Can the BFL ASIC miners run off a laptop since they are powered by USB?

[w1seguy]

Will there be any disadvantages by doing so?  This question is mainly directed to the 4.5 GH/s jalapeno miner.

Theeeeeenks! 

[dman99]

I'm pretty sure they found their ASICS to consume more power than originally thought, so now it comes with it's own 12v power supply.  So, no need to worry about this anymore.

[w1seguy]

Oh yes, I think you are right... the form factor is going to be bigger than they originally thought.  Maybe this will make it less demanding on the computer so you can run programs while mining, instead of the GPU and strict mining setup.

[talexeh]

The answer is yes since all the mining task has been effectively off-loaded to the ASIC.

[QuiveringGibbage]

Will there be any disadvantages by doing so?  This question is mainly directed to the 4.5 GH/s jalapeno miner.

Theeeeeenks! 

You need an external power source to run the current 5GH/s model. According to this video http://codinginmysleep.com/bfl-jalapeno-unboxing-and-demo/ they need ~30W.

There are currently 2 USB powered mining devices that I know of. ASICMINER Block Erupter USB (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=195004.0) and     
Avalon Asic chip Mini USB miner (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=196281.msg2040708#msg2040708). The ASICMINER USB is currently in production, while the Avalon USB is still in design. Check out the Custom hardware forum (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=76.0) to join group buys to purchase units. You should always read all the terms of the group buy before committing to an order. 

Happy mining,
QG

[AzureEngineer]

BFL ASICs run off fairy dust and unicorn blood.

[w1seguy]

Will there be any disadvantages by doing so?  This question is mainly directed to the 4.5 GH/s jalapeno miner.

Theeeeeenks! 

You need an external power source to run the current 5GH/s model. According to this video http://codinginmysleep.com/bfl-jalapeno-unboxing-and-demo/ they need ~30W.

There are currently 2 USB powered mining devices that I know of. ASICMINER Block Erupter USB (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=195004.0) and     
Avalon Asic chip Mini USB miner (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=196281.msg2040708#msg2040708). The ASICMINER USB is currently in production, while the Avalon USB is still in design. Check out the Custom hardware forum (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=76.0) to join group buys to purchase units. You should always read all the terms of the group buy before committing to an order. 

Happy mining,
QG

Thank you for the great links, it cleared up a lot of the questions I had.  I like the idea of a purely USB powered miner and it's too bad BLF couldn't make it work.  5W to 30W is a big jump, but it still mines 4.5GH/s-5GH/s, and won't cut too much into profit.

[BitshireHashaway]

Originally it probably could however now the power requirements have increased and as a result it comes with its own power supply so as a result that is no longer possible to do anymore.