Elecom's USB PC Cooler

Millions of dollars of precise laptop engineering is nothing 50 bucks won't fix — at least that's what Elecom hopes you'll think.  They've got a USB powered cooling system that promises to keep your laptop chilled while also elevating it to a comfortable angle.  Two different models are available, which should accomodate most any sized laptop.  But hey, if your laptop doesn't need it, maybe you can use it to keep your un-airconditioned apartment cool this summer.

[Via Akihabara News]

[wootness @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

Can't be used as an AC... it violates the first law of thermodynamics. Where does the heat go? It circulates back into the room.
Same reason why you cannot use the refrigerator as an AC unit.

[KYDS3K @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

SWEET! no more burnt testicles!

[Callum @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

So they had their money on a Powerbook G5?

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

To: #1/wootness

Could you possibly explain to me then how those single room portable airconditioners work ? I don't mean the ones that hang their drippy posteriors out the window, I mean the ones that sit in the middle of a room with NO windows and blow cold air (well...cool air).

Please don't mistake the tone of this post/question, I seriously would like to have this explained to be because I have always accepted the reasoning you put forth. The heat has to go somewhere ! Unless some element inside just gets hotter and hotter until the thing shuts down or blows up and then the heat diffuses back into the room (meaning you're sort of shifting the heat over time primarily instead of space).

If you can/are willing to, please enlighten me :)

[CrowsSong @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

#4: The standalone units have a duct that gets routed back out a window or through a hole in the wall. The brochures and packaging often don't make this very obvious.

[brickballs @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

#1 - "you cannot use the refrigerator as an AC unit."

While thats definately true that a fridge can't coll the entire room, it can do a nice job on just your face :-D

[Quentin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

What a daft idea. To keep my knees cool I simply cut a piece of twinwall ploycarbonate greenhouse roofing material to the size of my powerbook G4 and stuck it on with blutak. Cost... about �0.5.... since I started using it the cooling fan has remined silent, and my knees cool. It weighs less than a USB cable and doesn't waste battery power on something you can get from your local hardware store.

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

Thanks 'CrowsSong' !

LOL that's an even CHEAPER solution than I would have expected, but I don't see how else it could be accomplished.

[Varun @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

Ahh but this little usb fan thing doesn't abide by your rules of physics, it uses magic...

[Jazzay @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

haha, thats what my physics teacher says when someone doesnt understand what the text means

"excuse me, i still dont get it"
"its magic"
"oh okay"

[ryan @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

i just picked up a targus chillhub and couldnt be happier with it. its 40$ and doubles as a usb hub plus it actually goes under the computer so it doesnt burn the hell out of your legs

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

Wootness, I think you need to clarify in what way are you employing the use of the first law of thermodynamics. It sounds like you're assuming that the system will be the room and that there are no open doors or windows. In other words, the system is closed to the room. So, this device could work as an AC cooler, if you can set up the system such that heat flows out of the room and cooler air flows in. And refrigerator's, in effect, can be used as AC's. I'm sure you heard of vaper phase, or refigeration, cooling for PCs. The core of the system is based on, well, refigeration.

[Steve @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

1. OddManOut - The 'stand alone' AC units use water and evaporation to absorb the heat. Not Refrigeration! (Like you sweating)

2. Jeff � Refrigeration/AC units only move the heat from one place to another.
Ie From the inside to the outside or inside your computer case to the outside of the case! If the inlet and output are in the same room (like a fridge*), the temperature in the room will not change!! (* in most cases)

3. It�s just a fan!!! Moving the heat from the laptop bottom to the room (No A/C!)

[Ian Howard @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

We have a cheaper one if you want, for about $15 each:
http://mali.geekcorps.org/article.php3?id_article=78

This is to stop our laptops from melting in the heat of the desert. These stands typically lower the laptop's cpu temperature by about 5 deg C.

Ian

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

"The 'stand alone' AC units use water and evaporation to absorb the heat. Not Refrigeration! (Like you sweating)"

Aren't those called 'Swamp Coolers' ?

So you exchange an unberably hot room for an uncomfortable hot room that is unberably humid?

[Ray @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

To #1, please mind your physics, it is the second law you are talking about. Any process will create entropy on the system, in other words: you need a dump for the heat you will generate with the compressor and evaporator.

So to put it in proper terms:

This will take the heat away SOMEWHERE else (as in an increment on the room's temperature)

:) Don't mind my spanglish!