5 Signs The Computer Industry Is Finally Going Green

With world leaders currently convening high-level negotiations on how best to address the rising threat of global warming, and public apprehension about the phenomenon at an all-time high, it’s encouraging to note several recent developments coming from the high-tech sector.

It’s about time. Our ever-shrinking world is abuzz with activity attempting to address the manmade rise of greenhouse gases. Eco-visionary James Lovelock published a radical idea in Nature to increase ocean uptake of CO2 through giant ocean tubes. New Zealand has kicked off an ambitious plan to get 90% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. JC Penny, Office Depot and Kohl’s have announced green building plans. In May, General Electric said it had doubled sales from environmentally friendly products, to $12 billion over, in two years.

One need only take a look at any online discussion thread of green issues to see anxiety, and often outright ridicule, about the sizable ecological impact so many of us web surfers are having. Computers are hard to (and rarely) recycled, and when they are it’s typically in developing nations by people without proper training or safety gear. Often they are children. That’s distressing, because today’s computers are made with a sizable amount of lead, cadmium, brominated fire retardants and plastics that can leach toxic breakdown products.

While processor speed has faithfully followed Moore’s Law, energy use has also swelled, as more and more people are able to afford hardware, and mobile devices have proliferated. Of the $250 billion spent globally each year powering computers, about 85% of that energy was simply wasted idling.

Computers and related equipment have been blamed for causing as much global warming as the airline industry, Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president for Intel’s digital enterprise group, recently told the press.

The industry has been gradually finding a green conscience. True, there have been some eco-pioneers, from NEC’s short-lived PowerMate Eco to the debate over whether a black search engine (e.g. Blackle) would cut back on global power drain. Now we have sophisticated power saver and hibernation modes and laptops that sip rather than guzzle from the plug. The widespread adoption of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) represents a substantial savings over less-efficient cathode ray tube (CRT) technology . But some bright new signs recently coming out of Silicon Valley suggest great green things to come.

1. Dell Going Carbon Neutral

Computer giant Dell continues its ascent up the green path. This week Michael (as he is known on company blogs) announced the manufacturer’s latest goal: to become the first major computer company to become carbon neutral. That means reducing emissions across all Dell facilities and operations, buying renewable power and offsetting the remaining balance (including business travel), at least in part through a cooperative tree-planting program.

As if taking a play from Wal-Mart, Dell will also be requiring suppliers to account for and report their emissions. Michael underscored the firm’s commitment to roll out ever more energy-efficient products.

2. Solar-Powered Workstations?

Lenovo’s new ultra-efficient “Blue Sky” A61e PC can actually be powered with a portable solar panel, namely the Solar-PowerPAC II from Advanced Energy Group. The heavy cart-on-wheels costs $1,229, and likely won’t be widely adopted anytime soon (although Dell has expressed a lot of interest in the concept). It sure stimulates the imagination!

Regardless of the solar panel possibility, Chinese manufacturer Lenovo has much to be proud of under the Blue Sky’s hood (which, incidentally, looks oddly like an old Betamax machine). The PC and its packaging is made of as much as 90% reusable/recyclable materials. Lenovo claims organizations that deploy 50 or more A61es should see energy savings of $1,000 a year, resulting in 10 fewer tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

At $399, the unit is certainly affordable. It received gold status from the Green Electronics Council’s Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).

3. Green Data Centers

A recent EPA report found that data centers in the U.S. have the potential to save up to $4 billion in annual electricity costs through more energy efficient equipment and operations, as well as management best practices.

According to a recent survey of senior IT executives by data center operator Digital Realty Trust, about 55 percent of companies have already established detailed strategies for improving the energy efficiency of their data centers.

4. USB 3.0 Promises Energy Savings

Last week the “SuperSpeed” USB Promotions Group announced some preliminary specs for the future of peripheral connectivity. According to the group, the two main goals of SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) are to boost the data transfer rate by 10 times and to dramatically reduce power consumption. The USB 3.0 spec is expected to be finalized sometime in the middle of 2008, with initial devices available in 09 and broad deployment by 2010.

5. Industry Announces Sweeping Conservation Targets

Titans Google, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo, IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo and Sun Microsystems have all joined with the EPA, the World Wildlife Fund and others to develop an ambitious industry-wide goal of slashing the amount of energy computers consume. The Climate Savers Computing Initiative has the goal of reducing computer energy use by 90% by 2010. If there’s follow through, the scheme is expected to save $5.5 billion in energy costs and cut emissions by 54 million tons a year, the equivalent of 11 million cars or 20 coal-fired power plants.

Industry observes have estimated that the energy-efficient technology will likely raise the price of each computer by around $20. However, consumers will save money in lower electricity bills. Some utilities may even offer rebates for new “green” PCs.

