Lian Li NC-01 Notebook Cooler

Underneath the Lian Li NC-01 we see that the fans themselves are positioned on sliders allowing their position to be shifted up or down to better match up to the laptop the cooler is being used with.  You will also notice a small telescopic antenna of sorts tucked underneath as well.

The telescopic antenna has a couple of elbows in its length with an alligator clip at the end.  This piece folds out and can be adjusted to most any position so that the alligator clip can act as a paper stand, or holder I should say.  Before you ask, yes - I had the same thought.  Wouldn't the teeth of the alligator clip damage any paper(s) it holds?  Surprisingly it does not.  It has a firm but softer bite than you would normally find on one in a Radio Shack so your papers are safe here.

Operation

In use, the unit proved to be clean and simple in its design.  The paper holder made me also question if it would be in the way of a USB mouse being used with a laptop and again, surprisingly we discovered it was not.  The holder can be angled up 15 degrees or so, so that anyone with average hands can plug a USB mouse into their laptop and be in business. 

Conclusion

The Lian Li NC-01 Laptop Cooler has the clean lines and very subtle smoothing of its edges that reminds us why Lian Li is so respected in the case world with their metal working skills.  The NC-01 is a solid and very functional product.  The black anodize finish was most certainly superior to its competitors which again sings laurels to the manufacturing team at Lian Li. 

Two issues did present themselves.  The first being the two 70mm fans; while these proved to be very effective, they were also much more noisy than I would have preferred.  I even caught myself reaching behind the NC-01 and turning them off at one point without thinking because the ongoing sound became distracting to me.  The other issue is one many laptop coolers share; that of having only one USB port.  With the Lian Li NC-01, the fans are powered off of a USB port.  My personal laptop has only two USB ports.  If one is used for the cooler and the other for a USB mouse - that's it, I'm out.  I frequently am downloading images from a digital camera or using a thumb drive or external drive rack; all needing a free USB port.  This was easily fixed by just unplugging the laptop cooler while using another device however this was as simple as it was irritating. 

In the end, the Lian Li NC-01 Notebook Cooler does a good job at fit, finish and function.  While it did have a couple of irritants, they were not enough to deter me from recommending this unit to you.  Thanks again go to JCL Company Ltd and Silver PCs for sponsoring this review.

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