Installation:

   Lining up a 15" Inspiron laptop on the XPad slim was a breeze. The XPad fit it perfectly with just a smidge of room leftover on all sides. There was adequate gapping between the bottom of the laptop and the top of the XPad for airflow. However, once again, calling this unit a laptop cooler is a bit of a stretch. It's more of a firm laptop pad. There is no active cooling or fans involved what-so-ever. So keep that critical point in mind when considering buying this unit. Sure it's super light and portable enough to slide into a laptop bag, but it's not going to cool your high performance gaming laptop any more than just placing it on the table.

15' Dell Inspiron

My on real complaint with the XPad Slim when using it is that there is no easy way to grip the unit and the laptop at the same time. The bottom of the XPad slim is so flat, that getting your fingers under it to grip is a bit of a task. You pretty much have to force your fingers under them both by digging. A small recess in unit for a few fingers would've been a welcome addition.

   Next I placed my 17" HP laptop on the XPad slim to test it's ability to fit 17" notebooks as the packaging and website claim. Well, I will say that it fit. It didn't fall off on it's own or hang terribly over the sides, but there was some modest overhang. So, technically it fits a 17" notebook, but I certainly wouldn't buy this for anything bigger than a 15" and more preferably a 14" or smaller because of the lack of grip to move the unit around.

17" HP DV9500T

What I mean by that is a lot of people, including me, use their laptops in the chair or on the couch in the living room and being able to grip the laptop and cooler together with ease is a primary concern to ensure they don't come apart and cause you to drop one or both. I use the Lapinator Plus for my 17" laptop on the couch, and use it everyday with ease, moving it on and off my lap countless times a day. I couldn't see my doing that with this unit because first it's too small for a 17" comfortably, and also the lack of an easy way to grip it while installed. Squared off edged are harder to grab. They should've rolled the edges or something.

Conclusion:

   As you all should know by now, We've reviewed a ton of laptop coolers/desks here on VH and I'm personally done most of them. The XPad Slim could be a good addition to someone out there in need of something to put under their laptop to keep the heat off their legs. However I can not overlook the price and quality of the unit that I was shipped. The odd design with the logo on the bottom and the bottom looking like the top just feels weird to me. The part of the unit that's in direct contact, or closest to the super hot bottom of the laptop is just ABS plastic. How is that any better than using your laptop on a TV tray or lid from a Rubbermaid tote? The slots cut into the 4 corner coolers are functional to a point, but mostly for looks. Proper cooling needs proper airflow and the XPad Slim has neither. It simply props your laptop up a 1/4" on a firm surface. The bottom, the part on your legs, is flat as a pancake and certainly not the most comfortable for extended sessions.

For the current asking price of $24.95 + $4.95 shipping, I just can not recommend this unit to the masses. There is too many options out there in that price range and too much competition to settle for just anything. There truly is a notebook cooler for anyone and everyone out there. Do your research and look around to make sure you buy something to make your computing experience more friendly and not more tedious.

As for the Xpad Slim, it just seems to me to be an old design with poor quality control. 3-5 years ago, this would have been the standard in the market for a laptop desk/cooler. Not anymore.

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