How do I choose a cooling pad for my laptop?

That looks like a pretty good gadget, the fan is a good idea, active rather than passive cooling, especially if it happens to draw the heat from your machine’s left side where the CPU probably is. Having a USB hub can be pretty handy too.

I can’t tell how that’s powered – does it get its juice from your laptop’s USB port?
The laptop coolers probably all do that but note that runs additional power through the laptop to get to the USB port adding a little bit of heat.

You might try some passive solutions as an experiment. We have an old MacBook propped up with a couple wine corks at the back and that makes enough space to allow convection cooling to make a big difference.

Great answer, thanks :)

Yes one USB is for the power: USB Port: USB 1.½.0×2 (One for USB Power and one for USB Hub)

I did try propping the back of my laptop with a book (making sure it didn’t cover the fans) and that seemed to help significantly, however I happen to be looking for a stand to prop up my laptop on an angle, so I figured I may as well get one with a cooling fan as well.

They make lap top coolers made out of wire mesh. It’s passive cooling, but it does everything else you want. I know a couple of people who have them, and they are happy. Whatever you get, make sure your carry case has room for the cooling pad.

Before you spend the money on “one more thing” I have several suggestions.
1) Are you running your display at max brightness? Turn the intensity down a little. That is a huge power suck.
2) Are you using the power supply that came with the computer or an aftermarket one? The cheap aftermarket designs don’t necessarily filter the electrical noise out as well as the original. They make the computer filter do the work and those get hot.
3) Is your battery at the end of its life? How long does it hold a charge? You might be wasting energy continuously trying to charge a dead horse.
4) Do you have the computer on a hard surface and propped up at all? Even ½ inch will help. You can use a pencil or a marker or anything that is free and handy. I stick felt pads on top of the rubber feet to raise mine up. It slides easier too.
Save your money and only buy it if you need it.

My laptop was overheating and shutting itself down randomly.
Used a can of compressed air to clan all vents and the fan and it has been running cool again.
You may need your computer cleaned, or, at the least blown out. Maybe try that first.

@Coloma Yes that is a common problem too. GA.

Especially if there are cats in the vicinity :)

Eh, don’t use the USB. It actually requires battery power which heats up your laptop. You should just hook the gadget into a power supply. The fan should work perfectly, just make sure you put it on a flat surface at all times. And not a flat ‘bed’ surface. The cotton will prevent air flow. Good luck!