Interesting Idea for Laptop Users

[ike42]

Dear Laptop Users of the Escapist community, I am in an engineering course at my high school and for this year we have to do a project in which we create a product and present it to a panel of engineers.

For this project my partner and I are considering creating a laptop case with a cooling pad (w/ fans) in the back side of it. You would be able to open up the case and feet would extend from the bottom, propping up the cooling pad and making it able to get air.

Would any of my fellow Escapists with laptops be interested in buying this? Do you think there's sufficient demand for this sort of product? Thanks for your time.

Note: When I say laptop case, I'm referring to a carrying case, not the case that contains your motherboard, battery, etc. Sorry if that wasn't clear, I didn't realize until now that I never explicitly stated that.

The problem is that laptop cooling pads never provide enough airflow to actually do any good. I have an Alienware laptop and it was overheating so I bought a laptop cooling pad. This worked for a little bit, but it eventually started to overheat on the pad as well. I eventually realized that the simplest solution was probably the best and bought some canned air to clean the dust out of it. My laptop hasn't overheated since. So, from a practical standpoint I would recommend a product that somehow removes dust from the air flowing into the laptop without significantly reducing said flow. I doubt it's possible, but if you came up with something like that I would buy it in a second.

 

[evilneko]

-snip-

Ah. I see.

Anyway laptop cooling requirements vary a lot, so if this were an actual commercial product there'd have to be several different models to accommodate various laptop designs (like I mentioned, my laptop cools best with airflow coming from the right side rather than underneath). Since it's just a school project you can "cheat" and design only to your demo unit though.

Dear Laptop Users of the Escapist community, I am in an engineering course at my high school and for this year we have to do a project in which we create a product and present it to a panel of engineers.

For this project my partner and I are considering creating a laptop case with a cooling pad (w/ fans) in the back side of it. You would be able to open up the case and feet would extend from the bottom, propping up the cooling pad and making it able to get air.

Would any of my fellow Escapists with laptops be interested in buying this? Do you think there's sufficient demand for this sort of product? Thanks for your time.

Note: When I say laptop case, I'm referring to a carrying case, not the case that contains your motherboard, battery, etc. Sorry if that wasn't clear, I didn't realize until now that I never explicitly stated that.

The problem is that laptop cooling pads never provide enough airflow to actually do any good. I have an Alienware laptop and it was overheating so I bought a laptop cooling pad. This worked for a little bit, but it eventually started to overheat on the pad as well. I eventually realized that the simplest solution was probably the best and bought some canned air to clean the dust out of it. My laptop hasn't overheated since. So, from a practical standpoint I would recommend a product that somehow removes dust from the air flowing into the laptop without significantly reducing said flow. I doubt it's possible, but if you came up with something like that I would buy it in a second.

A case with a built-in HEPA filter? Or any kind of filter really. Unfortunately, adding even the crude foam filters we use on our desktops would dramatically increase the workload and thus noise level of the fans. They'd have to blow harder to get air through the filter.

 

[ike42]

-snip-

Ah. I see.

Anyway laptop cooling requirements vary a lot, so if this were an actual commercial product there'd have to be several different models to accommodate various laptop designs (like I mentioned, my laptop cools best with airflow coming from the right side rather than underneath). Since it's just a school project you can "cheat" and design only to your demo unit though.

Dear Laptop Users of the Escapist community, I am in an engineering course at my high school and for this year we have to do a project in which we create a product and present it to a panel of engineers.

For this project my partner and I are considering creating a laptop case with a cooling pad (w/ fans) in the back side of it. You would be able to open up the case and feet would extend from the bottom, propping up the cooling pad and making it able to get air.

Would any of my fellow Escapists with laptops be interested in buying this? Do you think there's sufficient demand for this sort of product? Thanks for your time.

Note: When I say laptop case, I'm referring to a carrying case, not the case that contains your motherboard, battery, etc. Sorry if that wasn't clear, I didn't realize until now that I never explicitly stated that.

