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Sandia's Laptop Heatpipes Closer To Market

Posted by timothy on from the add-a-switch-for-cold-days dept.

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.

3 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. non-waste heat? by heldlikesound · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is there such thing as computer heat that is not waste? Unless you are recycling the heat somehow, which seems unfeasable, it seems that all heat would be waste.

    --


    Cloud City Digital: DVD Production at its cheapest/finest
  2. Related Technology: CoolPad by pheph · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Although I haven't received mine yet, I've read excellent reviews of the incredibly simple (and cheap) Laptop CoolPad. They offer Traveller and Podium (read: big and clunky) versions... Anyone had any experience with these?

  3. maybe YOUR laptop is too hot by anonymous+loser · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I have a Sharp MV12W and have had no trouble sitting for many hours (usually all day in my current situation) with it on my lap, even wearing shorts.

    That being said, my previous laptop (or craptop, as I like to think of it) was a Dell 8000 series. Not only did the thing weigh a metric ton, it also produced enough heat to fry eggs.

    The only thing I sorta regret with my current laptop is the lack of screen real estate. However, given that the screen size on the Dell actually prohibited me from opening the thing up all the way on an airplane (unless I was in first class), and the travelling weight of my current laptop is less than half (nearly 1/3)of the Dell, it's a trade-off I'm more than willing to make.