Slashdot Mirror
Heat Insulators for Laptops
Alex Bischoff writes "The Gadgeteer has a review of a product called LapPads from LapLogic. They're heat-insulating pads to protect you from cooking your lap when using your laptop. Depending on the model, they apparently provide up to 57 degrees (F) reduction in heat transfer. Why didn't someone think of this sooner?"
Finally there will be a chance for the aloe vera to soak into my poor foreskin instead of just boiling off when I set my machine back down... Aside from that, how much heat do modern laptops put off? I have an eNote Lite aka Lindows MobilePC. It has a Via C3 Ezra processor with I believe a very small (.9") heatsink and one fan in the whole machine. During operations like heavy compiling, my processor temperature will reach as high as 80C. Despite questioning for a long time whether my processor was going to melt out through the bottom of my computer into my lap, it never has, and although there can be some heat buildup if I set it on my bed or something, I've never had a problem with resting it on my lap. Perhaps this is more for people with larger laptops whos exhaust fans point out the bottom and they want to avoid excessive ball sweat this summer.
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
I'm sure this guy is really wishing this would have been made sooner...
Then again, if it were out at the time, would he have used it?
The first thing I thought on reading this headline was, Where does the heat that used to be dissipated in the user go?
It appears that there is a textured surface on the pad, one might assume to allow SOME airflow. However, the reviewer was using it wrong:
(Of course, any hardware that uses the operator as a heat-sink is ASKING to lose.)
How does the Slashdot Effect happen given that no slashdotters ever RTFA?
So instead of heating up your leg, it will just heat up the inside of the machine.
Jon Bardin
If it's not going into your legs, it might be staying on the CPU resulting in possible CPU burnout.
Has there been any investigation into the effect this has on the laptop computer itself? After all, you're keeping in the heat that the laptop was trying to dissipate.
I use one of those cookie sheets with the insulating air space between two sheets of steel/aluminum/whatever. Provides a big dissipation area, the underside is warm but not roasty-toasty, and it cost about $4...
Some feel thinking is a pleasure. Others feel it's a chore. Most, having never tried it, have no feel for it at all.
Yeah but during cold winters nothing short of a cat can keep your lap quite so toasty warm as a Compaq with a fresh battery.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
Because it'll cook your laptop.
Just make the pad the bottom of the laptop.. I remember the good old days when laptops meant LAPtops..
Now it's "desktop replacements"... like putting a desk on your lap?
It's what's between them!
This was invented about the same time as dinner mats and coasters. Duct tape a table mat to the bottom of your laptop for a similar and cheaper effect.
This was out back in '98 with the Wallstreet PowerBooks.
I use a tray with a "bean bag" attached to the bottom - they're commonly available over here in the UK for people who eat TV dinners etc - it's just the right size for my Linux Laptop, it's rigid, and no heat! I wouldn't want to carry it around outside the house though...
Most laptop instruction books I've read (not too many though), say the laptop should be used on a flat surface that does not block the ventalition.
An insulator may just help the laptop fry itself more, a piece of laptop sized wood is probably more helpful, though not "cool" to be seen with.
mailto:EatSpamAndDie@princeweb.com
I work for a company that owned a bunch of Dell C600 laptops. There was an issue where IBM-branded hard drives would overheat and fail. We had many models with Hitachi drives and they never exhibited this problem.
I realize that Hitachi has purchased IBM's Travelstar line but this is beside the point:
Where does this insulated heat wind up? Probably in vital components like the hard drive. They should just change the name of the PC from "laptop" to "mobile". Problem solved.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
What about the CoolPad?
I've had one for my iBook since early 2002 and it's great for that kind of thing. The swivel feature is neat when I'm working with someone and want to show them something on the screen.
I am not who I say you are.
It insulates against heat and provides a firm surface to set the laptop on, which lets air circulate in the little gap below the laptop resting on its feet.
They're called towels.
Have you read my blog lately?
With a 57 deg gradient, I have to think that a pad that size should be able to reclaim some energy, a la peltier effect. With todays tech, it might not be much, maybe enough to extend battery live a minute - but it is a start.
I firmly believe that devices of the future will attempt to reclaim whatever energy they can, which would go a long way. I forsee our kids looking back and thinking how wasteful we were, we would just let heat go off into the atmosphere without converting some of it back to usable energy.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
A hot computer on my lap is the only action I get.
Best Windows Freeware
Remember the old IBM Thinkpad 760 series? They had a silicon pad on the bottom of it (wasn't on the original models, added sometime in their production run) to keep you from burning yourself. It was their "fix" for a computer that had no fan, and got way too hot. And those were only P120-P166 models.
-- Liberalism is a mental disorder.
People seem to get really upset and mad when they smell burnt testicle.
;-)
Perhaps now some penis oven mitts?
Some say this heat thing is a problem... I say kill the sperm. My laptop is my birth control method
I can now use my laptop while wearing shorts.
My Leg hair will be forever grateful.
Cooler laps are well and good, but I note the reviewer didn't do any analysis of what happened to the CPU temperature when using these pads. If the heat is being redirected right back at the laptop, it may be defeating the coolant systems on the laptop.
For example, Dell Inspirons have a fan on the bottom that blows straight down. Not bad on a hard desk where the air will blow away. Not good on a bed comfortor that smothers the airflow. Where will these pads fit in on the spectrum?
I think what's needed is a pad that works to draw the heat away from both lap and laptop, maybe something like the Chillow for laptops.
that your laptop is burning your genitals, then you have bigger problems than things related to your laptop.
time for a full physical, and maybe some time away from the office.
PCBsdf
free ipod and free gmail!
Possibly because we all had Apple laptops that weren't burning our laps? Seriously, my wife's Toshiba burned itself out when it failed to go to sleep properly. And laptops with fans? Why don't people just use a full size machine if they need the computing power that would require fans? You can get far with SSH and VLC.