Final Thought

The leading edge of the fast-paced tech world has a distinctly green tinge. Not only should that improve reliability and ultimately save everyone money, but it will go a long way to protecting our precious planet. And it should evaporate much of the green guilt of computer users, and silence some of those flame wars on blog discussion threads.

Src: http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/09/28/5-signs-the-computer-industry-is-finally-going-green/7316/
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Why to Buy a Green Environment Friendly PC ?

As Techsavy become increasingly more environment conscious, PC manufacturers are tending to stay in step with a conscientious approach towards the issue of global warming which encouraged them to come up with a new generation of computers – Green PC.

Aiming at reducing the e-waste in the environment, these eco-machines enjoy a number of advantages that make them superior over conventional PCs. Green PCs or “Eco Friendly Computers” as they are commonly known as, use a fraction of the electricity of a normal PC–energy efficient 45W, contrary to usual 200W.

Green Computers do not contain the hazardous materials like brominated flame retardants, PVCs, and eliminate the dangers of heavy metals as lead, cadmium, and mercury, which are generally used in computer manufacturing. The parts used in eco friendly computers are designed out of recycled steel, aluminum, and plastic. Their screen can also be even made out of wood. This certainly underlines the component of fashion in sustainable living!

One of the biggest factors making computers an environmental menace is its dumping. According to the data showcased by recent surveys, around two million PCs are dumped in UK landfills every year. This causes soil infertility as most chemicals end up in the soil. The situation is worst in Asia, where much of the West’s useless equipment ends up.

As opposed to traditional computer equipment, green computers are easier to upgrade and recycle, thereby making your investment worth the money. Green PCs are no doubt a significant step taken towards the monumental objective of tackling changes in climate.

Using environment-friendly products in an efficient system, green computing solutions attempt to address the factors making a negative impact on environment.

Green computing solutions focus on increasing economic viability of the product, maximizing its energy efficiency, and biodegradability of a futile product. Many IT companies including the prominent names like Wipro have already gone green whereas a few others are in process to come up with their eco-friendly computers.

The introduction of Green PCs is likely to push environmental versions of all consumer products soon. They are more similar to a small piece of a large jigsaw puzzle.
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How to Combine Economic Growth and Green IT

More than a concept or fashionable precept, the ‘Green IT’ phenomenon or preservation of the environment has to be considered as an absolute must by all businesses. In view of the frenzied continuous growth of IT in all type of businesses (including a massive turnover of equipment), the IT sector is turning into a potential time bomb not only in terms of recycling but also in increasing levels of energy consumption.

For instance, approximately 50 million tons of e-waste is produced yearly in the world with a steady growth of 5% in Europe alone. Just think of 239 million PCs sold worldwide in 2006!

But besides these numbers related to manufacturing and recycling, those linked to the consumption of energy speak for themselves. In a recent report, the analyst group IDC has shown that whilst over 10% of the electricity consumption in Europe is directly produced by IT equipment, 80% of companies are still not able to quantify their energy consumption.

It is definitely time that we become aware of the dangers, not only at manufacturing levels but also amongst end user companies. A certain number of software providers, mainly those specialized in IT management solutions have been studying the subject and are now able to offer means to better implement business processes in terms of environment policies, energy consumption savings, leading to better business ROI.

Implementing a set of centralized processes throughout a company infrastructure can lead to a significant contribution towards reducing the costs of replacement of devices and energy consumption. With the right set of tools, a company will be able to identify the state of its IT assets (new, working or failing), to measure the precise sources of energy consumption and to renew the redundant equipment consuming unnecessarily and therefore not only generating cost savings but also transforming its IT business into a Clean Infrastructure.

The WEEE (European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) makes equipment manufacturers responsible for disposing of e-waste generated by goods they produce, and the disposal must be ecologically friendly. These regulations became law in February 2003, with member states given until August 2005 for implementation. Including Green IT initiatives into its infrastructure management is therefore a key link to the Protection of the Environment chain, widening the magnitude of the environmental watchdog.

Besides the general trends of control, the simple fact of being able to automatically and centrally switching devices on and off, according to business hours or end users working patterns, is another mean made available by committed software providers.

Representing a real source of savings for companies, implementing such responsible practice reduces their electricity bill by more than 30%. Various studies have shown that the annual consumption of a PC and associated devices averages 800 kWh per end users each year - choosing for the implementation of an ‘automatic on-off’ process would therefore reduce company consumption to 240KWh per users so an average of 24000 KWh per 100 PCs.

