Sandia's Laptop Heatpipes Closer To Market

mckennabluedot.com writes "Laptops aren't truly portable until you can stand to sit with one on your lap for more than 30 minutes. Sandia National Labs has developed small copper 'wicks' to transport methanol--and waste heat--from one area of a computer to another, where it can be dispersed more efficiently, comfortably and compactly than with heat sinks. The technology is being licensed to an undisclosed startup." So this stuff (mentioned here previously) might soon make it to a lap near you.

Comments

Finally

[batboy78]

I'm probably going to be sterile from having my new Powerbook on my laptop all day long. It gets unbelievably hot.

Re:Finally

[dirkdidit]

Like you were really going to use that sperm anyway. Remember, you are a member of Slashdot.

Re:Finally

[wo1verin3]

naw.. this woman calls us up (tech support for large vendor) and she goes:

"When i my laptop on the plane it makes me wet between my legs"

Took her a few seconds to realize what she said but had an entire floor of tech support guys cracking up =)

Eureka

[carpe_noctem]

The technology is being licensed to an undisclosed startup.

So THAT's what Dick Cheney has been up to this entire time!

Exhaust Pipes?

[wideBlueSkies]

So now I can have exhaust pipes coming off my laptop? Cool.

Can they be made to look like the pipes on a Harley?

Mmmmm chrome....

Re:Exhaust Pipes?

[ejaw5]

add on a fat coffee-can tip to the pipe and slap on a Type-R sticker and you 486 laptop will be running like a P-4!!

Re:Exhaust Pipes?

[MrEd]

Overclockers will be putting 6" Type R pipes on the side too, right?

I get this feeling that the noise reduction isn't going to be as much as some people think...

Flammable liquid in my lap?

[corebreech]

Thanks, but I'll pass on this one.

Medium-rare and well-done are adjectives I'd just as soon not see applied to my goodies.

Re:Flammable liquid in my lap?

[bugnuts]

The amount of "flammable liquid" probably is under a few ml.

Hope you're not driving home in a gasoline-burning vehicle. Reminds me of Archie Bunker, when presented with a meal of tongue exclaims, "I'm not eating anything that came out of a cow's mouth. Gimme some eggs."

Re:Flammable liquid in my lap?

[bugnuts]

The pipes would have to be tiny in order for capillary action to draw the liquid back through. As you can see in this article, they are the size of fingerprint grooves.

Even with a name like bugnuts, I don't worry about carrying a lighter in my pocket :p

Methanol?

[nihilogos]

I'd like to see this option on Dell's site

* Upgrade to Gin or Vodka coolant $49.95

I can see the warnings already...

[dark-br]

If we can't trust society with a cup of hot McDonalds coffee how can we trust people with phase change methanol?

I can see the warnings stickered to future laptops: Do not use this laptop near an open flame. Smoking near this laptop is strictly prohibited!

but

[xao gypsie]

but that takes away from the good ol' days of snuggling by the laptop on a cold winter's night, surfing the internet wishing the laptop was a woman and the heat source was a real fire......*sigh*......im lonely...

xao

Re:but

[wideBlueSkies]

Yeah, and on those [b]really[/b] lonely nights you'd get a little thrill when the fan kicks in.

I know. I've been there.

Spontaneous combustion.

[index72]

Whith all these heat sources and readily available combustible fuels around its only a matter of time before one of these computer heads is gonna get torched.

Computers shouldn't heat up.

[rice_burners_suck]

What I would like to see is a laptop that doesn't burn up in the first place. I have one of those Sony laptops where an internal fan comes on when it begins to overheat. The hotter the computer gets, the faster (and louder) this fan becomes. It is actually quite annoying.

Now I find it acceptable that a computer can heat up somewhat during computationally intensive functions, like performing a huge batch job with Photoshop or something, but what annoys me a lot about this fan thing is that it seems to come on at the darnedest times. For example, if some application crashes, the fan comes on, then goes faster, then goes even faster, and finally it's spinning at its maximum speed, which sounds like a bunch of banshees flying around when there are heavy winds. All of this while the computer remains totally unresponsive to any input.

This has annoyed me so much on many occasions that I often consider disassembling the computer and removing that stupid fan. Yeah, it'll overheat, but at least I don't have to listen to that shit.

My suggestion, as far as heat is concerned, is that laptops can be built utilizing processors that use little energy and stay cool. Yes, these are much slower than your Pentium CXXVCVXIIIXCIX, but if you put about 5 of them in there, it won't be so bad. In fact, it might even be a bit faster in some cases. I wish people would consider that. What annoys me the most about this is that the computer seems to heat up during computing-intensive

*Glowing* Hot* Cyber* Balls!*

[teamhasnoi]

Here in Minnesota, we like hot laptops. If your G4 Powerbook is bothering you in your not-so-frosty climes, please send it to me.

You will have done a good deed, and have the satifaction that some Minnesota girl is removing some of her clothing while using your old hardware. After me, that is.

Hot and Bothered?

[Myriad]

Laptops aren't truly portable until you can stand to sit with one on your lap for more than 30 minutes.

Wait a sec... isn't getting all hot and bothered down there supposed to be a good thing?

What? It's not? Do what with a girl?.....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I get it! So you're saying I've had it all wrong all this time? Damn...

Blockwars: a realtime, head-to-head game similar to Tetris.

Heh

[Anonvmous Coward]

Heatpipes? I wonder how many people are going to find this story while searching for .. uh.. adult stories.

Mmmmm

[NiftyNews]

Maybe someone will create a heat-sink mod that transfer the heat to a tiny griddle instead.

Mmmm....laptop steak.

"Glowing Cyber Balls" considered harmful

[K-Man]

I want to make it clear to everyone here that any reference to the "glowing cyber balls" story, however indirect, is strictly forbidden in this forum.

Why waste the heat?

[BlueFall]

Why can't the heat be used to recharge the battery and give it a longer run time? Seems like this just throws away energy...