Look Ma, No Batteries! Hands On With Lenovo's Self-Charging Keyboard

Comments

• adespoton@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I’ve got a battery-free efficient keyboard already… it uses this cable connected to the computer to supply power when keys are pressed. Very energy efficient. Never needs to charge.

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  • Boomkop3@reddthat.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    No lithium, it’s got a capacitor. Those things can handle a lot of charge cycles

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    • B0rax@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      But they still have a limited lifetime of a maximum of 10 years, regardless of cycle count.

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  • JaymesRS@literature.cafe ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    The keyboard uses super capacitors which are much longer lasting than lithium batteries, it also has an optional wired connection port.

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  • jerakor@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I think this looks great. I’m not going to run a 20 foot USB cable accross my living room so wireless is pretty much a must. I think the only concern I have is if it discharges if I store it and if so what the bringup time would be.

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    • adespoton@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Good point; I’ve used a USB extender that had WiFi at either end to handle the distance thing. Maybe it’s just me, but outside of laptops I don’t generally have a need to move my keyboards around much.

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• Boomkop3@reddthat.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Holy damn! The tiny solar panels from 2010 are back!

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  • joyjoy@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I used to have a Logitech K750 solar keyboard. The battery was always dying. The only difference from a traditional charging keyboard is instead of a charging cable, I had a charging desk lamp.

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    • infeeeee@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I have a K750, the battery is about 15 years old with daily use. The original battery was dead when I opened it, I just bought one when it was new, and it’s still going.

      In another thread some days ago others shared similar experiences as you, so maybe I’m the lucky one.

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    • Boomkop3@reddthat.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      hahaha, that’s a solution!

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    • DdCno1@beehaw.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Reminds me of the at least 40 year old calculator my mother is still using, even though you need essentially a search light both for it to power on and to make out anything on the dim LCD screen. It’s always been like this though.

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• jjjalljs@ttrpg.network ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Huh. That’s neat I guess.

  My initial guess was it would somehow capture the energy from hitting keys. I guess that’s implausible? Too little energy without making the key press resistance too high?

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  • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Yeah that was my first thought as well for some reason. Obviously solar calculators/etc have been around for longer so that makes more sense, but I fully clicked on this hoping it was energy from key presses.

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  • Anivia@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    There already exist wireless doorbells and smart home light switches that harness the energy of clicking the button using a piezo crystal to use for transmitting the signal. But at least the one I have has way too much resistance to use for a computer keyboard

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  • saigot@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Ianother problem is whatever you have that charges the keyboard, you’d need ~109 of them. I still think it’d be cool tho

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• howrar@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Unlike conventional batteries, supercapacitors have an exceptionally long lifespan, lasting hundreds of thousands of charge-discharge cycles, whereas lithium batteries typically last only five years or less.

  So, what’s the conversation rate between charge-discharge cycles and years?

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  • Flipper@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It doesn’t say what type of capacitor is used, but electrolytic capacitors can basically be charged and discharged indefinitely. They don’t wear down . However they age based on temperature. The ones at my work have 2000h @ 105°C. For every 4 °C coolor the lifetime doubles as a rule of them.

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    • Isoprenoid@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      It doesn’t say what type of capacitor is used

      Yes, it does. They’re supercapacitors.

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  • Isoprenoid@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It says in the article

    Unlike conventional batteries, supercapacitors have an exceptionally long lifespan, lasting hundreds of thousands of charge-discharge cycles, whereas lithium batteries typically last only five years or less.

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• Corgana@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  From an e-waste perspective not having a battery is really cool. The article doesn’t mention this, but the plastic appears recycled too. I wonder how it types?

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• OmegaLemmy@discuss.online ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  wtf this looks fucking cool

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• darklamer@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Incompatible with Dark Mode.

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  • HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It’s got super capacitors to store so can use in dark until they drain

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• TheButtonJustSpins@infosec.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  That price is better than I feared. If I needed a keyboard, this one might be it.

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• luciole@beehaw.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  From a design perspective I like how the black variant has these keys that are just the right hue of green to remind us of those solar calculator screens. On the other hand Bluetooth is pretty finicky and is not available into UEFI setup, so meh. For peripherals as fundamental as keyboard & mouse, I much prefer a wireless 2.4GHz dongle connection.

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  • Michal@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Too bad usb ports have mostly disappeared from laptops, so Bluetooth is the only way. Unless they started making usb dongles?

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    • skrlet13@feddit.cl ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Yes, USB C dondles, adapters and docks exist.

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• biber@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I have such a keyboard since >4 years (Dell iirc)

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