It is proven that economical factors lead and accelerate general awareness, allowing quick measurable results. Therefore, it is now a reality that reducing business spending implies a relevant management of assets combined with the implementation of dedicated energy costs saving solutions. On the reduction of equipment depreciation time alone, a saving ranging from 10 to 20% of the buying value could then be achieved, furthermore by complying with these types of practices; companies would improve their competitive positioning by setting themselves as environmental market leaders and vanguards.

In order to be effective and successful, this global approach must be kept within the frame of a strategic plan, lead jointly between the company Board and IT Management.
Green IT is definitely flourishing!

source:cripton
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11 ways to turn your computer green

The fast-moving pace of technology is good news for gadget lovers, but not such good news for the environment. As we acquire more and more electronic products, an explosion in e-waste (electronic scrap) containing toxic chemicals that cannot be disposed of safely is a growing concern. To make environmental matters worse, devices are burning up more energy than they need to through being left on while not in use.

The blame lies with both PC users and manufacturers. Last year saw campaign group Greenpeace take on Apple, slamming its lack of environmental policies and non-existent plan to reduce its eco-impact. Apple CEO Steve Jobs rectified this in May, when he posted environmental targets online.

Other PC makers have been making a lot of noise about their energy efficiency, reducing carbon footprints and cutting non-renewable or toxic components. PC World's carbon-neutral PC has been picking up a lot of press attention, while Intel has been working on energy-efficient Santa Rosa and Centrino processors and rolling them out into various laptops.

Laptops that have flash memory rather than hard disks are another green choice. With no platter to spin, far less energy is required to write data to memory. They're a pricey option at the moment - Sony's Vaio TZ18GN costs $700 (about £350) more than its hard disk version, and has a 32GB capacity rather than 100GB - but we expect to see prices drop as more are launched.


1. Set Sleep Time for your PC

If you don't tap your keyboard for 10 minutes, your PC will often go to sleep. Your PC's screen is probably set to go into power-saving mode after a preset period. Although they're not as power-hungry as old-style CRT displays, you can still save a great deal by having your flat-panel power off in this manner.

To adjust the setting for your PC or laptop, go to Control Panel, Power Options and select a screen power-off schedule to suit. Note that screensavers don't reduce energy consumption. You can also enable PC hibernation but, as with standby mode for other devices, this doesn't completely power down your PC. It's all too easy to assume you're keeping costs and power consumption down, even though the current is still flowing.

You'll see different power scheme options for desktop and laptop PCs. Your laptop can automatically adjust its power options depending on whether you're running it from batteries or mains power.

You'll find a range of energy-use calculators online, such as Energy Star's (eu-energystar.org). The savings you can make depend on how much you use your PC and the size of your screen, but could be £50 a year or more.
energy star


2. Turn it all off

According to a study by Fujitsu, the UK wastes £123m powering PCs left on out of hours. That's not only a lot of wasted energy - it's a lot of money too.

An individual computer left on all the time costs about £37 a year to run. Switch it off at night and weekends and this figure can be reduced to just £10 a year. The energy saved could make almost 35,000 cups of coffee, according to the Carbon Trust.

Some argue that a PC should be left on all the time because turning it on and off causes stress to the computer's components. But if this were the case, the vast majority of PCs would suffer from such damage. They don't.

Another argument against turning off a computer is the energy required to start it up again. To be as green as can be, consider turning off your PC if it's going to be inactive for more than 16 minutes. Beyond this time, the energy needed to run it outweighs the energy required at startup.

If you leave your PC on overnight because you don't like waiting for it to start up first thing each day, set it to turn on automatically a few minutes before you arrive at the office. Restart your PC, hitting the Setup menu key before Windows loads. Tab to the Power Management Options and enable the alarm and select a suitable time for your PC to restart.

You can also schedule your computer to shut down - a good option if you like to leave it on for your backup program to run after you leave the office.

Turn on the printer only when you are ready to print. Printers consume energy even when idle. Similarly, a scanner sucks power in ready mode. Photocopiers are energy guzzlers too. Even when your PC is turned off, a phone charger plugged into your USB port will continue to draw energy.


3. Stop leaking power

It's not enough to just switch off the computer. If you really want to make sure that the machine isn't drawing power from the mains, you need to physically unplug the computer or get out of your seat and switch it off at the wall.

When you shut off your computer and the monitor goes black, your display is actually in standby mode and waiting for the PC to switch back on. Digital cameras, mobile phones and iPod power adaptors that are left plugged in all the time also suck power from the outlet, even after you've disconnected the devices you were charging. When you leave the adaptor plugged in, you're losing an average of 2W.

The simplest way of ensuring that all your computer's peripherals are completely turned off is to connect them to a power strip that you can simply switch off. Several companies have caught on to the publicity surrounding standby energy wastage and offer timer and standby switches.

