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Laptop Fuel Cells Coming Soon
tomsastroblog writes "Soon laptop batteries could last all day and be recharged from a cartridge. BBC News has a piece on fuel cells as laptop batteries, and what their adoption could mean for laptop usage." From the article: "At the Cebit technology fair in Hanover, Taiwanese hi-tech firm Antig said its fuel cells should be on the shelves of computer shops by early 2007. The first versions of the methanol-using units should keep a laptop going for up to nine hours. Fuel cell technology got a boost recently when international air flight regulators changed rules that banned passengers from carrying flammable methanol onto aircraft."
gives a whole new meaning to "this laptop is burning my legs..." sorry could not resist...
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I especially like the ability for them to fit into existing laptops (in the media bay), rather than only working with new, specially-designed laptops. Overall it sounds great, however expensive. It'd probably be years before they can get the price down to a reasonable level. Either way, it might not be a bad idea to go invest in fuel cell stocks now. :)
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http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/ 03/0134241
Today most laptops are just dragged between electric outlets since they wont go for more than a couple of hours without recharging. Having nine hours worth of computer time changes the way you can use a laptop in a pretty significant way. From being used as a portable desktop you can use it as a really portable computer, taking it whereever you go without running amok for a piglets nose.
For me this is something i have longed for since the dawn of laptops.
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As for the "giant can of Zippo," yes, we would all like to have a fuel cell battery that lasts for a week and fits right into the old battery slot, but cut them a little slack. It's a new thing and it's bound to improve and the fact that there may be a laptop fuel cell at all in the near future is pretty interesting.
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
There is a German company (http://www.smartfuelcell.de/ that is already producing fuel-cell powered generators for camping. I guess it won't take too long until they are small enough to fit in a laptop bag.
where's all that Karma?
It's a neurotoxin! It casues blindness! And it's highly flammable!
Sounds like a terrorist's dream.
These toxic effects take far to much time for it to be effective as a weapon. Plus you would need an incredible amount of it if you planned to kill people with an methanol aerosol. In fact ethanol (another neurotoxin you may be more familiar with) might be more effective for this. If you offer it free in a glass to most people, they will actually drink it!
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Most people wouldn't care whether it's a micro-fusion reactor in their laptop or a flock of nano-gerbils on micro-running-wheels as long as they get good life out of the thing. Well I suppose PETA would take some offense to the latter, but they don't need to know. Point being, for most people, having a laptop is all about mobility, and for the most part battery life is the main issue that comes into play, probably with network access coming in next.
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Laptop fuel cartrages mean new DRM and propriatary designs as well as messy (and dangerous) 3rd party refil kits.
A lot of people keep saying this, but it just doesn't hold true!
First of all, methanol doesn't pose nearly the health risk most people believe. As someone with a solid non-practitioner background in both chemistry and pharmacology, I would play with methanol over toner or ink any day... Additionally, the breakdown products the the electrolyte in Li-ion batteries makes methanol exposure look like a cool drink of mountain water by comparison (for an idea, the most common counts as a chemical WMD in a different context).
Second, methanol doesn't pose nearly the fire/explosion risk most people believe. The Li-ion batteries we use now pose a FAR greater risk of explosion, and as for fire, if you take the same precautions you would when refueling your car (with yet another far more flamable/explosive liquid), you have nothing to worry about.
Third, refilling... Aside from the previously-mentioned toxicity of ink and toner, methanol evaporates cleanly. So if you spill a few drops, you can just let them evaporate rather than permanantly staining yourself, your table, your laptop, your carpet, your dog, and seemingly anything else even in sight of the ink refill kit.
The biggest complaint about the idea of using fuel cells over a rechargeable battery in laptops comes from the UPS-factor. Even an all-but-dead laptop battery will let it stay up (assuming you have it on AC) through a short power outage, or to move to another outlet, or to quickly reinsert the plug your cat pulled out, etc. Running on a fuel cell, all those advantages disappear unless you use the fuel cell as your primary power source, which could get expensive over time (despite methanol's low cost, AC power costs a hell of a lot less).
The big question (for males) is obviously, would fuel cells increase or decrease the risks of burning the scrotum and penis? :-o
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