A frustrated former hot laptop owner,
F.O. Dobbs
Don't you just hate when an advertisement gets you? I mean, this smacks so much of a paid placement, but the product category is just what I need now that the average temp in the home office has shifted up.
--H
I just use a plastic chopping board - it's light, the laptop sits flat, and the fans on the bottom aren't blocked.
Works a treat, cost - $1 or so
Lap heat is a problem with you? Pay less now!
Cardboard-based Italian lap thermal protectors for $10 only! Half the price of that thing! Get one with pizza inside for only $20!
Why am I not suprised?.
HMM!
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
I've used these inventions before, they work really well. Only we used to call them pillows.
You had me at "dicks fuck assholes".
Gee, That heat has to go somewhere! It seems rather absurd to me that someone would *WANT* to keep the heat inside their computer. maybe if it was a stand with an extra fan and vents on it so that the heat would be shot out the side or something. But insulating your computer seems like a really bad idea! Why not just plug up all the fan holes in your PC to stop the noise?
Laptop Desk I have this at home. It works on the same principal as radiators.
"Why didn't someone think of this sooner?"
I've seen laptop pads at the local computer shows for years.
They're the footprint of a notebook computer and about 3/4" thick.
They have lots of venting, and fans that (I believe) blow out the back.
Unlike the product in the story, this would not only keep your lap cool, but it keeps from overheating your notebook computer by NOT blocking the vents!
- Preferences: Solaris 10 (servers), Ubuntu (desktops), Solaris 11 (personal servers) -
Surely this could have some harmful effect on the processor of your laptop. That heat has to go somewhere. Although even less practical, I've often considered something like this for my Athlon laptop. What would truly be innovative would be an insulator on the bottom and some sort of heat spreader on top.
The meek shall inherit the earth, in 3 by 6 plots. - Lazerus Long
OK so it was a field EC that eventually found its way into late model 760s but in 97 there were more than a few problems 'in the field' aka people getting burned.
But to be fair this didn't usually happen w/o the unit also being plugged in. That is, if you ran off the battery alone it would not be nearly as hot.
I was under the impression that you wanted heat to dissipate from you computer components. By blocking the heat from going down (heating your lap), you're forcing it up through the laptop or out the sides. My inspiron 8200 has a tough enough time cooling itself when Im gaming; I dont need to be restricting cooling in any fashion.
my two cents
I call it "pants"
better and cheaper solution: get a usb fan and blow it into the ventilation hole next to the headphone jack. your ibook will never feel hot and it's quieter than the internal fan that only starts when your palm and lap are already uncomfortably hot.
57 degrees reduction in surface temperature doesn't just depend on the pad, it assumes a a laptop with certain thermal characteristics and surface area and power use. It could be any laptop, since they don't tell you which, so they might as well be pulling the number out of their ass. The thermal resistivity of a planar surface should just be quoted in watts per degree celcius per square centimeter, ok? This is ridiculous. It reminds me of the History channel talking about "pounds of energy" in a wave. Get the units straight or you might as well be pulling a number out of your ass.
Anything new here to say guys?
Why, they did! It's called an "Oven Mit". You can get them at just about any 'general merchandise' store (Wal*Mart, K-Mart, Target, and many, many other places).
Geez...
bork bork bork!
Why not make laptops that don't *require* extra equipment to prevent you from burning your family jewels off? What a concept!
I've removed my CPU fan and covered my CPU in that lappad stuff. I'm now looking forward to a faster, cooler, quieter computer....
What's that burning smell.....
M0571y H@rml355.
Obviously, there should be a better design that doesn't rely on human flesh to get rid of excess heat. If someone sues, the manufacturers will be forced to have labels on it warning people not to put their laptop on their lap or serious injury might occur, including roasted nuts and inability to reproduce.
I haven't used a laptop that actually gets hot since the 90's.
You guys all using outdated garbage or what? Buy a newer laptop dumbasses
I use a phone book. Sure, it doesn't look as cool, but it's virtually free. Of course, I had to move to a larger city first, as the Elyria county book is less than a cm thick, and tended to let a lot of the heat through.
This is where I get my recommended daily allowance of "Foot in Mouth."
In canada, if you forget your laptop in the car over night during winter (-20C or -4F), the LCD screen freezes. The L in LCD means Liquid!
It doesn't shatter or explode but you get a halo effect around the edges of the screen. On top of that, the whole screen goes dim and gets worse over time.
I imagine those LCD TVs for cars would be vulnerable too!
I have a Case Logic neoprene laptop sleeve that protects my laptop when I throw it into my backpack, and doubles as a lap protector. The neoprene is a very good insulator, and this is much more useful than a dedicated laptop crotch protector.
* mild mannered physics grad student by day *
* daring code hacker by night *
http://www.silent-tristero.com
I use a pillow as an insulator. This is at home and in hotel rooms when I am travelling. I doubt I would be carrying more stuff with me when I travel to insulate my "lap" from my laptop.
You can also get something called "The Lapinator" . It even has little bumpers to lift the laptop off the surface a little, allowing heat to dissipate properly.
This isn't really necessary. All you're trying to do is reduce the heat transfer between the laptop and your thighs; what this does is insulate the system. The primary mode of heat transfer in this situation is conduction, so what we need is a way to eliminate that and still maintain a semblance of cooling.
This system eliminates conduction by insulation, which also removes convection. A better model would establish a standoff distance between the thighs and the surface of the laptop. This removes conduction, and still allows convection to cool the surface of the laptop. Something like a honeycomb would do this.
Because most of us wear pants when using a laptop?
sulli
RTFJ.
Rangefinders for cars? Durr, what about oncoming traffic--it'd make your car flip out! Robotic vaccuum cleaner? Hah hah, what about my stairs? Hard-drive based music player? What if you drop it? Wouldn't it a-splode? Drinking straw? What if you accidentally put it up your nose instead of in your mouth? Huh? What then? Chaos!
