No more power transformer !!!!

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No more power transformer !!!!

320 points posted to Servers and Storage by corbo12 07/10/07

some 10 years ago, laptops were only slightly bigger. At the time, 2 schools were battling : Internal vs. external power adapters.

Some models (like Toshibas Satelitte) had their power transformer INSIDE the laptop... All you needed was one of those thin power cable (fits in a pocket).

In the age of wireless and "all included", why can't we have laptops with power transformers inside. It would avoid to need "Laptop bags" (you know, with the big bulge on the from where the power transformer and cables are).

A 620 that has everything inside, with power included : put a handle on it, and I can take a plane with nothing else (cord in the pocket). Or I can put it in just any bag, making it a lot more discreet than those laptop "steal me" bags.

From a road warrior...

bbr 07/10/07	The main reason would probably be "heat generation". Try and feel the temperature of the transformer after having been plugged into the laptop for a few hours. But, if the heat production can be severely reduced, then it is definitely a nice idea.
mrlinux11 07/10/07	Also Electrical Noise generated by the transformer can induce glitches
jorge 07/10/07	Yea, but how many watts can that internal/smaller-block provide?
corbo12 07/10/07	Wait guys... Toshiba (and others) handled it over 10 years ago. Power was the same, issues were the same (even more power consumption at the time probably). And to be honest, the underneath of Laptops is already unbearably hot today. So the machine can stand heat ! One issue could be support (you'd need to return the whole laptop if power fails) but hey... same goes for the other parts of a laptop (mother board, screen, keyboard,...). And then why not make the power unit "removable" (plug in, like the cd player of the battery). This way, you can always exchange it easily (or remove it for lighter weigth). If you can remove a battery, the power supply handles about as many connectors... so it is no rocket science here
jorge 07/10/07	Humm... just recalling a laptop dismantle session, there is no room for a power supply! Unless you jettison something. What though? PC-Card slot, CD/DVD drive bay? What else would you want to get ride of? Or is there some hidden compartment I haven't seen?
rotthund 07/10/07	It's anticipating the worldwide change to DC power indoors. Ha! Actually, there's talk that DC in the datacenter has some power saving advantages. The power supply aint so efficent. If everything used the same DC power, you wouldn't need power supplies nor power adapters. There's probably little adaptation between the battery and the laptop. UPSes go from AC (wall) to DC (battery) to AC (power supply) to DC (motherboard). However, in the AC world, not everything used the one AC standard. In the US alone, there's a couple in the home. High power stuff like driers and stoves use the 220. I don't carry the power adapter with me. It does limit me to battery life, which is why I want dual interchangable batteries.
davmcn 07/10/07	i don't like it i don't mind carrying it around me and i love having my laptop bag with me it holds more than my laptop and power adapter and so.....
motie35 07/10/07	I thought it was a nice idea when Toshiba did it. But check it out. Toshiba doesn't offer any models with a built in power supply now. I wonder why? My guess is they had problems, and so moved the power supply back outside. Also, most people prefer reduced weight and size.
davmcn 07/10/07	Yah so true...
brutten 07/10/07	Personally, I would rather carry around an adaptor I could replace for $40 instead of having an internal unit fail and paying significantly more to have it dismantled and replaced.
davmcn 07/10/07	Yah Me Also
hoya 07/11/07	Although it would be more convenient to not have to carry the adaptor around, like bbr said the heat is probably the main problem. YES they got extremely hot right now, imagine adding More to that. Unless you decide to rarely ever use anything other than the basics for extended periods of time than the possibility that the heat causes hardware failure goes way up. Even the most effective fans internal/external dont lower the temperature all that much, usually just enough to avoid damaging hardware. Until the heat issues can be solved I would not reccomend adding any more devices that would contribute to heat, especially the adaptor. I think that it may be more convenient but in the long run it will hurt you more if you end having to replace your laptop.
christopher25 07/23/07	NO NO NO ! Never ! No more heat inside ... ignorancy is blessing but You HAVE to know what implications it's bringing. Hanging, overheating laps, chips loosing connections with MoBo ... NEVER ask for this again is "laptop killer idea" !!! And when on battery ... you have heavier laptop!!
davmcn 07/23/07	DON'T DO IT!!!!!! MAJOR PROBLEMS WILL COME!!!!!!!
jorge 07/23/07	Cool your jets, they won't get rid of it unless they create some kind of power in a paper clip kind of device, they may include it on some laptops like the idea states but due to marketing hype they can't do that across the board or they'll take the weight penalty and never sell a laptop. In reality though, that brick should figure in on the weight of the laptop, because without it you're not going far after a couple hours.
bbr 07/25/07	Don't worry, its just being "reviewed", doesn't mean its immediately being implemented. In theory if it can produce 0 extra heat then it's probably a nice feature.. but i don't think such transformers exist yet.
davmcn 07/25/07	Yah hopefully.
cosh 10/15/07	So Dell, care to change the status on this to IGNORED now? I don't think it's a good idea but you could at least say so.
jorge 10/15/07	Or NOT POSSIBLE
mike_dill 11/17/07	What about using less power overall so that the brick could be small and light enough that the heat and weight would be minimal? http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/68285/Low_Power_Usage_Machines
bbr Jan 7	They could add a sling that you'd have to manually twist every 30 seconds in order to generate enough power to keep the laptop running. Neah i don't think so either. It already exists for some of the 100$ laptops that intel has sent to africa though.

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