I'm I crazy? On Sunday I picked up a cheap Toshiba laptop at Best Buy for $450.00. My justification is to save power. I mostly use my computer to surf the net and to upload pictures to flikr, so I'm thinking the laptop will help.
My plan is to use my desktop, a Mac mini, for photo work and to check my email and to use the laptop for all my surfing. I'll see how this goes.
Using a Laptop to Save Electricity
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:49 am
January 23rd, 2008 at 01:41 pm 1201095669
Well, if it's JUST to saver power, I'm tempted to say that perhaps it's a rationalization.
A Mac mini is essentially a stripped down laptop, using the same components found in Apple iBooks. So, no real technical difference there....
But, far be it for me to pass judgment. If that's what you want, then by all means, keep it.
January 23rd, 2008 at 02:22 pm 1201098132
The one difference is the Mac mini has a 110 watt power supply, the laptop has a 75 watt plus the laptop can run on batteries
January 23rd, 2008 at 02:42 pm 1201099358
However, a power supply's wattage suggests its capacity, but not its actual power draw. In other words, even if you have a 1000 watt power supply, if the combined draw for the power is 100 watts, then you'll only be using... 100 watts. However, you obviously can't run a 1000 watts worth of components on a 100 watt power supply.
That said, there's another factor that could change the entire equation here: Your desktop monitor. For example, if you are still using an aging CRT monstrosity on your Mac Mini that takes up, say, 200 watts... then you may be getting quite a bit of savings by switching to the laptop's (generally smaller) LCD. Plus, most laptops generally have a lower-powered graphics chips that also have a lower power consumption.
These things can be had in a desktop as well, though it's not generally the case. Most people don't think about power consumption when it comes to their computers, but I'm glad you do!
January 23rd, 2008 at 02:45 pm 1201099523
The monitor is a modren 19" widescreen, on the back it says it uses 65 watts. Maybe I should get a kill-a-watt and find out for sure.
January 23rd, 2008 at 07:08 pm 1201115299
January 24th, 2008 at 12:09 am 1201133379
The cost depends on two things. 1) The amount of power actually be used and 2) the cost of your electricity. Most desktops use at least 200watts. Here in Chicago electricity is around 9 1/2 cents per killowatt. If you leave your computer on 24/7 for a month it would use 14400 watts or 144 kilowatts or $13.68 a month. Just like gas milage your costs will vary.