Reading the FA aside, does it ever occur to people that a company in the business of making heat-dissipating pads specifically designed to work with laptops just might take the internal temperature of the laptop into consideration? Do people really think that products are designed by an army of Mr. Magoo clones?
Yeah, design mistakes happen, but seriously--if you're able to think of a potential problem after ten seconds' worth of thought, do you really think it likely that the design team wouldn't have considered the exact same thing?
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
My laptop is my birth control method
I think that goes without saying in this crowd...
I guess I did.... I picked up one of those "lap desks" from the book store for this very purpose. It is basically, a small plasic deck with a pillow like surface on the bottom. It fits nicely in my backback or brief case by squishing the air out of the pillow part. Very useful for using the laptop on the bus. Why didn't I think to patent "the application of the lap desk as a laptop insulator". I could be collecting some ill gotten litigation money..... oh well, maybe next time I have this idea of using clothes pins to keep bags of chips closed. Now if I were to make the clip wider... what? Doh!
----- If communism is a system where the government owns business, what do you call a system where business owns govern
that is when having a laptop with a Pentium 4 processor comes in very handy on an extremly cold day.
I can even warm my hands near the heat vents that the laptop case fan blows out hot air with.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
They've already got pads with built in usb powered cooling fans of varying designs and number of fans.
What about a full on LAPDESK for your laptop?
Or, as another poster pointed out, they have cooling pads that can rotate and elevate your laptop that also come in varying designs.
And don't forget about cooling yourself off!
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
Road Tools makes CoolPads that prop up the laptop to allow more airflow and they pivot.
To understand recursion,
you must first understand recursion.
Of course I'm sure that I'll be really comfy this summer sweating it out under a thermally insulative blanket! Thermal blankets? like the ones we use to conserve body heat? People who wear insulating blankets to keep cool are probably as bright as a 20W lightbulb (in which case they wont make much heat after all!)
Possibly because we all had Apple laptops that weren't burning our laps?
Unlike my 300 MHz Wallstreet PowerBook G3, my 550 MHz Titanium PowerBook G4 was just as hot-running as any PC notebook I've seen. Not comfortable for lap use for more than 20 minutes. Oddly enough, my new 1.5 GHz PowerBook G4 runs much cooler... improved design? It's not any louder either. Might have something to do with the switch from titanium to aluminum.
I've been quite happy with the Vantec LapCool Laptop Cooler. My battery died on my old laptop, so I had been leaving it on in my living room on the coffee table. It is one of those beasts of a "desktop replacement" laptop, so thing gets HOT. I was a bit concerned with the heat on the table, and the noise from the fans was noticable while just sitting on the table, let alone when my girlfriend plays the sims on it. So I picked up one of these suckers and have been very happy with it. It is almost silent (much quieter than my laptop's fans at least), and I can sit that and my laptop in my lap with no problem.
does it ever occur to people that a company in the business of making laptops just might take the internal temperature of the laptop into consideration? Do people really think that products are designed by an army of Mr. Magoo clones?
nah surely laptop makers are not that stupid
Heat transfer is not measured in degrees! Here's a quick thermal lesson for you electrical guys....
Temperature rise is equivalent to voltage or potential.
Heat flow (Q) in Watts is equivalent to current in amps
Thermal resistance, measured in Degrees per Watt is the same as resistance measured in ohms.
The equations work the same way too. For most instances of steady state heat dissipation what you have is a constant power dissipation or in electrical terms a constant current. The thermal circuit in this case has the heat generating components at V+ and the room can be considered to be ground. There are resistances in the path and the the higher the resistance, the higher the temperature rise there is between nodes.
What this blanket does is to stick a high thermal resistance between the laptop and one of the heat paths and as a result there is a higher "potential".
But indeed the "current" (or watts) is still constant, so by increasing the resistance through one of the paths, you increase the current flowing through the other paths (and as you know from electricity for a constant resistance, will result in higher voltage across those resistances.
So yes, you keep you lap cool... at the expense of the components in your laptop. Be careful what you wish for.
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
I just heard some sad news on Slashdot - Hot Grits was found dead in Slashdot this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss them - even if you didn't enjoy Hot Grits, there's no denying their contributions to Slashdot culture. Truly an American icon.
Cursed LapPads have struck again.
I'm not normally an irrational zealous dickhead, but I figure "When in Rome..."
seriously...mod this shit up.
---- El diablo esta en mis pantalones! Mire, mire!
I downloaded a program for Toshibas thats runs the fan all the time - keeps the laptop cooler - uses a bit more juice I suppose - but who really uses bateries for anything more than shoulder strain?
cost is $2 - save yourself the $45 dollar (with shipping) silly thing
AIK
The website states:
"LapLogic specializes in Laptop Desks & LapPads that provide up to 57F protection from laptop heat without increasing CPU temperatures. In fact, with our Traveler LapPads,
your CPU will actually run cooler! "
If the heat is "bounced back" into the laptop, how is the CPU running cooler?
Macally has had soemthing like this for quite a while. Although I think I might get that Kona model (teh one that folds up). I do the same as Julie. Recline and compute at the same time.
Gorkman
penile prepuce
I need to find new and creative ways to put those words in everyday conversation
Slashdot needs a (Pedantic) mod. The real question is whether it should be (+1) or (-1)...
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
I built a box with very light but strong plastic/foam, glued the pieces with some kind of superglue, and added Velcro for opening/closing the box. This allow me to use a simple Eastpack bag. 4 years of use without a single problem, my laptop survived 4 drops without being hurt. If I had time, I would sell them, but you can build them for a few $.
Then I put the box between my lap and the laptop. Ventilation is optimal, and the laptop sits higher, which causes less strain on the neck.
