Introduction

My wife has officially taken over my laptop. She has her own, however, because she doesn't know how to do basic performance cleanup, she has decided to claim mine. Isn't that typical of a spouse? They don't like their "whatever" anymore, so they decide to take yours. I told her that I could do a clean and tweak of her laptop, but once it's stuck in her head that she doesn't like something, that's pretty much the end of it. The good thing is that when I need to use it, she doesn't put up a fight. As long as that trend continues, I don't mind.

One of the nice things about having my wife use my laptop is that I can get a secondhand perspective on certain review items. In this case it would be notebook coolers. I've had her use and give me her opinion on the previous 3 coolers that I have reviewed. I even gave her one to use with her own laptop. Now it's collecting dust. What seems to impress her more isn't the super expensive, feature rich coolers. She prefers the budget ones that are much simpler and easier to use and transport.

The Cooler Master NotePal X-Slim Silent Notebook Cooling Pad looks to hit that budget market. The NotePal X-Slim comes with some key features, but keeps the price at an affordable level. Main features include a silent 160mm fan for optimal cooling. There is a metal mesh top to allow total airflow coverage on the bottom of a notebook. The X-Slim is powered by a USB pass through connection. There are 2 feet on the bottom that can be adjusted for two different height settings. The bottom also contains cable grooves for cable management.