For home or office use, Micromark's £21 timer plug will soon pay for itself in energy savings, while Bye Bye Standby lets you turn off several devices around the home from a central point.


4. Be an Energy Star

Energy Star stickers used to be seen plastered all over CRT screens that were unusual in having standby modes. Flat-panels use far less energy than CRTs, but buying an LCD monitor isn't the only way to conserve power. Look for the Energy Star logo when buying printers, fax machines, scanners and other products.
Energy Star

To find products which meet strict green standards, look for the Energy Star logo

Energy Star is an initiative that promotes energy-efficient hardware. The scheme saved $12bn (£6bn) on US utility bills in 2005. To get the stamp of approval, products must meet guidelines such as having a low-power sleep mode. At the Energy Star site (energy-star.org) it's easy to find products that meet the guidelines. It lets you search by category, brand and feature.

5. Use a flat-panel display

Next time you're looking to replace your PC monitor you should at least ensure that it's a TFT model. Old-style CRT displays typically use 75W of power, while 25W is more typical of a flat-panel's lighter footprint.

As well as drawing three times as much power so they can illuminate the phosphors that make up the display, CRTs contain a vast amount more lead than flat-panel displays. A typical CRT contains approximately 1.36kg of lead, while some LCDs contain only a few grammes. Philips has gone so far as to eliminate the lead content of some of its screens, such as the 19in 190C8FS.

Thankfully, CRTs are on their way out, while pressure from campaigners mean more and more products will attain certification for the responsible way they have been manufactured and their low impact on the environment.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, a DAB radio uses 10 to 20 times less energy than the same broadcast via a digital TV.

6. Know your RoHS

ROHSThe European Union implemented RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive) in July 2006. The directive restricts the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ether in the manufacture of electronics.

Anything that's available for sale or import within the EU should now comply with RoHS. However, it's not a foolproof piece of legislation. Apple's Steve Jobs claims some companies are using loopholes in the RoHS directive to continue to use toxic chemicals in their products. These companies claim their products meet requirements "because of certain little-known exemptions granted by the EU", he says.


7. Go paper-free

Another way to do your bit for the environment, as well as save time and money, is by going digital. We waste more paper than we do anything else. The average office employee uses up to 50 sheets of A4 every day, according to Envirowise. Much of this paper is thrown away - the group estimates that UK businesses throw away five million tonnes of printing and writing paper each year.

If you can't stop printing altogether, set your device to print double-sided by default or create your own writing pad from discarded printouts. Learn to resist the urge to print out emails and other documents for filing. Instead, read them onscreen and store them on your hard drive. If you need a record, create a PDF file. If you don't already have a PDF creation package, try Backup4all novaPDF Lite 5.1, which can create PDFs of documents from within any Windows application.

Next time you find a web page you'd like to read later, don't print it. Select File, Print, click the PDF pop-up menu in the dialog box and choose Save To PDF. You do need backups of important files, but back them up to your hard drive.

8. Is your journey really necessary?

There are all sorts of ways of offsetting your carbon footprint. The most effective is not to travel unless it's really necessary. Travelling not only requires you to spend money on plane tickets and a hotel, but also includes a hidden cost. We checked out how heavy a burden a couple of intercontinental business trips plus a package holiday break within Europe could be. Our 10,000lb total (according to terrapass.com) is alarmingly high.

Broadband connections, webcams, video-conferencing and webcasting tools, along with email, ought to make many business trips unnecessary. If you have to fly but are concerned about the CO2 you'll create, consider donating to an organisation such as Native Energy or TerraPass. These companies calculate your impact and suggest a monetary donation to go towards projects such as building renewable energy sources.

9. Don't dump your Computers

Dispose of your old hardware responsibly. Consumer electronics and computers contain toxic materials, such as lead, that can seep into the ground if dumped improperly. British Computer Society president Nigel Shadbolt explains: "PCs contain many toxic components, so if they end up in a landfill we are creating a real problem for the future.”

This is bad news, according to energy minister Malcolm Wicks. "Electrical and electronic equipment is the fastest-growing category of waste across the EU, with an estimated 17-20kg per person produced every year. The UK alone generated about one million tonnes of waste equipment last year," he says.

An older PC may no longer meet your requirements, but there are plenty of people who'd love to use it. Many charities will take an old PC and peripherals off your hands, or you can get in touch with Computer Aid, which refurbishes machines for use by schools and in the developing world. You could even sell it on eBay or give it away through Freecycle.

Failing that, recycle it. According to the WEEE directive, electrical and electronic waste has to be dealt with separately from other rubbish so that hazardous elements can be stripped out.

