laptop heat protection?

OK, don't laugh, but my laptop gets hot, fast, and after about 20 minutes it's too hot to hold on my lap. I've used the traditional pillow, but it blocks the fans. I tried the cutting board approach, but it doesn't work that well and is just too goofy. I've seen coolers with fans built in, but I don't want to mess with plugging things in or running my battery down. And, frankly, I'm more worried about keeping me cool than keeping my laptop cool.

I'd like something I can just put my laptop on and not have to plug in which will keep me cool for at least an hour. I mean, for what I spent on my laptop, I don't mind dropping a few bucks for something that lets me use it for more than 20 minutes at a time.

Can anybody suggest something?

Thanks for all the advice - after doing a fair amount of reading, I'm going to order the LapLogic G650. ( http://www.laplogic.com/ ) They've got the most data - by far - on product performance and from what I can tell this is what they specialize in (6 different models). They're claiming ~60F in temperature reduction w/o CPU temp increases, and the reviews seems to support their claims.

I'll let you know how it works.

LapLogic G650 Review

I’ve had lots of requests for follow ups on this, so I’m going to post this as a new thread in addition to a response to the original thread.

Got my LapLogic G650 (www.laplogic.com), after a surprisingly good purchasing experience. It shipped the same day I ordered, and I got it the day after, which is a rare experience.

The LapLogic G650 doesn't claim to reduce laptop heat, it just protects you from laptop it, supposedly without increasing the temperature of the CPU. I loaded I8KFAN to watch my CPU temps, and the claims on not raising CPU temperatures are true, at least on my system. I didn't see any CPU temperature difference with or without the G650, which was good news. In retrospect, I guess it’s not much different than setting your laptop on a table.

The manufacturer claims up to ~55F reduction in temperature, which prompted me to pull out my thermometer and do a little testing. I wasn't very high tech, but I used an IR cooking thermometer to measure the bottom of my laptop, which, surprisingly, ramps up to about 125-130F in certain spots after about 30 minutes. With the G650, the bottom temperature never got above 75F, even after an hour of use. From what I can tell, the claims on heat protection are fully justified. Yes, I'll admit that was more of a curiosity check than a real experiment, but it left me with a warm-and-fuzzy.

The real test for me is how it feels. In this arena, the G650 exceeded my wildest expectations. With the G650, I can use my laptop for a full 3 hours without feeling any heat at all. Paint me very, very surprised. I can usually go 20-30 minutes before my laptop gets too hot to hold, and to be able to go 6-9x longer without feeling anything is awesome. Frankly, I’m more worried about how it feels as opposed to what the thermometers say, and this sold me. It really does work.

As a bonus, the no-slip surfaces are awesome. The little feet on my laptop don't work for spit and I get tired of having to find a level surface to put my laptop on. I was able to prop my legs up at a 30 degree angle and type away happily without a problem. OK, I 'knew' that having to sit in the same position wasn't great, but I never really 'got it' until I could move around and still use my laptop at weird angles. Even without the heat protection, this was worth it for me.

The colors are better than the pictures, mostly because the metallic colors don't show real well in the photos, but the product does look wicked cool. Compared to the black-vader look most products have, this is a nice change.

Overall, I have to give this a double thumbs up. No weak points or flaws that I can find, and the LapLogic folks really do seem to know their stuff. Thanks for the tip folks. The G650 rocks.