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Fuel Cells for Laptops Due Next Week

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the power-to-go dept.

prostoalex writes "AVC and Antig Technology will demo a production-ready fuel cell for laptops next week on CeBIT trade show. According to PC Magazine, 'the CD-ROM size fuel cell will fit within the media bay of a notebook PC, replacing the drive with additional battery power.' The fuel cell battery will last 8 hours."

3 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. I'd Buy It by MBCook · · Score: 3, Informative

    If true, I'd buy it.

    My last laptop (a Dell Inspiron 8000) I kept two batteries in (it was a three spindle notebook). This increased the weight, but gave me over three hours of battery life with normal use (it was a desktop replacement that just loved to eat batteries). I would gladly replace one in that notebook with one of these for the extra battery life (if I still had it).

    My currently laptop is a Apple PowerBook (15", Feb 2005 model). I'm not sure it would have the room necessary for one of these to replace the standard battery, but I would gladly do it (I currently get 3 hours of use, or about 45 min if I run a full-on 3D game with the laptop in "high performance" mode).

    I would be much more interested if it was a closed system that could recharge it's self (like a fuel-cell could be set up). That said, it's 45w of power and almost 4 pounds. My current battery is 46 watts and less than 1.8 pounds. And I know the newer PowerBooks and MacBook Pros have better batteries than mine.

    3 more watts, double the weight. How will that give me 8 hours of battery life? I'm skeptical. Maybe in an ultra-light notebook with a slow processor doing word processing.

    Still, at least someone is about to market something other than a "normal" battery.

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  2. Re:Power Brick by SirCyn · · Score: 3, Informative

    What decade are you living in? Most all laptops these days use the standard slimline cd-rom. They just have a different front bezel attached.

    --
    FreeBSD: The Power to Serve!
  3. Slashdot=stupid by gotak · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wee lets all look at the link on yahoo news. How come on one thought of going to the manufacturer's website?

    http://www.antig.com/english/mediabay.html

    It used cartridges. There you go your refill.