Asus waves farewell to (laptop) fans

'Thermal holes' demoed on concept 'folding' notebook

By James Sherwood in Taiwan • Get more from this author

4th November 2009 17:42 GMT

Asus may launch a laptop able to cool its technical innards without a fan, if the firm’s latest concept is anything to go by.

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Peter Clark, a Senior Designer at Asus, today demoed a prototype notebook to Register Hardware that he said could “potentially” run without a fan inside to cool the processor, motherboard and so on.

The unnamed notebook – which looks similar to Asus’ concept origami laptop – has a hinged keyboard that arches upwards as the laptop is opened.

This arching mechanism creates a gaping hole behind the keyboard which Asus has filled with “thermal holes”. These draw cooling air into the machine, doing away with the need for fan.

The PC would – as a result of the fan being dumped – also be less power-hungry and thinner - or that’s the theory, anyway. ®