Well, the Chill Mat is still rectangular (albeit now with
rounded corners) and still incorporates two USB-powered internal fans,
but pretty much everything else is clean-slate different.
Happily the Chill Mat still does an efficient job of cooling
your laptop, keeping your thighs effectively insulated from heat, and
providing a stable work platform.
In terms of looks, it's no contest between the old and the new:
The "for Mac" unit is a much more aesthetically attractive product,
with its mirror-smooth plastic finish which, aside from a Targus logo,
is clean except for a pushbutton on/off switch at the center of the
back upper housing and the nylon mesh support surfaces. In terms of
portability and quietness, however, the comparison is more
equivocal.
The second generation Chill Mat is significantly noisier than
the original one, which was so whisper-quiet that the hard drives of
some of my laptops effectively drowned it out. Not so with the new
design. I wouldn't call its fans "loud" exactly, but you really do
notice the sound they make when they're running. I'm not sure why this
would be, since they look to be about the same size and shape has the
ones in the old model.
The old Chill Mat was flat and quite thin in section, orienting
the computer parallel to the support surface, but the new model's upper
body is slightly tilted so that the notebook rests angled higher at the
back, a configuration many users prefer, although it's actually
ergonomically incorrect. The tilted design makes the new Chill Mat
substantially thicker than the old one, and therefore more cumbersome
to store and carry.
Another change - the "for Mac" model's two, single-speed
internal cooling fans now push cooling air upward toward the bottom of
the computer rather than drawing heated air away, as was the case with
the older unit. Power for the fans is supplied by one of the computer's
USB ports via a supplied 28" USB cable that plugs into a port on the
back of the Chill Mat. The fans don't draw a whole lot of power and are
claimed to diminish a battery charge life by roughly 15 minutes - and
that's no issue at all when plugged in to wall current.
From a functional standpoint, the Targus Chill Mat for Mac
fulfills its intended roles. The cooling fans can lower the operating
temperature of the notebook in situ significantly, and when used in lap
desk mode, it's much more comfortable than operating the laptop
directly on your thighs - for enhanced comfort and stability as well as
thermal benefits. It does what it's intended to do well and looks great
doing it. The new "For Mac" styling is smart and tasteful, and the
standard of finish is much higher than with the original product.
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