I have a 900MHz Dell laptop that I have set to not go above 700MHz. Even at the lower setting it gets warm, but if I run it at 900MHz it will literally burn you if you max out the cpu and touch your hand or bare leg to it. Why these retards released a product that gets so hot you can't touch it is f*cking beyond me. What were they thinking? Did they just assume nobody would ever use a product called a "laptop" on their lap? The other side benefits of running at a lower speed are of course longer battery life and no loud annoying fan to deal with.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
The current generation of Aluminum PowerBooks doesn't run hot. A little warm, yes, but you need that on those cold summer San Francisco nights.
sulli
RTFJ.
After reading the site they claim that not only are your privates going to be cooler but also the laptop itself.
I'm not sure if I trust this but they seem to have anticipated the cries of "but that will just cook the laptop!"
Blaze a trail to the New World
than a hot laptop burning your lap is look at porn with a laptop on your lap!
As mentioned before, the heat stays in your lappy.
This cooler (active) or this cooler (passive) look like better alternatives.
--> Insert Funny Sig Here
No. And Yes. Please use the answers at your own discretion to your own questions.
These on the otherhand (the bottom four anyway) seem to be a much better solution to aditional laptop cooling. I'm thinking of getting one, as my laptop is completly passivly cooled and it gets quite warm when sitting on the carpet or the footrest of the couch.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
I always carry a thin, but firm, 3-ring binder with my laptop. It's also quite useful for holding papers and text notes.
When I travel, I place the binder on my lap, and the laptop on top of that. I never feel the heat of my Vaio and I don't need to spend $20-50 on a special mat.
Cryptofish
Quoting from Laplogic:
/.logic.
"Traveler LapPads - 54F of Heat Protection and Cooler CPU Temperatures
Our Traveler Series LapPads are designed to keep you and your laptop cool. The Traveler Series LapPads can provide up to 54F of laptop heat protection for you while keeping your CPU cooler."
It's not that hard to dispel
Who moderates the meta-moderators?
I was recently issued a Dell Inspiron 8600, and the top surface gets hot right where the left hand would rest while typing, to the point of being uncomfortable. I'd be happier if it vented out the bottom.
Regarding overheating: If the laptop is sitting on a wooden (or similar material) desk, very little heat is being absorbed by the surface, it's the airflow around it that's critical. Similarly, these pads should provide enough space for the feet on the laptop to give enough airflow. Wrapping it in a towel is likely much worse than a flat-surfaced pad.
Design for Use, not Construction!
Years ago when my laptop was my main computer I used to put phonebooks in the freezer and use them on my lap in the heat of summer with my laptop. Having 2 or 3 in there let me rotate them and stay cool all day.
:-)
Nothing like computing from the recliner...
This was also when I lived in a smaller town and the phone books were only an inch or so high.
Put a 3 ring binder in your lap and the computer on top. It works perfectly.
The air space between the covers prevents the transfer of heat.
I figured this out through trial and error.
Laugh at my ignorance while I learn Rails - a Real ne
Why didn't someone think of this sooner?
I did. I just stuck a magazine under it. Why on earth would you need a specialized product?
"Why didn't someone think of this sooner?"
THEY DID. There have been products out there that do this for ages. Off the top of my head, the Antec Notebook Cooler which has built in fans to handle heat, which means the laptop truely does run significantly cooler. There are a slew of similar products that have been on the market for ages.
Perhaps Slashdot's next post should be about a new invention by a small unknown company that they call a "rodent", that can be used to move a cursor around the screen! Except, there are no buttons on it, so you have to use your keyboard to click. Slashdot is just posting about an inferior version of an idea that has been in production for a while. This is not news.
they apparently provide up to 57 degrees (F) reduction in heat transfer.
:
57 degrees is not a unit of heat transfer.
A better statement might be
they apparently provide up to 57 degrees (F) reduction in contact temperature
for women who don't want kids.
After countless wedgies in grammar school, I couldn't procreate if I saved up until I was 90!
Sulu: "Captain, there is a piece of paper floating in space, directly in front of our ship!"
Kirk: "What does it say? Put it on the screen."
Spock: "Use of insulating devices will interfere with your notebook's thermal design and will void your warranty."
Kirk: "Great, but what does it MEAN?"
Spock: "In Earth's 20th century, there was a software company that now makes software for the Klingons and Romulans. This ancient software consumed vast resources and even portable computers of the era generated a tremendous amount of heat. To this day, the Klingons and Romulans are trying to make their computers run cooler and stop them from being hacked by freshmen from the Federation Middle School. The existance of this paper would tend to indicate the presence of a hostile ship nearby."
Kirk: "All hands, battle stations"
A heck of a lot cheaper than what this company is offering. I just can't see their "facts" and "numbers" .. GM is about 89% laptops (more than 3000 laptops) and there are 0 reports of burnt schlongs or laps (I am also a Safety Team member so I get all the safety/incident reports and this would be included in those reports).
The only time I ever have the laptop on my lap is when I am at home or at an airport.. and even then it is not very often as it is not a very good working position.
I am sure it is a good idea/product... but I much prefer my 5$ one better.
...they apparently provide up to 57 degrees (F) reduction in heat transfer
Insulatory material does not reduce heat transfer in units of degrees. Different materials have a different R factor. R factor is a measure of how fast heat can transfer through particular material. An example of a unit for R factor would be ft^2 hr oF/Btu, where ft is the thickness of the material and oF is the difference in temperature between the two sides of the insulatory material.
Thanks to Prof. Hershey at U of Cincinnati for that tidbit. He is a real smart guy (thermodynamics). He wrote a book called entropy, infinite, and god. The fact that he is almost deaf made it easy to "discuss" test questions while the test was going on.
How else is a geek supposed to get a tan?
In all seriousness - i have a nice aluminum heat dissipater. It has two fans, can be run from the wall outlet, or via USB 2.0 connect (it also comes with a nice 4 port USB 2.0 hub, which makes this my personal docking station since my Toshiba does not have a docking station).
