Laptop chargers can be a real pain in the neck considering that they are huge, bulky and hard to carry around all the time. A group of graduates from MIT realized the need of more portable laptop chargers, and thus developed more compact and smaller chargers. They call it the Finsix Dart, which is roughly about a quarter of the size of conventional laptop chargers.
Founded in about 2010, Finsix first aimed at miniaturizing laptop chargers of almost all the major brands with plans to miniaturize the bulky chargers for common household electronics. The first area in which the Finsix team realized that they could make a considerable difference and in which they could gain enough spot light was the laptop charger market.
It took them about 4 years to develop the tiny charger. The funding for the project did not prove to be any trouble as opposed to what was expected. After only a 12 hours campaign on Kickstarter, they managed to raise US$200,000 and they did not stop here. The figures are expected to double by the time the campaign ends.
Finsix proudly announced that the Dart is, undoubtedly “the world’s smallest, lightest laptop adapter.” Connecting like regular charger via a charger port or via USB for some devices, the Dart draws a voltage of about 90-265 V while providing a wattage of about 65W. The tiny charger only occupies about 6.35 cubic cm (2.5 cubic inches) and has a calculated weight of about 21 oz (60 g). Oh, and did we mention that the power cable is 1.8 m (6 ft) in length. The company claims that the Dart will work like any normal charger with most laptops. Specially designed Darts for MacBook and other Custom-designed models are also up for sale.
How exactly has Finsix been able to reduce the size of the charger? According to the company they lessened the energy losses to a minimum and increased the speed of the switching cycle. “Switching isn’t a perfect process and during every cycle some energy is wasted in the form of heat,” the company explains. “At Finsix, our technology allows us to waste far less energy with each cycle. Thus, we can cycle up to 1000x faster without wasting any more energy than a conventional power converter. Cycling faster means we can transfer a smaller packet of energy to each cycle – and make the power converter a lot smaller.”
Those interested in getting themselves one of these Dart chargers can go and make a pledge on Kickstarter, beginning at $89. Or you could be patient and wait till January 2015 when the device will be exhibited at CES and will be made available to the general public soon after.
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