Hitachi has announced two weeks ago the commercial launch of its new water-cooled notebook.
This is a process usually reserved for large supercomputers or servers. And because I can't find an image of the Hitachi laptop, here is a picture from the past, a Cray-2 supercomputer from 1985.
Let's now return to 2002.
Most notebooks are cooled by air fans, and as processors have grown more powerful and begun to generate more heat, these fans have become more numerous, larger, and have needed to spin faster.
This has also meant that fans have become noisier and might not be suitable for use in places like libraries, Hitachi says.
Well, my notebook fan disturbs me even in my office. For two reasons: the noise -- and the irrational feeling that my computer is about to fry in front of me.
The new Flora 270W Silent Model uses a water-based solution tank, instead of a fan or fans for cooling down the processor. Hitachi announced a working prototype using this technology in February.
John Lettice, from the Register, gives additional details -- in the usual style of this publication.
And then (here comes the best bit) the heated water is run into a visible tank on the back of the LCD in order to cool down. A Hitachi spokesman tells Kuriko that the tank is simply visible in order to differentiate the machine, and that it could well be hidden. But nonsense, we say -- if you made it more visible, iMac-ed the lot, maybe, you could have teensie tropical fish swimming round your notebook. Or a lava lamp-type affair.
Anyway, don't expect to get one of these laptops anytime soon.
Hitachi started taking custom orders from corporate customers at its online shopping site on Wednesday [July 17, 2002]. The products are expected to be shipped on September 30 in Japan, says Masayuki Akabane, a Hitachi spokesperson. The company can provide the product for corporate users outside Japan on demand, he says.
Sources: Kuriko Miyake, IDG News Service, July 18, 2002; John Lettice, The Register, July 18, 2002
5:23:16 PM
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