So I got one of those fan thingies that fit under a laptop

I've resisted getting those laptop fan things -- you know, the flat plastic deal with a couple of fans that carry heat away from your laptop.

Well, I've got a really hot laptop -- the Gateway Solo 1450. It gets so damn hot, I can feel it through the bottom of the desk. And it's not just the CPU.

Anyhow, they had a killer sale on these things at Fry's, so I got one. It's supposed to plug into the USB port (and comes with a USB power cable). But since I've only got one working USB port, and I use that for a mouse, I used my universal power adapter, set for 4.5 volts and fitted with the proper plug, to power the laptop-fan thingy (I don't know what these things are called, hence "thingy."). I figure that since USB is 5 volts, 4.5 would be OK.

While it doesn't keep the CPU fan from going on, it is going on a lot less often, and the bottom of the laptop -- especially around the SODIMMs -- is a lot cooler.

So for now, and for this laptop, I'm sold on this el-cheapo product.

Later: I had hoped that this fan thingy would keep the CPU fan from running so much, but I knew that the RAM area got extremely hot. This thingy keeps the RAM area cool, but it doesn't do so much for the noisy internal CPU fan.

So I moved the laptop on the fan thingy, putting one of the two fans directly under the CPU fan itself. So far I've got a YouTube video running -- an operation sure to lead to a CPU fan cycle -- and it's been quiet. Maybe I need one with the fans at the rear of the laptop. If it does dramatically cut down on CPU fan use, I just might get one that cools that area better ... or more likely I'll just use this one slightly ajar.

Even later: OK, that didn't pan out, so I guess this is a pretty good fan thingy for this laptop. At least my desk isn't overheating.

Final note: Even I'm sick of reading about my damn CPU fan.