What We Liked

For one, the Intercooler STS worked like a charm, which is always nice. Packed into a tight space in my entertainment center along with an HD-DVD drive and my debug Xbox, my Xbox 360 Slim would often shift into cooling overdrive, thrumming away like a tiny little jet engine for tiny little jet people. In the two weeks I've had the Intercooler STS attached I've heard no sign of that loud thrumming. I almost miss it.

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It quite an elegant design, from the front-facing air vents to the use of USB power that allows the device to keep cooling even after the 360 is powered down.

Working properly is impressive, but the Intercooler STS manages to look damn good while doing it. It hugs the side of the Xbox 360 Slim like it was meant to be there from the start, making the 360 Slim look even more like the sort of video game console Batman would use.

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What We Didn't Like

What's not to like? It works great. It looks great. I might trick it out with some LED lighting and pretend it shoots lasers, but "doesn't shoot lasers" is more of a generic complaint that covers just about everything (except lasers).

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The Bottom Line

Look, I've been running my Xbox 360 Slim in its cramped little space for half a year and I've had no hardware issues, so whether or not I need a cooling device for the console is up for debate, but if I was worried about overheating, Nyko's Intercooler STS is the product I'd turn to. It's masterful melding of function and form that makes the console look hotter and feel cooler at the same time.

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The Intercooler STS was developed by Nyko for the Xbox 360, released on February 15. Retails for $19.99. A unit was given to us by the manufacturer for review purposes. Attached it to my Xbox 360 Slim and let it do its thing for the better part of two weeks. Contemplated lasers.