When I travel, I literally have a vegetable chop block that I keep in my backpack. Originally this was used because the intake fan on my laptop is on the bottom (why I have NO idea) and placing the laptop on my bed prevented it from getting air circulation; eventually it became obvious that keeping my laptop on my legs, while not burning me, was getting quite warm.
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
Absolutely. I have 2: One for my TiBook and one for my SigO's Thinkpad. We swear by them. Don't bother with the small travel size, get the podium version, it's not that big anyway. It fits perfect in a laptop bag.
Excellent design allows great use of convection and air circulation. The rotating design is great for meetings.
With the Podium Pad, it's always cool to the touch. You might be able to feel the radiant heat in the air or your fingertips, if say fans are on full-bore. But you sure don't feel the heat on your lap.
Better my laptop's life than my future children's lives. I remember hearing about what the heat from your laptop can do to your fertitlity.
Rain Design has been selling something similar for a while I believe. Its call the iLap/a.
It seems to me that this could be made better for you and the computer by having a rigid surface and a battery powered fan. Use some corrugated aluminum to set the laptop onto, cut out holes for the feet and put it on a thin plate. A hobbyist with a metal brake and some epoxy could put this together in about 2 hours.
:)
The corrugations would let the air flow under the computer and the fan could draw air from the front and blow it up and away from the system. Active cooling is better than passive. The only problem is that it would have to be custom made to fit the bottom of the laptop.
If anyone makes money off of this, please contact me
My Presario 1750XL gets really hot on the bottom right below the CPU. When I first bought it, the CPU fan only came on when the unit crashed (it crashed frequently enough to produce almost adequate cooling.) I went back and forth and back and forth with Compaq, and as far as I could tell, eventually one of the bazillion patches I installed (out of 3 CDROMs full) fixed it somewhat. The fan now comes on occasionally, when the CPU is working hard, or crashed. Doesn't seem the worse for wear - the heat sink is a big chunk of aluminum, and the machine is 5 years old and has had no hadrware problems other than the battery failing prematurely.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
that instead of simply bouncing the heat back into the laptop, these pads hold the heat. There seems to be several layers, the first to absorb the heat, the second to hold the heat, the third to keep it off you. There is enough room for air to flow between the top layer and the laptop, so that will help dissapate the heat.
I have seen several people say that it will overheat the laptop, or make the keyboard hot, but I have to believe the reviewer touched keys on his laptop, and therefore it was not a problem. This is more than a simple heat blocker people, it has a bit more complexity than most people give it credit.
>Heat bounced back to the laptop:
RTFA, it is not bounced back to the laptop, it is radiated to the canvas, some of which radiates to the user and some of which radiates to the air. And it does it over a much larger surface area than a laptop. And of course some of the heat will be resident in the product itself.
What's really funny is the company's pageon How Much You'll Save using their product. Claims include students using laptops for schoolwork 7 days a week, and the belief that laptop heat hurt productivity in professions such as Dentistry, Physician, Buyer (whatever the hell that is), and (get this!) Account Executives. Everybody knows executives don't do work anyway. . .
--I don't leave comments. Nobody replys anyway.
Why not just use a desk or pants? Seriously, though, my laptop (older IBM) gets hot enough to fry an egg, so I'm considering using it for that. I bet it uses less electricity to generate the heat than my stove, so why not plug it in, turn it upside down and cook with it?
stuff |
I can't believe no one has come up with this idea. You know, like the carBQ (cook a meal on your engine while you commute home).
I have a 12 inch ... Powerbook and I've found that If I put a copy of Wired between my legs and my laptop that I don't have to worry about the heat.
At this level of "design"? Yes, I do indeed think that. If only because the alternative is that they did rigorous stress testing with every possible laptop for which this product could be used. Every laptop has different heat transfer properties, different vent locations, and uses the case to different degrees to ensure proper heat transfer (Apple is the obvious example here).
Is it possible that the material designed to contact the laptop is corrugated enough to still let air through and they did their job? Sure. But it's at least reasonable to question this until it's addressed, which it wasn't on the review and LapLogic's server appears melted. Methinks you're too trusting a consumer.
Put it another way - do you NOT see informercials when watching TV late at night?
Or yet another - if their website can't even survive a good slashdotting...
to use one of them pads before taking a lapdance next time :)
If anyone patents this idea, please think of me ;)
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later,
Dean
p.s. My girlfriend made me a tray that I now use. She tiled it with small tiles in the pattern of two penguins. You can probably guess which operating system I use.
Cause that's about how long I've had my laptop pad... and yes it does work very well. Even has a swivel on it for rotation.
I made my lap heat shield out of a car sun blind. 1. Buy car sun blind (any gas station or car parts store. about $10). It's a folded piece of foam covered in a metalic film, the size of a windshield. 2. Cut to size. 3. Tape/glue to bottom of laptop. 4. ??? 5. profit! Usually there's no need to cover the whole bottom of the laptop, just the part that generates the most heat (use hand to find it). Haven't noticed any ill effect of the heat shield on the laptop's performance. Why don't they just build them like this? Maybe with an internal heat shield.
Instead of crowing about how cool it is that someone decided to market a heat insulator for all of the "Hot Laptop bottoms", why don't we put our efforts and commentary into how to make them cooler... I am a Mac user my self and have noticed how the PB that I have gets uncomfortably hot after several hours of use. I also Have a Dell Inspiron that gets hotter yet... Yes the heat insulator works but it seems a band-aid to the real problem which is the engineering behind getting rid of excess heat. It seems that most developers of portables have no problem dissapating heat by allowing it to exit via baseplates in the laptops... ie your lap gets boiled. So really the end result is that we humans are the recipients of the excess waste heat and we are the actual end dissapators.... So the engineers in their final analysis must conclude that human flesh will be able to absorb the residual waste heat that is generated and have no problem letting the heat dissapate this way. I want a laptop that is able to be handled for its expected battery-life without being subject to a very hot plastic or metal surface. Just my 2cents
The same guy who gave us the bear proof suit has also created some goop he calls Fire Paste. Perhaps this stuff would be able to do an even better job.
