Coolermaster Ergostand III Review

Chillax! Cool Your Laptop and More: Ergostand III

Introduction

If two cooling pads weren’t enough, Cooler Master has the newly released Ergostand III ready to hit stores now. A laptop cooling pad, the Ergostand III cools down your computer, gives you more comfortable viewing angles and even adds more USB ports so you can connect extra devices. But, how is it different from its predecessors? How about other products like it?

I’m Cool. You?

The main purpose of any cooling pad is simply to cool off your laptop, but somewhere along the way companies started to get all fancy in order to out-do the competition, adding gadgets here and there. In reality, any pad is the same, so long as it cools down your laptop.

So does the Ergostand III cool off a laptop? Yes it does.

The one-fanned Ergostand III cooled off my Macbook much more than I had expected, all without a peep from the fan itself (I actually couldn’t tell if it was working at first). And if it isn’t quite doing the trick, you can adjust the fan speed with the nifty new power nob.

The Cherry on Top, But This Is No Sundae

So the thing does what it’s supposed to, but what about the other stuff? Just like any proper trilogy, it’s a mix of what made the first and second great (and also a mix of what didn’t). The Ergostand III has ditched the simple form and gone back to a larger pad, this time adding a chord holder on the left side.

The pegs that hold your computer in place are now adjustable for iPad or different sizes of notebooks, which is great, but they are somewhat flimsy, feeling like the might snap off at any moment. Also, there is one huge design flaw here in my opinion: no matter where you position the pegs, they will always be poking into your wrists as you use the keyboard. I got around this by turning the pegs inwards which wasn’t possible with other products, but will probably lead to them breaking.

One thing completely different is the round base as opposed to the rectangular one. A minor difference I agree, but one that has made it much easier to use on your lap when you want to work away from your desk. Is it comfortable? Well, no. But at least it’s made more possible with the new design.

Build It Up, Just to Break It Down

The best thing about the Ergostand III is that you can easily slide off the case so that you can clean the fan super conveniently. Also, there are 4 USB slots that you can use, which is awesome considering the pad uses up one of your USB slots (You can also charge by micro USB DC slot…sold separately). One thing I couldn’t stand though was the “Power ON” LED. It’s bright white light is a distracting glare in my left eye, especially in a dark room.