Do laptop cooling mats work?

[ToothpickLady]

I needed a new laptop recently. The main things I was looking for was windows and maximum portability. I settled on a reburbished dell latitude 5300. It was that or a 5400.

I choose the 5300 because it was somewhat smaller and slimmer.

The 5300 was 13.3 inch and the 5400 was 14 inch. I know not much difference.

I have it about 24 hours. I am ok with it.

It got hot last night when I was working on it.

It worked well when I was working on it and I had some tabs open working away between the different tabs.

I had to plug it in then and a while later it got hot.

I finished my work and it did cool down quickly enough. The charger was hot too.

I didn't fully charge my laptop last night.

I plugged it in this morning without work on the laptop and it seems to be cool.

I supposed this will work for what I need it to do right now. For online studies. I might trade it in, in the winter (maybe) or next year.

I was working at my desk last night and not on my lap or in bed if that makes a difference.

The aim of my laptop is maximum portability. I am usually always on the go and out and about.

I was looking online at a laptop cooling mat that is fabric based. I raises the laptop up as well. It's some sort of a breathable fabric.

It looks like a thick fabric mat, and it does look somewhat portable and foldable into a laptop case.

I am wondering would something like that help.

I have my laptop plugged in a while and I am not working on it and it seems to be good. It is not hot.

It appears as if it may heat up with I have it charging and working on it, at the same time.

In my experience they make practically no difference.

This is a mat I am looking at online. There's no usb or fan or anything in it. It just looks like a fabric raiser. I don't know how it cools.

Thank you so much for your reply. I won't bother getting one so.

I will use the laptop for what I need it to do for now and might trade it later on down the line for another reburbished.

Do you need the laptop screen or keyboard? My colleagues and I either use a separate keyboard and screen and put the laptop upside down so the airflow is better, or use a lightweight laptop riser which is open backed - then you can use the screen, but still need a separate keyboard.

I often have my laptop on my knee and it can get unbearably hot (especially in this weather) ,so I bought one of these Amazon link It definitely does work on cooling the laptop and makes my knee cooler as well as a bonus. The only thing I will mention is that it plugs into your laptop to power its fans and so you will need a free USB port. There might be versions out there that use usb-c ports, but this isn't one of them.

Thank you for the replies.

I don't think I will be pushing this laptop to maximum usage. It's just for some college assignments. I rarely get time to play games any more.

I won't be using my laptop on my lap, in bed or on the couch - those places are too comfortable and I will likely only just use it at my study desk.

I used my laptop for a while earlier. A few tabs open but no heavy use. My college course was down due to maintance but I didn't know so I thought I locked myself out from my course.

The laptop did heat up but it wasn't very hot. It was warm-ish.

I think I will like get a laptop riser. I was looking at some portable brackets. I think they look more suitable for me. Just to raise it up from whatever surface I will be on.

I don't think I would need a mat with fans. If I could find one for 13.3 inch laptop, I could consider it but I don't think I would need it.