Signatures are a waste of bandwi (buffering...)
Why isn't someone making laptops that are designed to be lightweight, durable, cool running, easy on batteries, and snappy (not blinding fast, just fast enough)???
One of the last notebooks that was like this was the Thinkpad 600...they are fairly lightweight, durable, about 366MHz, and the harddrives were around 10G...
I understand that wireless cards create most of the heat in todays laptops, but if this is the case, why hasn't someone designed a laptop where the wireless card fits into the back of the screen???
Err... correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't insulation be about the LAST thing you'd want on a laptop? Have you ever done diagnostics on your hardware sensors to see the differences in CPU and HDD temperature while using the thing?
... from Road Tools. Same price range. Durable as hell. Fits in your carrying case, and takes up less room than a foldable LapPad. Targus rebrands them and sells them in Staples, or you can order them online through the website above.
Guaranteed forever. Our family has two iBooks, each with a small CoolPad. My kids have managed to pop off some of the rubber feet and unscrew the rivet-and-screw that holds the two swiveling parts together. Sent email to the manufacturer, and they're sending me replacement parts, no charge. I'm definitely going to put a little thread lock on that screw...
My preferred laptop working stack is:
lap/laptop case/CoolPad/iBook
Raises the machine up to closer to eye level, the CoolPad lets air circulate under the iBook, and the whole rig is in my lap, so I can put it away and be ready to roll in 10 seconds or so.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
investigated some of these last year. there are alot more available now and many models have fans attached to them and are powered off of a ps2 or usb port provided by the laptop
search for "notebook cooler" on newegg and you'll turn up quite a few results and many of them have informative user reviews
linked together and plugged into the recharging port would make more sense than this. At least then, the absorbed heat is producing electricity that lengthens battery life- and the heat is actually absorbed instead of reflecting back into the machine.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Sorry, but I took one look at the Chillow and wondered, so I've got my laptop that's plugged into the wall sitting on top of this chilled, water-filled pillow, both sitting on my lap.
:)
What could go wrong here?
"We're sorry, but the website you're trying to reach has been disconnected."
It gives a new meaning to the term "weenie roast"
My friend got one of these things. It just happens to be the same size as his laptop and blocks the heat rather nicely. Pretty useful for only $15.
Will it prevent the laptop from overheating when its using is surfing pr0n sites?
... y Dios vio que Linux era bueno... Genesis 99.666
My MacAlly IcePad seems to work as well as the products in this review, but is rigid instead of fabric-based. It can lie flat, or tilt up a couple of inches. It has little airflow channels along the top surface and dissapates heat really well. It has a grippy surface and I've never had trouble with the PowerBook slipping while on it. Given how much my PB used to heat up if I had it sitting on a blanket or pillow, and how cool it runs now sitting on the IcePad, $30 is a reasonable price for not cooking the $2k computer (or me).
"There is a thin line between ignorance and arrogance, and only I have managed to erase that line." - Dr. Science
My point was that designing a single product that is useful in such a wide variety of situations wouldn't require a bunch of Magoo's to screw up. Like I said, maybe the thing's OK...but maybe not. Maybe it's OK for the laptop they tested, but did they test enough? I don't know.
All I'm saying is that it's reasonable to assume that a design team--even a mediocre design team--would be able to envision the kind of glaringly obvious "What about X?" flotsam that gets posted on this sort of topic.
Yeah, but until I'm sure, I'm not risking my $2500 laptop with such a product. Hell, it's on my lap now, and I can't feel it through my clothes where it's actually touching. You're also forgetting the other possibility - that it occurred to them, they realized how hard it would be to thoroughly test, figured it was good enough based on back-of-the-envelope calculations, and just went with it. Just because a potential flaw occurred to them doesn't mean they fixed it. Every company has beancounters whose job it is to make such decisions of cost vs. risk. Also, does the warrantly for this thing cover damage to the laptop caused by excessive heat? The question will have to remain rhetorical until their server recovers.
Do you honestly believe that it is more likely than not that this company developed and released this product without ever considering the internal heat levels of the laptop?
Two points: one, as I mentioned above, it's not whether they considered it but whether such considerations were pursued. Second, there is no such thing as "the" laptop, and that's where the problem lies. If they tested a plastic-case Dell that doesn't use the case for heat transfer as much, that wouldn't apply to my titanium Powerbook that does.
They slip into their asbestos underpants :-)
Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
check it out.
These are not a new thing.. they have been out for years.
And to all the doomsayers:
These things use a hard, flat surface, with something to separate it from your lap so you don't feel the heat. you know, LIKE YOUR DESK. If your desk isn't going to fry your laptop, neither are these.
``Why didn't someone think of this sooner?''
Because laptops that produce heat aren't actually used on people's laps - the battery life is too short for that. Yes, I am bitter. I'd much rather they focused on using less energy than increasing performance.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
my palms often overheat during porn browsing...
I've already patented a device to protect from laptop burns. It's called a pillow and a 12oz Miller HighLife.
...::----::...
I am in no way affiliated with this sig.
What could go wrong here? :)
Lots of things, but unless you never ever drink beverages while using your computer, nothing you should worry about.
If nothing else, remember that your laptop is running on DC which is not as dangerous as AC. I've never seen a laptop that ran on AC (e.g., didn't use a blister pack) because of - wait for it - the heat issues involved with converting in AC to DC in the case.
I use a shelf from the kitchen cabinets that I removed a few years ago.
It's a good size, my laptop sits on it nicely, it allows airflow that is just as good as having the laptop sitting on a desk, and, best of all, it was FREE.
Just go get a piece of wood that's a good shape for you, paint it, and you're done...
