The World's Tiniest Power Supply Unit

An anonymous reader writes "This year at CES members of the press got to grab a glimpse of the world's tiniest power supply. Well actually it is the world's tiniest 12V snap-in ATX DC-to-DC power supply, but you get the idea. This unit produces 120W of power and is about the size of two AA batteries. It is specifically designed for use with Mini-ITX motherboards, but can be used in many other applications."

Comments

$50 + S&H Each & Manual Link

[eldavojohn]

They sell them here for $50 if you're interested in putting one in your mod or computer.

You may also be interested in the pdf guide for the picoPSU-120.

Re:Will this work off of a car 12V? Some other lin

[craigmarshall]

> I'm glad to see there is now a market for these power
> supplies (although I'm sure this isn't for car applications).
> I wonder how efficient it is -- and how much heat it gives
> off. The article was a bit...sparse.

From the article:

"The pico-PSU boasts an over 96% efficiency rating"

and:

"No enclosure or cooling is needed."

Craig

Re:Will this work off of a car 12V? Some other lin

[Brain_Recall]

My guess this will not be well suited for automotive applications. Car alternators actually produce more like 13.8 volts while running, since lead-acid batteries require a higher voltage source to charge. Also, automotive electrical systems can swing wildly when kicking on power-draining devices such as headlights and air conditioners (the auto industry is starting to setup a 40V spec to help power these systems while keeping the voltage stable).

I believe current auto computers have a hefty filtering package to work under these varying conditions. The Pico-PSU doesn't seem to have enough filtering to be directly plugged in. However, a smaller external voltage regulator to handle the spikes/drops would probably do wonders for it.