Comments on: Future Laptops Faster and Less Battery Drain - But Cooler?

By: Kian Ann

Kian Ann — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:59:34 +0000

Lorelle, bring a pillow! That’s what I use between my legs and my laptop! Maybe you can consider a inflatable pillow?

Recently I saw this erm… THING at Ikea specially for laptops. Its like a pillow fitted with a platform on one side.

By: Noah Seidman

Noah Seidman — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:28:32 +0000

As an Electrical Engineer I know this: as chips get faster, the silicon etched transistors get smaller to fit more on the chip. The smaller the transistors, the less resistance it possesses, therefore the less resistance the less power delivered to each transistor, and each etched wire on the chip. Less power delivered is less heat generated. Therefore as the new chips come out, yes they will be more powerful, and yes they will run cooler!

By: Ish

Ish — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:30:06 +0000

My laptop kills me with the heat it produces too and it’s well quite heavy to be called a laptop in any case.You need wrestler legs to use these things these days..

Mine’s a Toshiba Satellite and I’ve seen that whatever models you get from Toshiba,all of them are ridiculously heavy and have hideous battery backup.I don’t use many gadgets though,just an Optical Mouse because I can’t seem to get used to the regular touchpad.

I’ve seen HP laptops and those are pretty pretty light.But then,they’re mini-sized as well.The screen is difficult to figure out and the heat factor persists.There’s a certain funny something I’ve seen in some laptops.They have the cooling fan’s at the bottom which means they technically throw out all the hot air right onto the lap and burn it.I think they should be on the side or maybe the backside.The laptops are so small and overcrowded anyway these days.The best joke I’ve heard about laptop’s was from my friend who said his Sony Vaio has 15 USB-ports.I kind of believed that for 20 seconds.How dumb of me.

Anyway,I have no clue if the perfect laptop exists..something which can have features..and also be cool.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:53:41 +0000

It will probably run cooler. All the heat energy comes from the battery in the first place, so an engineer trying to save power will target heat dissipation first.

The solution for laptop blogging could be to (drastically) throttle the processor clock while you are editing or reading plain text in non-cpu-intensive software (e.g. notepad) and disable all non-vital peripherals. I imagine such semi-hibernation could be done under Linux. Then you wake the system only when you need to post over WiFi and surf the web some. I personally do not need much speed — but I could use more battery time and fewer thigh kelvins.

By: Tim Supples

Tim Supples — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:38:58 +0000

Well there’s your issue Lorelle, you’re using a DTR (desktop replacement)! Most modern laptops run pretty cool and quiet, with much improved battery life and without compromising performance. Feel free to e-mail me about this, I would be happy to offer more detailed advice, but a few tips:

*When a travel weight is listed for a laptop, this usually includes the weight of the AC adapter and if possible, without the optical drive
*If mobility is your key concern and you won’t play any games, get integrated graphics. This means the Intel graphics, NVIDIA Go 6100 series, or ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 or 1200 series. These increase battery life and reduce heat output.
*For mobile CPU’s, Intel Core Duo or Core 2 Duo is the way to go. Core 2 has better performance and is most common now. AMD’s Turion 64 X2 is okay, but doesn’t offer as good battery life.
*Larger display = more power draw
*Some companies offer different wattage power adapters. For instance, a 65W and 90W adapter. The 90W would be used on systems with discrete graphics chips and would charge faster, but the 65W is smaller & lighter usually. Consider this in your purchase

I hope that helps - again, feel free to e-mail me.

By: jamesthoenes

jamesthoenes — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:26:46 +0000

I find that if I do not want to leave my laptop in the car while shopping, it seems to weight half as much once I take all the extra stuff out of the case. Having a desktop replacement does have a disadvantage.
My wife thinks it is too hot use on my lap. I tell her it’s not that hot.

By: Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:24:06 +0000

Thanks for noticing. I’m naked today.

See Lorelle is Naked.

As for which laptop, pick one. The last four I’ve had have run too hot. I always get the top or just under the very top of the line laptop. This one is a Gateway Desktop Replacement laptop, so the size and power alone generates a lot of heat. It’s not instant burn like the top of your stove but heat that sticks and turns skin red with time. I have spent too many of the last 12 years in high temperature and humidity weather conditions and a hot laptop has never been fun - in the AC or out.

By: Tim Supples

Tim Supples — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:20:18 +0000

Sounds like you’re using the wrong laptop, which is it?

P.S. Something wrong with your site?