Performance -
As you might imagine with a product like the GOrb II we are most concerned with cooling, but there is more to the GOrb II than just keeping your laptop cool. Thermaltake did design the GOrb II to help with ergonomics so while we are looking at temps we will also be looking at what impact the GOrb II has on comfort.

For starters let’s get a good idea of the baseline for temperatures. We took a reading at the “hot” spot on the Series 7 Chronos, which sits right along the lower edge of the display (just below the Samsung logo), after one hour of idle time, gaming and streaming video. This was done with the Chronos flat on the table and then elevated (without the fans running). These six gave us a solid base line for comparison.
The base temperatures at idle were not all that bad and well inside what you would expect of a modern laptop with the power that our Chronos has (Intel Core i7 3635QM, 12GB DDR3 1600, 240GB SSD, and a Radeon HD8700M). Under normal usage (internet browsing etc.) the temps rose slightly and, of course, while gaming things jumped up quite a bit although they were not as high as you might expect.

When we lifted the Series 7 Chronos off of the table using just the GOrb II we did not see any significant change in temperatures. It seems that the hot air just stayed under the laptop and did not move at all. After our lift test we put the GOrb II into action in the way that Thermaltake intended and saw our temperatures drop (especially in gaming tests). The only problem was that using the GOrb II this way made the Series 7 Chronos laptop feel unstable due to the weight of the touch screen display. The laptop felt unstable and as if it was going to topple over backwards (not something you want to have happen).

The last bit of testing we did was to flip the GOrb II over and try again. In this configuration our Series 7 Chronos Laptop felt much more stable while we saw a further decrease in temperature. The most likely reason for this is that with the fans blowing down onto the desktop (instead of directly on the laptop) it allowed for more air flow under the device. When setup in this configuration you can actually feel air flowing around the entire underside of the laptop instead of just the back.

The Thermaltake GOrb II also is excellent for ergonomics. Unlike many other solutions that raise the entire laptop the GOrb II simply elevates the back end leaving the front at the same height. This means that your wrists are not resting on the front edge of your laptop at an odd and uncomfortable angle. The angle of incline is subtle enough that you do not feel it in a negative way while still giving you better visibility and reach to the keys on your laptop. It is a nice design. This design also allows for excellent portability which is a plus when you are already lugging around a bunch of other hardware.