Do laptop cooling pads work? Which one is the best?

I want to get one for my laptop, but I keep wondering what these cooling pads actually do.
Do they prevent your lap from burning or do they cool down your laptop?

Cause my laptop regularly heats up and at random times even shuts down to prevent being fried.
I want to prevent that with a good cooling pad. if any of you know one, please tell me about.

i found a couple though, are they good?

http://catalog.******.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=459917

http://catalog.******.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=459930

Eeeeeyyyaauuummmooo. Well, kinda yes and no. They work-sure, are they necassary - not really. the cheaper you buy - the hotter they seem to get. Overall - most are designed to manage the heat quite well. Typically, there is usually a vent or intake/outake of some sort on the bottom of the lappy - just put something on the bottom to tilt the thing off the table, that'll help the internal fan do its job.

Overall-Lap-coolers are an extra way of making money off u.

They do work quite well (depending on the model). Keeps my Asus's harddrive and GPU from China Syndroming out the bottom of the laptop.

I use this one (mostly because it's lack of pointy corners makes it less hard on the laptop bag, but these types are reportedly better.

Zalman NC1000 is one of the best cooling pads out there. They do work but you need to get one right for your laptop. To get proper effect the cooler needs to be aligned with laptops vents and fans.

I would actually disagree that they are just an extra way of making money, they can make a significant difference but its best getting a good one and one that is right for the specific laptop for it to make a big impact. Aluminum over plastic is generally better.

I have the Zalman NC1000 and before my laptop used to get really hot, lots of hot air coming through the vents and the fan working really hard. Now when I game my laptop gets a warm at most and I don't get any hot air being pushed through the vents anymore when I use the cooling pad.