Electronics manufacturers and vendors cover the cost of this; your task is to get them to collect it, return it to them or take it to your council's recycling centre. If you can't transport it, arrange for the council to pick it up.

Many electrical retailers run take-back schemes - check your PC vendor for details about how it is dealing with WEEE compliance. Note that you shouldn't have to pay to return end-of-life goods. But, you can't be too careful where stored personal details are concerned.

10. The sunny side

If you're seeking clean power for energy-hungry gadgets, consider looking to the sun. Solar power is renewable and free - although sunshine can be limited here in the UK. Be aware that you need direct sunlight to get a good charge with these products. Cloudy skies and reflections on windows can cause problems.

Voltaic's £189 Solar Back Pack consists of three solar panels embedded in the outside of the bag that generate up to 4W of power. The bags have 11 adaptors for mobile phones and other devices, but are not designed to charge laptops.

If a solar-powered bag isn't for you, choose a less expensive charger that fits in your hand. The £45 Solio charger from Better Energy Systems gives about one hour of playtime or 10 minutes' talk time from one hour of sunshine, according to the maker. Whether you'll find a whole hour's worth of sunshine within the British Isles is another matter.

Other solar chargers include the Freeloader (£99 from Firebox). If you've got your PC or laptop switched on and have a couple of ports free, you could do worse than power up a pair of USBCell batteries for future use.

Laptop PCs require a little more power: unlimited-power.co.uk stocks Uni-solar Portable Solar Electric Panels that can be used for this purpose. The marketing material states that they can provide power even with bullet holes or in partial shade, which suggests that these are really designed with the army in mind, but they are worth investigating. Prices start at £451.

Wind-up chargers are also available, although their efficiency is somewhat limited. For example, the Multi Mobile Charger (£6 from iwoot.com) gives you eight minutes' talk time on your mobile if you wind it up for three minutes.

But why stop at your gadgets? If you install a renewable energy source - such as solar panels, wind turbines or biomass heaters - in your home, you may be eligible for a grant.

11. Give it away

For all our talk about the digital, paperless office, we've yet to hear of anyone achieving it. As well as saving on ink costs by printing at small point sizes and in draft or economy mode, you can minimise waste by recycling cartridges via organisations such as laserxchange.co.uk. If your office doesn't have a dedicated charity it supports, Oxfam, Childline and ActionAid and a number of smaller charities can benefit from your thoughtfulness.

Similarly, hand back your old and unloved mobile phone handsets. T-Mobile is offering £80 cashback, while Carphone Warehouse tempts you with a more modest £20. If you want to avoid the smooth sales talk, the charities we've outlined can also earn revenue from your philanthropy.
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Multicore Processors are Faster and more Energy-Efficient

Go for Multicore Processors

Designers of processors, unlike PSU engineers, have been working to reduce power draw for years now. The Intel Core 2 Duo desktop processor, for example, is up to 40 percent faster and more than 40 percent more energy-efficient than its single-core predecessor. It optimizes power consumption by selectively powering up processor components only when necessary.

Intel claims that its Centrino Duo laptop technology is twice as fast as previous platforms, yet consumes 28 percent less power. Also very efficient are Intel's Pentium M and Celeron M processors and AMD's Turion 64 and dual-core Turion 64 X2.

Video cards remain energy hogs, however. High-end cards easily exceed 100 watts at full load, and popular dual-card setups for gaming double that wattage. Choosing a graphics card that fits your needs is key. If you don't play advanced 3D games, go with integrated graphics for the lowest power consumption.

You'll also want to evaluate a prospective PC's overall energy consumption by finding out how much electricity it draws when idle and at full power. Look for a desktop that uses 4 watts or less when in sleep mode, and 50 watts or less when idle. For laptops, the ideal is 2 watts or less in sleep mode, and 14 to 22 watts (or even less) in idle mode, depending on the graphics configuration.
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Tech Support Firm Expects bump in business from Win 7

With Windows 7 in the wings, on-demand tech support firm iYogi is expanding its staff to accommodate an anticipated run on its services, especially from those moving off XP.

The New York-based firm, which offers remote technical support to consumers and small businesses, has increased its staff by more than 200 people. The company, which has 90,000 users around the globe, says it is anticipating that XP users will have the most trouble and the most questions.

Leveraging the power of BIRT: View nowUsers moving from XP to Windows 7 who don’t plan on upgrading their PC will have to do a clean install, while users migrating from Vista can simply install the new OS over the old one.

The company said an internal survey with 1,000 XP and Vista users showed that 52% believe they will have issues moving to a new operating system, while 47% said they think a move to Windows 7 will require a call to technical support.

