To be totally candid, we can't even utter the word "ionic" without thinking of
Sharper Image, but the concept here actually seems like one that just might benefit the public at large... or at least those of us forced to
cook our upper legs on a daily basis. San Jose-based
Tessera, in cooperation with the University of Washington, has adapted an ionic cooling system for use in everyday laptops. The magic elixir consists of two electrodes, one of which is used to ionize air molecules such as nitrogen, while the other acts as a receiver for those molecules. According to reports, this method can extract around 30 percent more heat from a lap burner than the traditional "fan and more fans" approach. Still, a major obstacle remains in terms of ensuring that the electrodes remain reliable throughout the life of a laptop, but if Tessera has its druthers, some form of the system will be commercialized next year.
posted May 21st 2009 7:41AM
Whenever I hear ionic, I think of chemistry, not sharper image...
What kind of a gadget nerd are you?
I'll bet that uses a fair shade more battery power than a fan. I guess how useful this is really depends on how much you dislike your burning hot laptop.
The ionising machinery also needs 3,000V. Yummy.
If you read the source article you'll find it actually consumes less energy...
You'd think someone would build this into the computer.
@ TheBigB:
"Could potentially consume half as much power" does not equal "consumes less power". It's marketing spin for "we're optimistic at the minute".
Isn't it easier to just buy a ThinkPad X-series laptop?
That always worked For me X30,X41,X60 & Now an X200s
So instead of boiling my little men to death now they have to deal with charged particle streams?
its charged ozone too, for that extra poison effect
I think of Ion Storm.
I think of Ion Cannon.
If you own an Acer just flip the laptop open take off the back plate and rip the dark and see through plastic off the air vents. I did this and never had a heat issue again.
Why do they block the vents? They might do it to keep dust out but, it also keeps the heat in so stupid idea. I can always buy a can of air.
You can always buy a can of air?
Where the hell do you live, Planet Spaceball? :-)
Stephen,
You don't now what a can of air is? Heck, people get addicted to that stuff. Check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzAEnlY9OF4
I'm addicted, i clean anything and everything with it...
technologyreview had an article about it and i'm pretty sure it stated it used less power than just fans
i think this runs a 3kV, but a tiiiiiny current, like 0.1mA
C'mon. Ion grids are not strong enough to make a cooling breeze. The big bastard ion drive on our latest space probes puts out about as much force as a sheet of paper weighs and that thing is the size of a car seat.
A few university professors and some people with a lot of money seem to think otherwise. Also you are comparing two distinctly different environments with the ion drive and this cooling solution. The ion drive is meant to provide propulsion by the force of shooting ions away from the craft in a vacuum. Good luck getting a cooling breeze from the Ion Drive in space. This cooling solution using electricity to move ions in an area which bump into air molecules to provide cooling.
I welcome technology that will make all computers silent and heat-free - once and for all! When will it be?
Ion cooled PC concept
http://www.inventgeek.com/Projects/IonCooler2/Overview.aspx
These things do have their drawbacks.
I was investigating them for use in a slient CPU cooler.
A) They typically run at 10-30kV
B) The negative (ionizing) electrode can run up to 200C
C) They tend to produce large magnetic fields
If all of these have been overcome then i say good luck to them.
This whole article makes a huge mistake. Cooling a laptop is the same as cooling your house. It means moving the heat to the outside to keep the inside cool. As such, the better cooling system a laptop has, the hotter it will feel on your lap ("scalded legs").
The real way to make it actually cooler on your lap is not to have a better cooling system, but to actually generate less heat, which means making it more efficient or just plain less powerful.
True, but this is pretty much silent, and thats always a bonus
Or you can just, you know, use it on a table or something. Just an idea.
Allright! Hopefully this can finally stop my laptop from cooking my balls.
How about aluminium venetian blinds-style strips on the back of the monitor part that fold out when you open it and close back flat when you close it to cool them? Seems so odd to me than nobody utilizes the back of the monitor part for cooling.
http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/intermsof.html
Is this a peltier element? The article and comments didnt give much insight.