Question about solid state cooler as in 12 volt car refrigerator

[jimdagys]

I have seen those 12 volt car refrigerators that don't use gas. My question is, is this technology used in other applications, such as computer chip cooler, drinking fountain cooler, etc. If no, why not? Is the technology inherently unreliable?

[redwudz]

I have seen CPU coolers that use this technology, called Peltier effect, but I don't have any links. The chip removes heat, but transfers the heat to the other side of the chip, which still needs to get rid of it, same as a regular fridge. Those fridges usually have a heatsink and a fan for that.

A bit more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_cooling