensive than gold (pound for pound) and has unparalleled insulative properties, which is why NASA uses this stuff. I’m sure people will buy this for the aerogel geek factor alone.
Other notable LapDesk features include an elevated laptop section designed to help funnel away heat along with a non-slip surface that happens to look surprisingly like cheap cupboard liner. The wide version is meant for use as a mouse pad as well but probably isn’t big enough for your 17-inch MacBook Pro and a mouse.
Pros and Cons
Unlike my self-proclaimed uber reviews, I’m going to make this review quick to read. The Aerogel Extreme LapDesk works very, very well for what it was intended: keeping your legs and manly parts cool and comfortable. From the performance side of things, I only have one complaint. The bottom of the LapDesk seems to amplify your own body heat and make it an annoyance. I think the bottom should absorb and dissipate your own heat while a top layer just blocks laptop heat.
And now for the blatantly obvious con: this thing is huge. I seriously can’t take a LapDesk out in public when it’s larger than my laptop. I realize that comparing the LapDesk to a MacBook Air is kind of unfair, but even if I compare the LapDesk to a regular MacBook, it’s still pretty thick.
Aside from the size, it isn’t terribly aesthetically pleasing either. Chris mistook the W800 for a mini ironing board. There’s a plastic pocket inside of it as if people would store things in there. I’m looking for something simple to keep my legs cool, not hold my change. LapDesk build quality is high and the surface is sturdy but I would like to see some design innovation. Perhaps it can just be replaced with a thin sheet of adamantium (insulates better than aerogel) coated with a non-slip rhino lining?
The LapLogic Aerogel Extreme LapDesk G800 and W800 retail for just shy of $70 and $80, respectively. They receive 5 out of 10 Stammys.
How do you deal with toasty laptops? Would you consider a LapDesk?
Disclosure: Evaluation units provided by LapLogic.
Wow, this is cool! Aerogel is the thing you use when you DON’T want heat to get to your legs. You can even put fire under aerogel with wax on top that it won’t melt! If it’s all made by aerogel, it’s really cheap, and light I bet! Is it?
Haha, that thing looks hilarious. I’d be alright for when you’re at home sitting on the couch, I guess, but I couldn’t see myself taking it out and about. Way too big and clumsy. Though, I guess if you’re desperate to save your burning legs, you’ll do anything. Probably better off with a stable table though. Do MacBook Airs really get that hot?!
Hey Paul,
My MacBook Air does not over heat. I can still keep it on my legs when I use it. The CPU temp is usually 50° and goes up to 74° (Is that hot?). I need to check it more often.
I wonder why mine does not over heat like yours.
I have at home a simple piece of wood, which I use when the fan of my Powerbook Titanium stop working.
I use this wood board with the Air when I’m in bed!
Yesterday I bought the incase to fit the Air in my backpack. I’m happy to have find one that open from the top and not the side.
What case do you use for yours?
i’ve used a white roadtools podium coolpad for years on my desktop, lap, and for public presentations. i’ve yet to find a suitable replacement, and the size of the aerogel would remove it from consideration.
I use a product called Lapinator. Works well.
@Patrice - my MBA gets the same temperatures as yours. I don’t think this is overheating, rather normal for an MBA. And anywhere in the 70’s is pretty hot by most PC standards, although Mac laptop users have learned to deal with high temperatures I guess you could say. I also use smcFanControl and have my fan’s default a bit higher than usual to keep it a slight bit cooler. The problem just arises with extended periods of use - like being in the same class for 2 hours. It’s fine for 20-30 minutes but after that it gets annoying and I find myself constantly shifting the Air.
As for case I just use the compartment in my Timbuk2 bag. I had considered getting a smaller 13-inch Timbuk2 coder but it doesn’t come in the colors I want and won’t until 2009.
@Daniel - I only think a very small amount of aerogel was used.. just going by the price it’s not possible for them to have made the entire thing out of aerogel. It is most likely some aerogel type of powder spread across a thin top layer. The rest of the pad feels like some type of study corkboard or something.
Paul, I, too, have a MacBook Air and here’s what I find works great, and is inexpensive, too. I bought a sheet of particle board—the type with holes in it, that you would normally use in the garage, and put hooks in the holes and hang tools on it. I cut a piece to size, glued a couple of rubber pads on one end (not needed to use on your lap), just to give it a bit of elevation when I’m using it on my desktop.
The holes in the particle board allow air to circulate, it is light, thin yet sturdy, and it fits easily into a backpack or briefcase or laptop case for easy carrying with you.
Give it a try—I think you’ll like it….Jim Hamm
Paul, I take it you haven’t bought anything as lame as this? Its a review loan?
I use an aluminum lappy “board” which cools my MBP very very well
@David - see disclosure above
I really dig my iLap - it’s lightweight, thin, portable, and does its job well. If you’re still in the market for a laptop cooler, I wrote a quick review of a few I’ve used. Here’s a link: http://techtelic.blogspot.com/2008/05/laptop-coolers-which-to-use-and-why.html
@Paul, sorry missed it. I didn’t think from looking at it that it was something you would have splashed cash on
I think these lapdesks are worth it, especially if you’re sitting down to a few hours of work and not just checking mail for a few mins or something. I spent $30 on the UltraLite model lapdesk from LapWorks (http://www.laptopdesk.net/desks.html) last December and think it’s great. It’s lightweight, has grooves that channel the heat away from both me and the MBP, and it folds in half so I can carry it in my laptop bag or tuck it between the bed and the nightstand. And my laptop doesn’t slide around even when I change position or tuck my legs under me. It was worth the $30.
Paul,
Great review!
Problem with insulation is the poor little laptop needs to dissipate it’s heat. If you put it on an insulating platform it will just get hotter and have to keep the fan on all the time. I’m sure that isn’t a problem short-term for the Air, but imagine the difference in life between two laptops, one left on an aluminum fan cooling base at home all the time, another using battery power and changing surfaces between beds (HELP IM SUFFOCATING!) and laps (EWW THIS STINKS) and backpacks (HEY IM IN STANDBY STILL!). I think it should have aluminum (diamond patterned for more ventalation) on top and bottom and aerogel in the middle. Alumigel or Aeronum?
I burned hand prints into my D*ll laptop in just 3 years.