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Those estimations grow out of the fact that XP users who upgrade their machines to Windows 7 instead of buying a new PC will have to re-install applications, device drivers and other software they may have downloaded. In addition, those users will have to recreate custom configurations.

Some of the burden will be removed with Windows 7 Easy Transfer, which lets users retain user accounts, program settings, documents, music, pictures, email, and favorites settings. But even with that technology, XP users won’t get a simple click-to-install button.

Officials at iYogi are anticipating twice as many calls from XP users as Vista users.

“The application migration is what is going to take time and is a bigger challenge than the data migration,” says Vishal Dhar, co-founder and president of iYogi. “What we are doing from our side is looking at technology, how we can enable that through technology, we are testing now how we can make that whole thing streamlined.”

Dhar predicts that the explosion in migration needs will be spread over the next 18 months after Windows 7 hits the market on Oct. 22.

iYogi offers users a $140 yearly subscription for unlimited tech support calls. The service is offered as an alternative to Microsoft support.

The company has 1,000 technical support people, up from 32 just more than two years ago.

source:-http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/091709-tech-support-firm-sees-boon-in-win7.html?hpg1=bn
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Microsoft Windows Users and iYogi Predict a Surge in Tech Support for Windows 7 Upgrades

Survey Shows That Nearly Half of Consumers Think Upgrading to a New Operating System Will Require Technical Assistance

New York, NY- September 16, 2009 – iYogi, the on-demand tech services company with a unique global delivery model, announced today the results of a consumer poll regarding support concerns and predictions for the upcoming launch of the new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. Based on responses from more than 1,000 Windows XP and Windows Vista users, 52 percent think that moving to a new operating system and moving their data is a hassle, suggesting some real frustrations on the near horizon. Nearly half (47 percent) think upgrading to Microsoft Windows 7 may require a call to technical support - potentially causing a huge backlog of support needs, as up to 40 million copies of Windows 7 are expected to be sold in 2009, according to IDC.

"We predict that more than 40 percent of XP users will generate support calls and inquiries globally this year and even more in 2010 as mass adoption kicks in and people face the prospect of dealing with an entirely new interface," said Vishal Dhar, President Marketing & Co-founder of iYogi. "We estimate twice as many support calls for current Windows XP users than Windows Vista users, since Microsoft Windows XP users will require a 'clean' install including migrating applications, settings and drivers--a potentially arduous, time-intensive task."
Additional survey findings reveal:

58 percent of users think they will or may upgrade to Windows 7, an encouraging number considering some of the backlash surrounding Vista

Only 39 percent of users are aware that Windows 7 is launching soon, suggesting an increased flurry of help questions in the coming months as more people become aware of the upgrade options.

iYogi has more has more than 90,000 annual subscribers and provides thousands of single incident sessions every day on a 24/7 basis. Its Global Delivery Platform delivers on the highest customer satisfaction benchmarks in the industry and gets smarter with every customer interaction, building a powerful knowledge base that provides unique customer insights on predictive needs to tech support.

ABOUT IYOGI

iYogi is a global on-demand services company that provides personalized computer support for consumers and small businesses in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. iYogi's unique model, including proprietary technology iMantra and highly qualified technicians, is designed to eliminate computer-related stress and keep millions of digitally dependent consumers and small businesses always protected and productive. Only iYogi -- with its proven global expertise delivery model, intelligent customer insight systems, easy-to-use self-help tools and automated PC optimization and computer support services - offers users a simple yet comprehensive path to digital serenity. iYogi has perfected the remote technical support model to overcome the current limitations of in-store, on-site, or call center services to become the fastest growing provider of support in the industry. Major resellers and technology companies are increasingly turning to iYogi to improve customer satisfaction, reduce return rates, and deliver a compelling new-value added offering to customers.

For more information on iYogi and a detailed list of technologies supported, visit: www.iyogi.net.

Media Contact

Derek Kober
GlobalFluency
Tel. 650-433-4233
Email: dkober@globalfluency.com

Contact:

Vishal Dhar
President, Marketing
Tel. : +1-212-229-0901
Email : vishal@iyogi.net
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How to Optimize your Computer/Laptop to save energy ?

Optimize your PC/Desktop/Laptop to save energy

It consumes more energy to leave your PC running than it does to simply turn it off and reboot later. If you're loath to do this because of the lengthy startup time, putting your computer in sleep mode (not to be confused with your screensaver) is the next best bet for energy savings. Surprisingly, however, only about 10 percent of computers today have their power-management features enabled, according to the EPA. It's pretty simple to set up the power-saving options in Windows.

Power consumption in Windows Vista is more adjustable than in Windows XP. In fact, Vista can adjust its performance to fit whatever task you're working on, boosting processing power when you're watching or editing a video, then lowering it when you're just tapping out a document in Word.

