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What
You Get:::...
The
boxes are simple and to the point. The only difference other
than the colour of the logo is that the NP5000's box is
deeper to accomodate the mains adaptor.
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NP3000
(Left) and NP5000 (Right)
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Out
of the box the NP3000 looks surprisingly stylish with a
very fine-particle metallic look to the upper plastic cover.
Only the silver area with the two fan grills cut into it
is actually made from aluminium though this is purely cosmetic
as, being sat on plastic it's unlikely to help much with
the cooling.
Other
than the actual cooler, the only other hardware in the NP3000
box is a USB power feed cable.
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NP3000
- Top View and Components
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The
NP5000 however comes with a USB data cable (not a power
feed cable) and a mains adaptot which powers both the fans
and also the onboard four-port USB hub. Naturally this arrangement
is better suited to the home or office while the NP3000
is designed to be a portable solution.
The
power cable is of the two pin variety so UK users will need
to use the supplied adaptor to convert it to the more familiar
three-pin arrangement.
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NP5000
- Top View and Components
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From
underneath you can see that both cooling fans are designed
to pass air straight through the unit, drawing it in from
below and blowing it out the top directly onto the underside
of your notebook. No air is used to cool the internal cavity
and none is either drawn in or exhaused around the edges
of the cooler which are sealed.
I
suppose I'd be far happier if the air was drawn in through
vents around the edges rather than directly from underneath
because this would help to cool the entire platform, and
it would allow me to sit the cooler on my lap without the
worry of completely stifling the fans' intake. There's no
reason why both options couldn't by employed and I'd personally
feel far more inclined to spend on a cooler if it let me
work from my lap when I needed to.
Placing
the fans one above the other rather than side by side would
also make it easier to use the cooler on your lap.
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NP5000
- Bottom View
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Both
the NP3000 and NP5000 have small storage compartments underneath
which are handy for stowing away the USB power or data cable
or the odd small component but they're not very deep. Some
PCMCIA cards might fit in there too but my Belkin WiFi card
was too long.
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NP3000
- Storage Compartments Open
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