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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?"
This was out back in '98 with the Wallstreet PowerBooks.
personal attacks hurt, especially when deserved
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...
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.
"(Of course, any hardware that uses the operator as a heat-sink is ASKING to lose.)"
Many products use the user as a heat sink successfully. Handheld radios used by ham radio operators often rely on the user to hold them. Given the relatively large surface area, and the fact that the radio is conveniently palm sized, sometimes with metal casing, the operator generally is unaffected by the transferred heat.
If these same radios are left on a tabletop in a windless day and connected OQO style... transmitting nonstop... they would probably get uncomfortably warm if someone went to pick them up.
Of course this is not the intended operation mode or duty cycle...
The heat doesn't go anywhere. It is prevented from traveling out from the laptop. In effect, it bounces back and heats the laptop more.
Look at aerogel (or airogel?) and you can see a blow torch not melting crayons through a small (clear!) insulating barrier.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
An alternative is to sacrifice a little performance for a little energy efficiency, which has much larger returns.
:)
So it takes you 5 minutes instead of 4 minutes, but there is a 20 deg difference and battery life is increased by 20%. I think that's worth it
GPL Deconstructed
it never hurts to RTFA though, or research this before posting opinions. laplogic claims the CPU will run cooler or as cool as on a table.
it's somewhat disappointing that they didn't dramatically improve the cooling as well though.
Maybe a USB powered fan system to supplement the built-in system during processor intensive stuff (where you're probably plugged in anyway).
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
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...
Yes. One reason Apple switched from plastic to Titanium (and later Aluminium) is because they were having trouble dissipating the heat from the G4. Plastic doesn't conduct heat that well, but metals do. (I bet most of the pots in your/your mom's kitchen have some aluminium in them. Mine have little aluminium discs on the bottom. Except for the ones that are cast iron.)
I'm in the hole of the broadband donut.
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?
A cell phone is a good example of a case that must purely disapate its own heat. Most cell phones would benefit (structurally speaking) from a thicker case. In fact, I've seen design engineers at at least one major mobile phone maker that constantly want to double and triple the size of the "ribs" that reinforce the B-class interior surfaces. This is followed, everytime, by an engineering analyst who's bitching about the fact that the new plan will fry all the electronics.
If the case was nearly a perfect insulator, and the fan was responsible for pushing all the hot and cool air in and out of the case, you'd have a laptop that sounded like a small jet engine. ;-)
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
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.
As mentioned before, the heat stays in your lappy.
This cooler (active) or this cooler (passive) look like better alternatives.
--> Insert Funny Sig Here
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
...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.
Several laptops (I know for sure Dell and Toshiba anyway) are designed to work properly on a flat smooth surface. That is, they have either an input or output vent which is supposed to be kept just above the desk surface by little feet. Those of us keeping it on our laps defeat this and become perfect candidates for some type of platform... be it a pad or a phone book.
Read that link again. It is running cooler than a when in pillow, not cooler than when in your lap.
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