Claiming a stake in the netbook market from cases to mice, Choiix has recently introduced the first netbook cooler. With its simplistic aluminum styling equipped with a 4 port USB hub, the Choiix Mini Air-Through C-HL02 challenges even some of the brand-name notebook coolers in terms of features and design.

First Impressions
Packed in a simple yet aesthetically pleasing box, the Mini-Air Through came held between two styrofoam blocks. Additional accessories that come with the cooler include 4 rubber feet, a USB male to female adapter and manual.

Ignoring the manual, we plugged the cooler directly to our Asus N10 test unit and gave it a trial run. Surprisingly, the fan runs so silent that we initially thought we’ve received a defective unit. Although the plastic material used in the cooler feels fairly rigid and secure, it does produce a “cheap” impression similar to the Choiix Air-Through C-HL01-WS we reviewed earlier.

The Cooling Surface and Cooling System
Once again Choiix did it right. Instead of making a cooler fully plastic they surfaced the top with aluminum metal which leads to a more efficient cooling surface. The aluminum stayed cool while powered on. The vent is a little small but due to the plastic body used in the manufacturing process a larger hole would likely cause flex on the unit.  The rubber feet that were included were easy to attach and able to hold the notebook securely onto the cooler.

As for the cooling system, the 70mm fan was dead silent. In our opinion, almost too quiet; we had trouble distinguishing whether it was even powered on or not despite putting the intake to our ears. A strip of two dozen ventilation holes at the bottom of the unit is where the air is being pushed out. Unfortunately the design of the cooler only pushes most of the air out of the left half where the fan is located. The airflow is also rather weak. It would be nice if Choiix could boost the rpm a tad more. The intake of the cooler is on the back and due to its arch on the bottom it allows the cooler to be used on soft surfaces as well.

Fortunately many netbooks have fans located on the left side but it may be slightly difficult to actually hit your fan’s intake.

The Sides
On the left Choiix provides an AC adapter port as well as a power button and USB female port. The right side is rather bare. Due to its very silent operation it would have been great if there was a small light indicator showing its power state was included.

The Base and Back
On the base there is a rubber strip near the back. Two more rubber points are located on the front area of the base in order to provide non-slip grip.  On the rear things get more interesting with four USB 2.0 ports. There are two models C-HL02-WP which includes the hub, and the C-HL03-WP which does not include the hub.

Benchmarks
Below are tests that have been done with HD Tune in various circumstances with various products to see how the USB hub can cope with specific devices

External Hard drive: As you can see in the graphs below the cooler was simply unable to power the external hard drive. Though when an AC adapter was hooked up alongside  (left)

Flash memory stick: A flash memory stick does not require much energy. Thus there was no real life difference between the tests.  (right)

Asus N10 USB powered (normal speed)		Asus N10 USB powered (normal speed)
Without AC Plug Hard drive was unable power (power drawn by fan)		Without AC Plug had minimal differences
With AC through cooler the hard drive performed best		With AC through cooler, had minimal differences

Keyboard and Mouse: Lagging was observed, but it shouldn’t be enough to distract you from your basic daily use.

Portability
The Mini Air-Though is not recommended for people on the go. The unit is about as thick and as large as your typical 10” netbook and it should be more of a “home docking system”.

Conclusion Though not the best performer, Choiix made a decent start to the netbook cooling market. Wheels didn’t start perfectly round did they? We find it quite the handy little cooler as you can come home with your netbook, set it on the cooler and have your external keyboard, mouse and other peripherals all in one plug while cooling your netbook. We recommend if you plan on hooking up more power draining accessories such as external hard drives or Xbox controllers that you purchase or use an AC adapter so that they can function without any jitters.