To access your PC's power-savings options, click the Start menu, choose Control Panel, then click Power Options (nested under "System and Maintenance" in Vista, if you're not using Classic View). In Vista, you can extend your options by clicking on "Create a Power Plan," then selecting one of three options: "Balanced" (equal parts energy savings and performance), "Power saver" (greater energy savings, but reduced performance), and "High performance" (reduced energy savings, but maximum performance). For further customization, click on "Change plan settings" under the plan you've selected. This takes you to the Edit Plan Settings page, where you can specify how long your PC and monitor remain idle before they enter hibernation. Hit "Save changes" to implement your tweaks.

In Mac OS X, you can access power-management options by choosing System Preferences from the Apple menu, then selecting Energy Saver from the View menu. In the Energy Saver pane, you can choose to turn on and off features such as "Reduce processor performance," as well as determine how long your PC should be allowed to remain inactive before going to sleep. For even greater energy savings, select the checkbox next to "Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible."
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How green is your Ethernet?

The growing emphasis on energy efficiency in IT has led to plans to reduce the amount of power needed to run a corporate network by changing the way Ethernet switches and adapters work.
Here’s the idea. When a device connects to a network switch at present, it only ever negotiates the speed of that connection once, typically opting for the maximum bandwidth supported by both parties. So why not negotiate the connection dynamically, to enable the speed of the network port and the amount of power required to drive it to vary depending on the needs of the attached device?

For example, if a PC was idle, the switch could put its network port into standby mode. Similarly, it could configure a 10Mbit/s connection when the user was pulling down email and only opt for a full 100Mbit/s or Gigabit link when transferring large files.

Of course, the usual IEEE study group has been established to look into possible mechanisms for what is being called Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE), but that will take a long time to report back, let alone come up with any concrete proposals or standards for developers to aim at. In the meantime, a number of the networking vendors are starting to talk up the concept, with D-Link going so far as to release products already with what it calls “green Ethernet” features.

It won’t be going as far as dynamically negotiating bandwidth, as that would require changes at the device end as well. However, D-Link’s Green Ethernet switches will be able to detect when attached PCs are turned off and power down the associated ports into a standby mode. They will also be able to analyse cable length and adjust power usage accordingly. And the end result could be savings of up to 44 per cent in terms of the overall power needed to run the switch, plus a longer product life thanks to a reduction in operating temperatures.

D-Link intends to deliver this kind of functionality in its managed switches, including the enterprise-grade xStack range, next year.

That is all very well, but cynics like me will question the use of the term “green” to describe this kind of technology. It’s a popular bandwagon on which to throw the concept and it could help save energy; however, to have a real impact companies would have to replace millions of Ethernet ports and that would come at a carbon as well as a financial cost.

I would also argue that simply by getting everyone to turn off their PC when they go home, we could make just as big a saving, if not more, and with none of the associated costs.

Src: http://www.whatpc.co.uk/itweek/comment/2200660/green-ethernet-3520628

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Going Green with your Laptops and Notebooks

How much do you find yourself concerned towards the environmental issues like global warming and the CO2 contribution in today’s environmental constraints?

With making one small change with your computing habit you can contribute and help the environmental concerns, but how? Just by going green, building a green PC to be a part of the global warming solution you can contribute on your part choose notebooks computers that are environment friendly and long on charge.

The "green laptops" have taken the idea of an environmentally friendly notebook computer even further. They are smaller than other notebooks, last longer on a charge, and comply with most environmental regulations. This ultra portable, small footprint, lighter weight notebooks are inherently "greener" than heavier, larger footprint products for a few reasons: They are designed to deliver the desired performance while consuming fewer materials for manufacturing and less energy for shipment and distribution. Packaging requirements are also reduced, saving materials and energy. Laptops don't use as much power as a desktop, mostly because the processor is only drawing about 35W or less, compared to about 65W or more for a desktop CPU. The added benefit is that your electrical bill won't be as high either.

Some of the new laptops in the market which really stand by the Go Green standards are

Lenovo's Thinkpad X300 :- It is the company's first Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Gold certified notebook. It is among one of the initiative by Lenovo in this direction as going by the records only 15 notebooks have achieved this rating to date.

The X300 uses mercury free LEDs to illuminate its display. This saves energy, and allows for a thinner display. It uses a solid state drive, which is much lighter, more reliable and faster than a conventional hard drive. It also contains a low voltage processor and has improved "battery stretch" software for energy savings. It meets the Energy Star 4.0 criteria and is 25% more efficient than Lenovo's previous generation notebooks. The packaging materials for the X300 are 90% recyclable and the use of toxic materials such as cadmium, lead, and arsenic have been reduced.