Being a man I have always wondered (and worried) about laptops. From what I understand of physiology higher heat in the lap area lowers sperm count temporarily if not permamantly.
bjornolafson@hotmail.com
You know, I never complain about mods, I have karma to burn so normally I really don't care too much, but when I hit reply there were only a couple of people with comments (none of them related). It's not like I posted an hour after everyone else. Why waste enough mod points to take it to -1? If they were my points I'd leave it at 1 or 0. That way it's below threshold for those of us browsing at +2 or more (probably most of slashdot). Seems like a better bang for your moderation buck to bring something up that is good rather than barrage something that is redundant.
Why didn't someone think of this sooner?
I thought we've had asbestos long johns since the early days of Usenet.
or something similar. I have a gateway solo 5300, and it gets HOT.
so hot, that when I compile things, it's too hot to hold. as in it has a little metal cover on the bottom over a component that's painted black and the PAINT IS PEELING OFF.
My father-in-law got a lapdesk, and after a while he went out and bought something like what they describe. after seeing how well it worked for him, I got one too.
It's sorta like a lap tray that folds in half. it has non-melty rubber strips on a plastic frame to keep the laptop from sliding off, and the structure is sorta accordian shaped and rigid, running left to right.
The nice thing about it is you can fold the thing in half and it has a like unfoldable leg that props itself up, creating a little wedge... The laptop is sitting on the desk right now on the tray and not burning my crotch or my desk.
I highly suggest trying one out, especially if you have a Gateway Solo5300 and run Gentoo on it:)
I'm not much for product cheerleading, but this thing has done it's job. it's not perfect, but it keeps the valuables from getting cooked. 7.5/10
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I mean, there has to be a way to dissipate the heat through or means....or design cooler machines.
Would it be possible to build a passive radiator into the back of the screen? Maybe a flexible heat tube or something?
Fritz
_______________
Huh?
This has been a problem since my first Toshiba 486DX50 laptop with the 7in active matrix screen (price $3,200 with the 20MB hard drive and the 2mb of RAM - whoo hooo). The idea of a portable computer should be that you could use it without a desk or table. Mmm, 'portable' like... After working on many different laptops over the years and using them on, duh, my lap; I got sick my choices: A) heat and pain due to the aforeomentioned inability of computer manufactures to engineer airflow OR anything even remotely akin to comfort into any laptop. (b) the makeshift phone book lap desk with related newsprint transfer unto laptop, clothing and anything else! (c) find a desk or table in an airport or in the park (sure). Then I saw a computer case by Shaun Jackson Design: http://sjdesign.com/ They make the LAP TRAP and the LAP DOG computer cases and both are similar in operation. They use velcro to secure your laptop to the bottom of the case and little riser pads to get a bit of air flow - then the bottom surface is sturdy and insulated. Oh, **pre-flame-warning** I don't work for, nor do I own sjdesign -- I simply got one of 'em and am a happy customer... Just my $0.02...
I have an ancient-ass laptop that produces a ton of heat when I'm using it... I also happen to get cold really easily, and stay that way for hours at a time.
I really like having a lap-warmer while I'm using my computer.
-MJ
Waste of time? If your laptop is really cooking your lap that badly, get a table? Set it somewhere else? I pity the poor person who spent as much time as they surely did developing a product such as this - truly a college degree hard at work. gg folks, try again.
Come one! Are you kidding? Folks have been using this for years... even among /.'ers.
Abestos Underwear
This is completely ridiculous. Make those laptops cooler, for god's sake! Or else one day we'll just stop worrying about air pollution and just wear gas masks all the time.
Now what would be cool is a copper, brass, or bronze laptop. A skilled machinist could make such a case, modeled after one of the titanium or aluminum ones. Of course, you'd sacrifice weight, but it would at least look cool. Could be coated to maintain its rich lustre, or given a nice patina.
The main advantages of titanium and aluminum are durability, lightweightness, and ability to transfer heat well. Aluminum tends to be preferred due to lower cost and easier machinability. Another metal that would be interesting for a laptop case is magnesium, but there may some issue with that that I'm missing.
Platimum could be interesting, if you could afford it.
Other metals such as gold and silver tend to be too soft. Cast iron would not be good choices due to its weight, thermal mass, and magnetic properties. Osmium is just too dense.
Tungsten... if the Palm Tungsten were actually made out of Tungsten, that would be cool.
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
Mmmmmm... Roasted nuts...
here: http://www.fz.se/artiklar/article.php?id=446
...of course it's in Swedish, but you can learn Swedish from here: http://www.francisstrand.blogspot.com/
Bah, at least there are some pictures, mkay?
Alternatively, you could use a Radio-Shack Rechargable battery pack (couldn't find URL, but catalog no. _was_ 23-047). It's about the size of 4 cassette tapes, ~12.6oz (~350g), output voltage selectable from 3-9v output and rechargable by plugging it into a wall output or from a 12v400ma source. If you are a doit-yourselfer, buy a 4 "cell" holder and wire it in series. Radio Shack sells battery adapter extension cord and heads singlely. You could choose capacity and weight by cell size (though note, I've often seen "D" rechargable cells with same ratings as the "C" indicating they've just stuck a "C" cell in a larger container.
Externally powered, this _should_ slightly increase laptop runtime (i.e. active external cooling => less internal fan use).
It holds the laptop on rubber feet about 7mm above 2 fans sucking air from center of underside and venting out the back.
-l
I just purchsed the Nexus laptop cooler
as an attempt to keep my hp pavillion 1.7 ghz laptop fan to turn on right away.
The laptop cooler drains the heat away through vaccum sealed pipes with fluid for condensation.
No moving parts and basic thermodynamics was the selling point.
Will it work? dunno Still in shipping.
