Akasa Twin Fan Notebook/Laptop Cooler - Tech Review

There are very few reviews or detailed descriptions of notebook/laptop coolers out there on the interweb, so in case anyone is searching for one, hopefully this will help you out a bit.

The main reason I got a cooler, the ‘Akasa Gemini cooler’ was because during intense gaming or prolonged sessions, my laptop would get too hot for my liking - not necessarily dangerous, but making it uncomfortable to use and also make it more likely to develop a fault through overheating, not to mention a drop in FPS in some games.

The model I got, the Akasa Gemini has two in-built fans, which are powered by one of your laptops USB ports (A USB-to-USB cable is supplied). This is both a good and bad idea. The good side is that the Akasa doesn’t require an independent power supply like a mains, and the USB-to-USB cable is very short which doesn’t take up too much space. The downside is that if your laptop is NOT plugged in to the mains it will use a significant amount of power and will drain your battery quicker than normal. I suppose if you need a cooler, then you will be gaming or photo/video editing so it will probably be on a desk and plugged in anyway, so this isn’t to big an issue. I can envisage any problems with using the cooler on your knee either.

The fans themselves sadly aren’t that powerful, so although they are quiet and do not distract you while working (you can barely hear them most of the time) they will not cool your laptop enough during intense usage. If there was an extra fan, or even if the two were more powerful then it would make a big difference. Another point which I would have thought obvious to the makers, is why are the two fans positioned at the back of the cooler? Surely you want them blowing cool are onto the entire surface, or the middle of the laptop. I can only think they have done it this way because it might help the laptops own fan, but it’s not what I would have done. Why have two fans that aren’t strong enough to do their job, or even put them in the right place?

Apart from this, the design is very good. The cooler surface isn’t actually flat, and lies at an angle of about 20 degrees. This makes typing easier and also puts the screen at a better viewing angle. But, it does worry me slightly that if my laptop sticky feet ever get old it might cause the laptop to slide of one day, and crash onto the floor.

The surface of the cooler that the laptop lies on is brilliant; not only is it at an angle, but it also has deep grooves in it which I’m told ‘improves air circulation’. I’m guessing that the air blown onto the belly of the laptop is forced sideways by the grooves, because mine churns out the heat on the left side. Finally while on the design, even if you do not plug in the cooler and simply place your laptop onto it (as in, no fans going) I think the design does still keep it cool just for a little while. So even when not plugged in, it’s better than having it on your knee or desk, where there is no space for air to move around.

Sadly, the bottom line of the Akasa is that it doesn’t actually stop overheating, it just delays it a little. If you are gaming or photo/video editing or something similarly demanding, it won’t stop it from getting hot. The two on-board fans are just not powerful or big enough to provide the cooling needed for the highly powered jobs. If however, your laptop is overheating through overuse and/or a steady build up of heat over a couple of hours then this cooler will do the job required. Considering it only cost me £25 from Amazon, it’s still a good deal.

To summarise, I’m generally happy with the Akasa cooler, but the fact that it only works to a real degree on lower heat levels makes it slightly unnecessary. It does its job, just not very well. It’s good to have, and certainly better than having nothing at all. The two in-built fans while quiet, are not powerful enough, and the difference the cooler makes in gaming performance does not match the product description.

Overall - 6.5/10

Sony Walkman NW-A808 8GB - Tech Review

I was considering buying the Sony Walkman for Christmas but decided against it. But when I saw it going for under £100, I could resist no longer. I had a Toshiba F20 Gigabeat at the time and over the years had grown used to its flaws. It was too big and heavy, the battery diminished in hours, the interface and navigation was just truly appalling in every way, and getting album art onto the player took an act of God. But, by far the absolute worst thing about it was the software you had to use. It’s called the Gigabeat Room and using it is so slow, awkward and painful, I still have nightmares about it. In fact, the only redeeming feature about the F20 was its decent 20GB HDD space, which I now use solely to backup files, and to keep my window from blowing shut on windy days.

The Sony Walkman however is the opposite in just about every respect. The most immediate thing you realize is just how quick and easy it is to use. All you need to do is plug it into your computer through the USB cable, open WMP, create a Sync list, and that’s it. The selected tracks are then transferred onto the Walkman, along with all the info you could want, such as Artist, Album, Genre, Year, as well as album art, and you can create and transfer playlists as well. Choosing and browsing by the same categories is effortless and finding a song, album, artists etc takes literally a few seconds.

What’s more, the 2inch screen, while not a high enough resolution to watch anything more than a few minutes long on, for album art and browsing, everything is sharp, clear, colorful and bright. The player comes with a trailer for Spiderman 3, and it looks fine, but watching films on it would strain your eyes. But for music videos, it works very well. The player itself is slim and lightweight, comparable to the iPod Nano, although I haven’t been able to compare them side by side, they have very similar dimensions. I like the clicky buttons and don’t miss the touch-scroll seen on most players. There is a volume key on the side, as well as a hold button on the back, and the headphone input is on the underside of the player. One downside to the actual player is that it has the same glossy black finish that the PSP has, meaning that its easy to get fingerprints on, even if your hands aren’t sweaty (yes, like mine).

Sound quality is superb and crystal clear, the best I have ever heard. What helps with this immensely are the in-ear headphones supplied at no extra charge - they retail for around £40 in Argos. I’ve never used in-ear headphones before so was a bit apprehensive before shoving something that big into my earhole, I was thinking, “that’s never going to fit in…” but it did, and it blew me away. The quality is top-notch and goes louder than I would ever want it too. Something I noticed was that the sound quality didn’t noticeably drop even when it was loud, although it would be uncomfortable (at least for me) it still sounds great. While I’ve mentioned the headphones, I should point out that they are designed where one end (left earphone wire) is short and the other long; it looks a bit ridiculous, but what is worse, is that it means the whole thing will tangle and knot all the time. If you put it in your pocket, expect to spend at least two minutes untangling the damn wires. Short of using sellotape to glue it to your face or pocket, there’s not a lot that can be done about it.

Overall, it is an outstanding piece of technology, while not alone in the market, it is by some distance the best I have seen and used. I really cannot think of anything which would be a reason not to buy one; it’s a good price, compact, intuitive, looks and sounds amazing. The only reason not to buy one, is if you already have one.

Rating - 9.5/10