Fuel Cells for Laptops Due Next Week

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."

Fuel air bomb?

[fredklein]

Seriously, what would be the travel restrictions with these? Will airlines (or more precisely the TSA) allow me onboard with, say a dozen of these? Or even just one?

Re:More 'burned groin' stories?

[Firehed]

You think them going from "laptops" to "notebooks" was just marketing strategy?

Re:Fuel air bomb?

[TheRaven64]

I am amazed that they let you fly with lithium-ion batteries. A lithium-ion (or lithium polymer) battery is basically a bomb with a bit of electronics trying to persuade it that it's really a battery.

On a lighter note, have you ever been asked at an airport if you are carrying anything that can be used as a weapon? What do they imagine you might be carrying that can't be used as a weapon?

Re:hate to be a skeptic, but...

[grcumb]

"There's no mention/plan on how to refill the thing."

That's a show-stopper for me. I'd love to be able to deploy robust and renewable energy sources for field research, and for Internet access in very remote areas. If I can refuel these things myself (even if that means buying some patent-pending refuelly whizbanger for a mere 42 gazillion bucks), then I'm very interested. But if it's not trivially refillable, it's worse than deadweight.

"Also, it weighs a lot - more than 3 lbs, which could almost double some laptops' overall weight."

That's not such a big deal for a lot of applications. True that the average travelling salesman will care a lot about even a few more pounds to schlepp through the airport. But I suspect this kind of technology will find a different niche at first: situations where the cost of generating electricity removes any advantage that a battery provides.

For example, I recently kept a laptop running for a week on a very remote island in the South Pacific (cue the Cast Away "Wilson?!?" jokes). In order to do so I had to haul a few truck batteries and a solar panel with me. If I could make do with a couple of fuel cells and a mini-still (there's lots of sugar cane handy) or even a jug of high-proof, I'd be able to keep the laptop running non-stop, and more efficiently than running a generator to charge batteries.

Er, no

[Brian Stretch]

I know I shouldn't feed the troll, but...

HP made two versions of their HP zv5000 and Compaq R3000 notebooks two years ago, an Intel P4 version and an AMD Athlon 64 version. With a 12 cell battery, the AMD version gets 3-4 hours of battery life in average use. I was able to play just over 3 HOURS of DVD video on mine.

The P4 version gets about an hour. HP wisely decided to drop Intel CPUs from the following year's zv6000/R4000 lines.

So, substitute "Prescott-core P4" for "AMD64" in the parent post to make it a lot more accurate.

Direct Methanol Fuel Cells.

[AWeishaupt]

To everybody wondering about refilling the MeOH solution that these cells use - it probably won't be practical. The 'fuel' needs to be very pure, otherwise catalyst poisoning will destroy your very expensive fuel cell. I imagine swappable methanol cartridges just like AA batteries might be available - one day.

Re:More 'burned groin' stories?

[joe_bruin]

Wait until you see what happens with the water generated by these things...

Headline: Fuel Cells for Laptops Due Next Week
Subtitle: Embarrased-looking early adopters with warm wet spots in their laps due week after that

Re:Fuel air bomb?

[sangmin]

the regulation for Li-Ion batteries was passed before 9/11 happened.
ICAO the governing body for these kind of regulations pretty much said that
if Li-Ion batteries came into the picture after 9/11, it probably wouldn't have
passed regulations.

I'd rather have a windup generator

[ishmalius]

If these cells are not refillable, then they are useless for extended uses, such as the enormous power outages during the hurricanes last year. With a simple cheap windup or pump kinetic generator, then the fuel for this can be anything I like, such as muffalettas, marinated olives, or Jolt Cola.

Re:hate to be a skeptic, but...

[oringo]

For refilling, if there's a will, there will be a way to refill the cartridges (like the HP ink cartridges). The 3lbs weight is a problem to me. I have a Dell 700M with a removable bay, but the laptop itself is only 4 pounds. There's a reason why people stay away from desktop-replacments.
On the other hand, I can imagine a battery-renting business at the airport or converntion centers. You won't have to carry it or buy it, just rent it for 5 bucks to wait for your much-delayed flight. (Now a even better excuse for airlines delays!)

Re:Power Brick

[JazzCrazed]

You're absolutely right on that... My laptop doesn't have a swappable drive bay (its slimline drive is "integrated," according to Acer), but it sure does use a power brick with a standard-looking barrel plug.

I think the main issue for people is that most don't want to have a big brick/box hanging off their laptop if they can avoid it.

But obviously if this fuel cell were integrated into an external box with a modular plug, then it would have applications outside of laptops - you could use it to power/charge a slew of other electronics (maybe my PDA, for instance). So your idea has my vote!