- these are not the droids you are looking for -
Got my new IBM T40 a couple weeks ago. This baby doesnt heat up like my old T21. I had it on my lap for like 4 or 5 hours (also running off battery) with no problems
On a somewhat related subject,(heat) I was just installing memory in my iBook and couldn't decide whether to remove the stickers (from the ram-chips) or not. I know the bottom of the thing can get fairly toasty at times. This is the only laptop I have ever owned, so I have no experience with this. Will the sticker cause problems?
posted via satellite
That & this product's effect will be mandatory for Intel's future "mobile" processors:
4 06 01121930.html
e sc ription=19-103-445&depa=0
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/display/200
"Thermal design power (TDP) of the new "Prescott" Mobile Pentium 4 processors at the speeds of 2.80GHz, 3.06GHz and 3.20GHz is 88W. Intel also tells notebook makers that future direction of TDP is 94W, seriously more compared to 76W thermal design power of previous generation Mobile Pentium 4 chips produced using 130nm process technology."
As for AMD:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?d
"AMD Mobile Athlon 64 3200+, 1MB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor 62W - OEM"
I often use the heat to keep me warm while watching TV during the winter. :-)]
A lap pad would cut out that benefit.
I can play solitaire during the commercials and run SETI@home in the background, and it doesn't obstruct the TV viewing.
[pre-empting replies - my wife can keep me warm as well, but without the solitaire, SETI@home and unobstucted view
Why don't we just make laptops that don't burn you? It ceases to be portable computing when you have to lug 20lbs of extra crap around with you always.
This P.I.G. will walk on the water, This P.I.G. will walk on the sea, This P.I.G. will walk whereever he wants.
"Why didn't someone think of this sooner?"
Because some of us like keeping our nads toasty warm =)
I have used a laptop for years.
:)
:)
I carry a tea-towel in my carry bag.
Fold it in half and sit that on my lap.
It might look damn ugly... but no sortch marks on my silk pants!
The best way to keep heat off your lap is another laptop
Matt
The cheapest alternative I've seen is simply a piece of heavy cardboard folded over once or twice. --GregB
I currently use a plyboard slab about 3/4 inch thick.
pointy hair
Cast iron, in fact, is a very poor conductor. I'm sure a hot gas burner heats your pan very quickly, but the conductivity of cast iron is only about a third that of aluminum, and an eighth of copper. Copper remains a superior conductor in every way, but like you, I reserve it for egg whites (or occassionally a good sauce). I hate cleaning it. That all-clad copper core is tempting, though...
But I digress. There is yet another major material thermal characteristic: heat capacity. The amount of heat it takes to raise the temperature of a material per unit mass. As you've suggested, iron has decent heat capacity, and is very dense, and a poor conductor, so it holds its heat for a long time. But there are extremely dense materials (tungsten comes to mind, it's more dense than lead) that have very poor thermal capacity. In fact, given equal *weights* of aluminum and cast iron, I think the aluminum would actually hold more heat, but it would still disapate it much more quickly through convection.
So I believe you're half right -- density does affect total thermal capacity, it's just that it does not completely dictate it.
Seriously, my iBook is never too hot for me to rest on my lap. The only time it heated up substantially was when I tried to play a DVD on it. Even then it comes nowhere close to the heat generation of my sister's or dad's laptops.
I'm no Mac zealot, and I'd never buy a Mac desktop, but they just do laptops right...
This is left as an exercise for the reader.
I have been using laptops regularly (almost exclusively) since 1995.
After getting my left thigh burned (good that it was not something else like that other guy), I decided to try the lapdesks.
I have used NCR Globalyst (made by NEC), various Toshibas, and IBM Thinkpads.
The Toshibas heat up like heck. My brother's Compaq is even hotter.
The lapdesks are a piece of wood with a rim, and on the underneath, there is a "bag" filled with styrofoam beans.
Works well. Never had a problem with the heat.
So, this is not very new or anything. Maybe more high tech, but not a break through in functionality.
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Why didn't someone think of this sooner?
They did... get a good pair of jeans.
My VAIO really only gets hot when it is charging, and I usually charge it over night, so that's not an issue.
How hot do other people's machines get? FWIW, I'm typing this right now with my laptop sitting on my bare legs. (I'm wearing shorts, perv!) It can get a bit warm when it's charging, but never so hot that I'm compelled to get it off of me.
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
The problem is that most people smart enough to put a board between their nuts and their hot laptop don't immediately realize there are a lot of people who aren't, or that these folks would make a great market for such a product.
Instructions:
1. Fill bathtub with water
2. Get in bathtub
3. Make sure laptop is plugged into A/C outlet
4. Put laptop on lap.
Water will remain cool enough to cool laptop and lap, but be warm enough for comfortable bath water.
Partial Credit: The Engineer's Best friend
"Well, the bridge didn't fall all the way down!"
I RTFM for my new Powerbook, and it specifically states that towels, pillows, blankets and other soft squishy things interfere with the intake ports on the bottom corners of the machine, causing it to possibly overheat.
I don't want to get a flame war going, but what happened to all that superior design and engineering that is supposed to come from Apple? Designing a laptop where the maker knows it will get hot enough to burn the user AND putting the vents on the bottom of the case where they will be blocked if the user tries to keep from getting burned by using insulation seems to be monumentally bad design to me.
Come on, people, this is a problem that goes back to the discovery of fire. Even the naked people in National Geographic know to put a piece of bark between their skin and a hot gourd.
You know that thing in your kitchen with strawberries on it, that you put on the dinner table, under a pan of lasagna? Get a similar device at Big-Lots and stick it under yer laptop. Cost: $1.29
Duh!
Here is the thing most people seem to be missing: Most desks do not dissapate heat very well.
I can leave my laptop on my desk for hours and the area directly underneath its hot spots are scorching hot (due to radiatiant or direct-contact heat transfer on parts like the battery door), but just a few centimeters outside this area, it is dead cold.
Your laptop can only tranfer heat to your desk at the rate at which the desk can dissapate it. And I would dare say that the amount of heat the average desk can dissapate is neglidgable.
I know of lots of Toshibas that ran on straight AC. Not sure about their recent ones though.
Nothing to see here; Move along.