Medium-rare lap
When it comes to the names we use to describe technology, sometimes they don’t make sense. Case in point: “Laptop”
Anyone who can tolerate the heat generated by today’s modern heat-producing laptop on your lap is more Zen than me. So, being truly lazy, and wishing to actually use the laptop against the afore-mentioned body part, I bought a laptop cooler for $24ish in October. It is a pad or tray that fits under your laptop, and almost always has fans blowing up or down to keep the laptop and your lap cool.
Features:
-USB-powered cooler with pass-through connector
-Model has two speeds for the fans.
-Fans blow up towards laptop. Most don’t, creating a lap heater.
-Keeps my lap cool. Bonus: Probably increases the life of the laptop.
Recently, the USB cable that powers the cooler has become more and more loose in its socket, and the plastic shielding was coming away from the plug. I became concerned that it was now a liability, so I went online to find a replacement. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the manufacturer’s website did, in fact, sell the replacement part. What a deal! Right? No, not really. It is a $5.00 part, no problem, but the shipping is $8.31! That makes the cable replacement, which I think was an under-designed part, cost $13.31. Approximately $10 less than throwing the whole cooler away and buying a new one! So, I went online, found someone who makes a similar cable and shipped it to me for a total of $4.44.
So what’s the moral of the story? I know we are in a throw away society, but come on, make it reasonable to fix, and most of us will. Make it cheaper to throw it out and replace, and we will.
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October 21st, 2007 at 5:18 am
Now that’s bad, but I guess it is becoming more and more prevalent theses days as it costs more to get an item fixed then it does to purchase a new one! This is where third world countries have a clear advantage, with cheap man power it is almost assured that you can get some one to fix your gadget without spending a great deal of money.
December 5th, 2007 at 1:21 am
The cable is also easily brokable, No one would trust on them in future according to my view.