Are "Notebook coolers" snake oil?

I realize there are already some threads touching on the topic of notebook cooling, but none of them seems to address the question I put in the subject above:

Are there any likely circumstances where a laptop cooling device would be a necessity or at least a substantial boon? Or is the chassis of a modern laptop well-designed to run at a safe temperature given any forseeable hardware spec?

I recently purchased a CYBERPOWER PC notebook (not sure which original design manufacturer) with the following spec:

T8300 Dual 2.4ghz
17" display @ 1440x900
2gB RAM
7200 RPM HDD
NVIDIA 8600M with either 256 or 512 megs of dedicated RAM, depending on who you ask

This sucker churns out some hot air. I recognize that most of the worst things you can do to your laptop are all stupidity-based, such as putting it on top of, say, a soft cushy mat of fiberglass insulation. Or a pillow.

But absent such foolishness, am I just wasting my time with a good notebook cooler? Is a cooler completely useless? Is a cooler somewhat unnecessary but possibly helpful in extending the life of my notebook? Or is it a must-have accessory?

Currently I have the thing sitting on top of several plastic soda bottle caps in order to give it about an extra half inch of clearance off my desk. At the same time, the bottom surface doesn't seem to radiate much heat so I wonder if there's any point. Not to mention the fact it's a fairly clumsy and silly looking workaround. I can just see myself going to grad school classes in 2 months and arranging plastic bottlecaps on a desk every day and getting stared at like a crazy person.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

 

These are somehwat more elegant solutions.

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/notebook_products/stands/&cl=us,en

Keep in mind notebook coolers usually hook into your usb port, effectively ending up being a battery drain. Of course, what you have there is more a portable desktop, than a notebook.

 

Adry makes some good points. For class, just a small stand that elevates it should work great for you. I use my laptop mainly as a desktop, so I got a laptop cooler that uses AC power and has a built in USB hub. Very handy as my laptop only has 2 USB ports. You might want one for your house.

It does keep my laptop cooler when it is on the pad.

E

 

I have an older laptop, a Presario 2100. As soon as that cpu hits about 30%, the fan comes on. It's loud, and it's irritating.

With a very cheap cooler pad the fan rarely runs, and the temperatures drop almost 10C.

I'm planning on making a custom pad with a few 80mm fans in it to use when I play SC, WC, etc with my friends. Ought to keep things much cooler.