Lift That Laptop. 

Product: Laptop Lift
Manufacturer: Great Products Group^2
Price: $29.95

I met George Gruber, the designer of Laptop Lift, in a small booth at the back of south hall on my last day of CES 2009. As I was walking through the isles one last time, a clear laptop model caught my eye.  I went over to talk to the man running the booth and he demonstrated the product to me. He told me about how the simple act of lifting the laptop off your desk improves airflow and the natural cooling abilities already built into the computer. Not only that, but setting the laptop at an angle helps with eye, neck and wrist fatigue of the user. After a short demonstration, I was hooked. I'd been looking for something like this for a while - small, light, portable way to get my laptop off the desk at an angle to improve cooling and ergonomics.  I knew at once that this product needed to get out there in the world and people such as you needed to know about it. As of right now it is not carried in any stores in the USA, but can be ordered directly from Great Products Group ^2. I hope that will change soon and George can get some great US distributors.

I, as I'm sure many of you, have tried a few different types of laptop cooling pads. They are usually big and bulky, or thin and useless. I've tried a few different USB pads that are around 1" thick plastic with 2 or 3 small fans embedded in them. Sometimes they have an aluminum top, sometimes they don't. No matter what I trye, they are just bulky and add more weight to my camera bag. The Laptop Lift is different.  In it's closed position it is approximately 14"Lx3"Dx3/4"H, it weights mere ounces.  I actually felt the difference when I took my old cooling pad out of my bag and put the Laptop Lift in. It was, literally, a load off my shoulder.

When it comes down to it, the Laptop Lift is best at lifting your laptop up off your desk. The angle of inclination is adjustable from 15 to 35 degrees. That is a great span that should give everyone the perfect option. I've looked at other laptop lifting products and this is the only one I've found that was solid, portable, and adjustable. Most lifts are a solid piece or adjustable in only one direction (sacrificing stability in the process). The Laptop Lift from GPG^2 doesn't sacrifice anything and still delivers a solid, light, adjustable platform for your laptop.

You might be thinking that something this robust will be difficult to set up.  If you are thinking that, you are wrong.  The genius of this design is that there are 2 joints and everything moves from those 2 joints. To get up and running you pull the top bar up to where you want it, then just pull each "leg" out where you want it and twist it to lock into place. Very quick and easy. I was really amazed that something this simple could actually sit solidly on my desk. I was never worried that it would collapse on me. I've used the laptop lift on my lap too. It kept the burning bottom of my Macbook Pro off my delicate skin. Not only that, but it was a lot easier to type with the slight 15 degree angle, and kept the screen at eye level instead of having to look down all the time.

When I first received my Laptop Lift, I knew I'd have to use it and use it hard. The thing that had me most worried during my demo at CES was the plastic and metal construction. I thought that over time the metal would damage the plastic, as I've seen happen with many items in the past. As part of my testing, I locked/unlocked the legs many more times then would a person during normal use. After hundreds of twists, I noticed no damage to the Poly Carbonate support or the Stainless Steel feet. As a matter of fact, I have had no parts fail on me at all, even with rigorous use and abuse.  Will it break?  Well, if you actually want it to break I'm sure you could get it break. However, my conclusion is that with normal use it will be highly unlikely to fail for years to come.

The Laptop Lift was designed as a support but I was actually most interested in it to use in lieu of a cooling pad.  I hate dragging the bulky power-hungry USB pads around. They are are always too big to use on airplanes, sometimes too loud to use at work, and always a hassle to pull out and set up. The Laptop Lift creates a simple and natural cooling effect by simply lifting the bottom of your laptop off the desk and, therefore, supplying airflow. This aids your internal fans and casing to actually dissipate the heat in a more efficient manner.  I wasn't 100% satisfied with this aspect of the Laptop Lift so I actually placed a small USB fan behind my machine pointing at the back of my laptop. With the combination it was perfect.  I only need to run the USB fan when I'm at my office with my laptop running 8-10 hours. Most of the time I just use the Laptop Lift by itself, and I actually just leave the USB  fan plugged into my desktop at the office. No more carting around things I don't need.

Review

The Good:

Works as advertised - lifts my laptop up off the desk (or lap) to create airflow and natural cooling. Works especially well with the aluminum casing of the Macbook Pro. The added bonus of the Laptop Lift over other cooling pads is that it requires no power, has no moving parts, is fully adjustable, and folds up to a very small footprint for easy storage and travel. I can wholeheartedly recommend this over any other cooling pad or lift I've tried and it works well with any laptop 13" or larger.

The Bad:

The weakest point of the design is the plastic base. I didn't have any problems with breakage during normal use, however I could see an issue if something fell on it or it was twisted somehow. Definitely not a deal-breaker as most laptop pads are plastic and break easily if you try.

The Ugly:

If there was a fan available for it, the Laptop Lift would be an even better gadget. As it is it works great, but once I put a usb fan behind it (pointing at my laptop) the combo was amazing.

Overall:
 
A great lightweight alternative to standard USB cooling pads. It uses no power but keeps the laptop cool and creates a better angle to view and type. The fact that it folds up to under an inch thick means there's room in most bags and even sleeves to carry it with you.

Final Vote: 4/5