JP
Laptops generally have two major faults not experienced by their desktop bretheren. One being the lack of power for a decent price, the other is battery life. Obviously you don’t worry about battery life on your desktop because it’s plugged in all the time. Samsung has been hard at work trying to solve one of those issues, and is making great progress.
Samsung recently showed off their Direct Methanol Fuel Cell on one of their Q35 laptops. They boasted that the fuel cell could potentially power the laptop for an entire month. Unfortunately, the extended battery life does come at a cost to your mobility as it was nearly twice as wide and tall as the notebook.
While they are are still a couple of years away from releasing something small enough to entice the general consumer market, it is good to see that they are making considerable progress. I’m just hoping that Sony doesn’t start producing these, as we really don’t need a new type of exploding battery.
Samsung Displays Updated Fuel Cell for Notebooks [via dailytech]
3 Responses to “Direct Methanol Fuel Cell – Samsung’s answer to the common laptop battery”
gatekeeper August 13, 2007
That thing is HUGE! I wouldnt carry that with my laptop EVER!
NeutralJames Allan Brady August 13, 2007
well one option to consider is a standard LiON battery in the laptop and then a methanol powered dockable base station for charging or longer sessions, you could put it in your trunk or in they back pack, whatever
Neutralfranklin lopez August 24, 2007
Viaspace, the holder of the global patents for the DMFC should be congratulated for
Neutralthe development of a battery that is both affordable and long lasting. The Direct Methanol Battery Cell will become the standard battery for celullar phones,laptops and electronics. Those who own vspc.ob shares should hold and buy more stocks because the big players in electronic manufacturing will be using their batteries early 2008!