The problem is that laptop cooling pads never provide enough airflow to actually do any good. I have an Alienware laptop and it was overheating so I bought a laptop cooling pad. This worked for a little bit, but it eventually started to overheat on the pad as well. I eventually realized that the simplest solution was probably the best and bought some canned air to clean the dust out of it. My laptop hasn't overheated since. So, from a practical standpoint I would recommend a product that somehow removes dust from the air flowing into the laptop without significantly reducing said flow. I doubt it's possible, but if you came up with something like that I would buy it in a second.

A case with a built-in HEPA filter? Or any kind of filter really. Unfortunately, adding even the crude foam filters we use on our desktops would dramatically increase the workload and thus noise level of the fans. They'd have to blow harder to get air through the filter.

I was actually thinking of one of those electrostatic dust attractors. Something that could attract dust so that less were able to get into the computer. Again though, electrostatic fields near sensitive components can make you have a very bad day.

 

[evilneko]

I was actually thinking of one of those electrostatic dust attractors. Something that could attract dust so that less were able to get into the computer. Again though, electrostatic fields near sensitive components can make you have a very bad day.

Yeah, probably not a good idea, especially being as close as this device would be.

 

[Vrach]

That is unironically a brilliant idea. Seriously. Just make sure the legs are long enough.

And strong enough.

OT: Sounds like a good idea, though I for one am not really into the idea of a diagonally placed laptop.

 

[twaddle]

if you can combine it with some sort of cheap coolant system i think not only will you get an "A" but you can patent it and make money off it. It's still gotta be portable and be under 6lbs but if u can do it go for it

 

[Sundavar]

Anyway laptop cooling requirements vary a lot, so if this were an actual commercial product there'd have to be several different models to accommodate various laptop designs (like I mentioned, my laptop cools best with airflow coming from the right side rather than underneath). Since it's just a school project you can "cheat" and design only to your demo unit though.

A case with a built-in HEPA filter? Or any kind of filter really. Unfortunately, adding even the crude foam filters we use on our desktops would dramatically increase the workload and thus noise level of the fans. They'd have to blow harder to get air through the filter.

As far as designing placement of the fans goes, we are going to research the most common placement of fans and attempt to place them in the most common places. We may consider the filters, but we want to keep this thing as cheap and effective as possible. If we decide to seek a patent, we may consider adding those.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

You mean create a portable desktop? By legs what exactly do you mean? Like a tiny table? the problem i see here is that if you have it on your lap and hte legs stick out as I imagine they would they would either straddle your legs as you sit or poke into them. Neither being a great plan.

 

[gigastar]

I like the sound of that, sometimes im not sure whether what i bought is a decent performing notebook PC or a £700 hotplate.

 

[spartan231490]

Dear Laptop Users of the Escapist community, I am in an engineering course at my high school and for this year we have to do a project in which we create a product and present it to a panel of engineers.

For this project my partner and I are considering creating a laptop case with a cooling pad (w/ fans) in the back side of it. You would be able to open up the case and feet would extend from the bottom, propping up the cooling pad and making it able to get air.

Would any of my fellow Escapists with laptops be interested in buying this? Do you think there's sufficient demand for this sort of product? Thanks for your time.

Note: When I say laptop case, I'm referring to a carrying case, not the case that contains your motherboard, battery, etc. Sorry if that wasn't clear, I didn't realize until now that I never explicitly stated that.

Dude, check the internet. I'm 90% sure I saw this idea advertised on tv a couple of years ago. It was called the "flight mate" or something similar.

 

[Mafoobula]

I can see the use in consulting and any job that requires a lot of mobility. Open case, flip up a couple velcro flaps, and your laptop is good to go. It's a fairly niche market, but I can imagine the consultant looking all kinds of professional with one of these beasts.
Would I buy it though? Well I'm not a consultant, and I'm not moving around with my laptop all the time, so... not really.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Don't do the cooling pad thing, they are stupidly expensive, loud and do nothing, they are the equivalent of DVD rewinders, simply to provide spacing for the aircooling to work proper.

However if you want to add something extra that people do need:
- add a flat battery on the bottom (alot easier to put together then you think)
- quick pop out usb mouse with self-winding cable reel
- and a quick pop out charger with self-winding cable reel
- lotion and clenex dispenser