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NEC Unveils Methanol-Fueled Laptop
genericplacebo writes "Japanese computer giant NEC Corp. Monday revealed a prototype of a laptop computer that runs on a methanol fuel cell instead of a rechargeable battery, and said it will start selling it next year. NEC initially plans to introduce a computer with a fuel-cell system able to run for five consecutive hours on a single cartridge of methanol fuel, but also plans to make a PC within two years that can run continuously for as long as 40 hours."
Doesn't say how chunky the battery will be. Or how heavy it will be. Battery life is a Good Thing, but if it's gotta be at the price of portability, what's the point for a laptop?
this means jack squat to me right now. I have an iBook that lasts about 4-5 hours on a full charge and to power it all I have to use are those little holes in the walls you may have seen.
Fuel cells WILL be a big deal, but right now you're retarted to buy one: electricity just workd too well already
Some might think that fuel cell is the greatest thing since Lithium Ion batteries but its really another way of getting money out of the poor consumer. The current range of IBM R40 centrino notebooks can provide you with 4 hours of battery life.
Laptop makers are looking for the high profit margins that ink jet printer manufacturers enjoy. How much will these full cell cartrages cost? Around $5 a pop? Thats absurd, wouldn't you rather recharge the fucking thing!
There is no god
Consider if you really think the FAA will allow you to bring spare FUEL onto an airplane. I expect that the place where you really need longer battery life - an airplane - will be the one place where these are not allowed.
Why would anyone use a battery if you can plug it into the little holes in the wall?
Ok heres whats going to bake your noodle about adopting fuel cells: Will fuel cells be proprietary in the same manner that printer cartridges are proprietary?
Will you only be allowed to buy your fuel cells from your laptop manufacturer for an overpriced ammount? And how long until they start emplacing mechanisms that ensure that your fuel cell can't be refilled outside of the factory? And worse yet, when will they start using the DMCA to enforce these policies?
...I can see where these fuel cells will find their way onto the "Prohibited Items" list at airports all over the USA.
As it stands, even simple Bic lighters are prohibited and will be confiscated from all checked baggage... I can only imagine what they'd do with a methanol cartridge.
Instead of developing this strictly for laptops, why not come up with a general-purpose methanol (or other) fuel-cell? One where you could have your choice of plug type, polarity, voltage, and AC or DC? Like one of those omni-usage wall-warts, but without the wall? If it were no bigger than, say, a six-pack, I bet it would be more than useful for travelers of any sort.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
Well you can forget about boarding an airplane with a flammable liquid for starters.
As for the printer industry. If your stupid enough to go for the cheapest printer without researching the TCO, well you deserve what you get!
Competition will force at least some of the manufacturers to make their cartridges refillable. The rest will attract the "chumps" as the printer industry and mobile phone carriers still do.
Sure, it sounds cool to any of us nerd types. But is this really ever going to be useful outside of niche markets like the military?
Currently, you can get several hours of battery life off a system that you can recharge using outlets that are spaced roughly ten feet apart across the entire industrialized world.
For fuel cells, you need cartridges (after all, no mainstream user is going to go pouring methanol into their computers themselves). That means a serious distribution infrastructure, because without that little cartridge your system is dead (well, we'll assume it will always run off AC in a pinch). You need vending machines, a good proportion of electronics or grocery stores and Kwik-E-Marts, etc., all stocking a standardized set of cartridge sizes.
How many hours does your system need to run for this inconvenience level to be worth it? Consider your TV remote or some other non-rechargeable gizmo. Not 5 hours, and I'd say not 40 either. More like a month.
And how long before airlines say "Sure, it's only a few hundred degree heating element, a volatile liquid, and a system designed to work at sea level. C'mon in!"
It's challenging to look past the thrill of a new solution to the practical side. I'm sure there are solutions to the problems I listed, but it's all years off yet.