NEC will be showing this notebook PC at this year's WPC EXPO, which operates off of a fuel cell. It gets a somewhat acceptable 10 hour battery life, though I doubt consumers will be expected to accept the technology until it's better than lithium ion.

NEC will put a demo a notebook PC with integrated fuel cell unit beginning o­n the 20th at the "WPC EXPO."

This model uses a new independently developed fuel cell unit, which is designed for optimum power control, and acts as the main power source for the notebook.

Also, as the output density of the fuel cell has been raised to 70mW/cm², the power generation element has been miniaturized. Thanks to an independent plane implementation technology, the generator unit has been "thinized," allowing it to sit below the PC itself - this goes well with the design of the PC. The fuel cell cartridge has a 250cc capacity, and 1 tube can operate the laptop for about 10 hours.

Major specifications include a low-power consumption Pentium M 713 (1.10GHz), 256MB of memory, Intel 855GME chipset, 40GB hard drive, and 12.1" TFT LCD. Communication functions include Ethernet and model. It does not have an optical drive.

Also, as this is o­nly a demonstration unit, there are not yet plans for commercialization.

NEC first displayed a notebook PC with a fuel cell at "nano tech 2003," and also displayed a prototype notebook at the "PC EXPO" in September with a 5 hour battery life.



Inspired by:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/1019/nec.htm

Press Release:
http://www.nec.co.jp/press/ja/0410/1901.html