With a large assortment of colors to choose from, the Stash made a splash into the Choiix lineup. Featuring a 2.5” hard disk dock, three USB 2.0 ports, and an 80mm fan, this cooler proves to be a versatile home solution.

First Impressions
The packaging is slim and easy to open. Inside, Choiix includes the cooler, a USB Type-A (x2) to USB Type-B connector, a set of rubber stick-on feet, and a manual. The Stash has a full plastic body which keeps the unit lightweight and semi-portable. Moreover, the plastic is rather durable and gives the cooler a clean appearance. Unfortunately, plastic is a poor conductor of heat, and more vexing still, the plastic used in the Choiix’s construction absorbs more fingerprints than an iPod.

Another detail we found appealing was the color coordination of the unit itself. Choiix colored the fan and the cable the same color as the upper body, in our case, lathering them in white. We find the look to be attractive and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

The concept of utilizing a 15.4” notebook on the Stash is rather optimistic. With its relatively small size and single 80mm fan, we consider this cooler geared towards those enthusiasts that own a netbook rather than a full-blown notebook. As such, we would not recommend any notebook larger than 12” to be used with the Choiix Stash.

The Cooling Surface and Cooling System
Once again, Choiix elects to keep the design of the cooling system simple. In the center of the cooler surface on the Stash, we find an 80mm fan and below it, an opening for “increased airflow”.

The single fan located in the center runs not only quietly but also able to push an impressive CFM of cool air. Above the fan and to its left, you will find the USB cable storage mechanism where the cord wraps around and the head clips into a storage bay. It worked surprisingly well since many of these storage functions in other coolers are not the greatest.

We found the LED to be quite bright, and to prevent this, a lip around the LED is designed to prevent the light from reaching the user’s eye directly. The left side of the Stash is completely bare. The angle of the cooler cannot be adjusted, yet we found the five degree incline of the cooler to be comfortable to type on at nearly any position.

The Base and Back
On the bottom of the unit, we find the main feature of the cooler, the 2.5” hard drive dock. We find this to be a very innovative inclusion as it is a great way to expand your netbook’s or notebook’s storage capacity. The only caveat to this is that while you can stuff as much data as you can in a 2.5” form factor hard drive, the HDD is integrated into the dock itself. This is bad news for those enthusiasts that wish to take their hard drive on the go and must remove it from the Stash first or haul the entire unit around. Not exactly the most portable, much less elegant solution, to be sure.

Installation of a hard drive in the HDD bay is rather simple and can be done in less than 30 seconds. First, press down on the dotted area and slide the panel off. Next, remove the stabilizer or as Choiix calls it, a “baffle” and slide in the HDD. Finally, replace the stabilizer and then the cover. This process is entirely tool-less so those with little to no mechanical ability will rest at night knowing that no screws were lost in the process. In the event that you encounter problems during the installation of a hard drive, the user manual has an illustrated section on how to install the HDD into the unit.

Inside the HDD dock are two rubber pads which assist in dampening noise and vibration created by the hard drive during operation. To the right of the dock, a row of vents are featured which allow passive cooling of the HDD to take place.

The Choiix Stash uses a single TT hub chip which reduces the available bandwidth for external peripheral devices. Transfer rates of our test hard drive in the Stash’s HDD dock were on par with most external 2.5” hard drive enclosures, considering that the 80mm fan requires power as well transfer rates were fairly respectable. An HDtune benchmark using a 320Gb, 5400 RPM hard drive demonstrates that the Stash had little effect in typical sustained read and write speeds.

On the rear of the unit, we find that the Stash includes inputs for USB power, and alternatively, a port that can be used for AC/DC power adapters. At the right side are three USB 2.0 ports for adding external peripherals such as a mouse and keyboard. It should be noted that plugging anything into the USB ports may slow down the 80mm cooling fan as well as negatively affect hard drive data transfer rates depending on the power draw of the specific peripheral.

Benchmarks

Portability 
The Stash is not the most portable cooler due to its rather thick design and hefty weight similar to a thick hard cover novel. By adding an optional hard drive to the Stash, you add more weight to an already obese cooler. Suffice to say, the Choiix Stash is designed to be more of a home docking station, something you would plug your netbook in and have access to your stored data installed on the unit. Additionally, lap users will undoubtedly find the cooler to be a bit on the small side (if they wish to open their legs), and will not adequately protect you from heat exhaust as the hard drive is mounted at the base of the Stash.

Conclusion Overall, the Stash left us with mixed feelings. Pushing past the glut of run-of-the-mill-coolers, the integrated 2.5” hard drive bay led the way. With a decent build for a plastic cooler, three USB ports, and a large variety of colors to choose from, the Choiix Air-Through Stash is a great option for netbook users that want to store movies, music, and other digital goodies without having to carry an external hard drive enclosure along with them for the ride.