Apple has came a long way with its vision for green pc with its MacBook Air. The MacBook Air has a mercury and arsenic free display. MacBook Air has a aluminum case and as aluminum is easily recyclable and highly desirable by recyclers. All the circuit boards are bromide and PVC free in MacBook Air qualifying a Silver EPEAT rating. It's also Energy Star 4.0 certified.

Green Computing Is Here To Stay

Go green is now not only the buzz word the world has taken the things in stride and making it quite clear that Green Computing Is Here To Stay. With time the next generation Laptops will get more efficient, smaller, and safer for the planet. EPA estimates that in the next five years purchases of EPEAT registered computers could reduce hazardous waste by 4 million pounds and save enough energy to power two million homes. So, Is your computer going green?
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Building a green PC to be a part of the global warming solution

The global warming today has taken the word on plunge it is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, which absorbs heat and did not let it to escape in the atmosphere. The major contributor to these are cars, factories and power plants which do most of the damage, the computer is at least partially to blame.

A computer uses 200 to 400 watts of power supply, depending on its configuration and usage. By comparison, where as a refrigerator uses about 725 watts, but a DVD player uses only 25 watts, and your TV is right around 100 watts. A high-performance gaming rig with a powerful graphics card, multiple hard drives and optical drives, a flash memory reader, and a 30-inch LCD might consume as much as 750 watts! Leave such a swine running constantly and you might see an extra $40 to $50 on your monthly electrical bill. Jesus.

Still the consumption on the end of a PC is only part of the concerned problem. The manufacturing procedure for computer parts also has a consequence. The typical computer these days contains significant amounts of lead, which is used in soldering motherboards, processors, and other parts. Since the average lifespan of a PC is just three years—according to the EPA—the toxic effects of disposal are quite high.

But it is not that we are right there with only the concern to the global warming measures are being taken in Europe, set of laws for lead-free computing such as RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), are designed to trim down the effects of hazardous waste. Yet many U.S. PC makers have all but ignored the problem.

That's where you can help. Building a green PC means you can be branch of the solution by using all lead-free parts that are also more energy-efficient.
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Global computer Makers Vying for "Green" Crown

Analysts say going green has become a business plan unto itself for the industry's heavyweights: a way to stand apart from rivals, win over a growing segment of environmentally conscious consumers, & shore up branding worldwide. The two major U.S. computer vendors - Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc, & Apple Inc - argue that customers glean real benefits, for example lower power consumption in green-certified display screens. "It's a green arms race, in which they're trying to two up each other," said John Spooner, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "The good news is they're all working in this direction & that's going to benefit themselves, their customers & the environment."

Personal computer makers are increasingly prioritizing "green" strategies, generating a pivotal point of competition for customers that are becoming more attuned to their financial - & societal - benefits.

While there's differences between the two in areas such as materials, computer power usage & recycling & packaging, analysts & environmental groups say, the green agenda is profiting from the competition between them. Campaigns by interest groups like Greenpeace to praise or tweak computer makers have been effective. "Companies are realizing that consumers do use these environmental considerations as tiebreakers. It does help differentiate their products," Forrester's Sally Cohen said. Around 70 percent of companies surveyed in a recent report by Forrester Research cited product differentiation - the desire to stand out - as a business driver for their environmental strategies. "It has struck a chord with consumers, businesses, stakeholders & NGOs," said Eric Lowitt, a research fellow at Accenture.

Analysts point to certain efforts - such as Dell's recycling program, Apple's moves to remove toxic raw materials, & HP's actions around packaging - as areas of success. But the IT industry still accounts for an estimated 2 percent of global emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Consumers might have trouble picking out who among the computer makers are making the right moves: Dell says it aims to become the "greenest technology company on Earth"; Apple lays claims to the "greenest relatives of notebooks"; & HP stresses it's a long tradition of environmentalism as well as the market size to effect adapt. TBR recently ranked Dell No. 1 out of 40 technology companies on corporate sustainability. But a recent Greenpeace report ranked Apple best among the major computer makers.

In interviews, Dell & HP - while each asserting leadership - downplayed talk of competition. they pointed out that any good sustainability strategy must be comprehensive, & span the company, right down to its supply chain. Some analysts say what may be more important than companies' actual green initiatives - often highly technical - is their ability to communicate them to the market. Tod Arbogast, Dell's director of sustainable business, said there is actually some collaboration around green initiatives. "I don't think we've reached the tipping point yet, I think we'll continue as an industry to innovate, challenge two another to go further. faster on these efforts," they said. Bonnie Nixon, HP's director of sustainability, said green practices should be integrated throughout the company. HP's "commitment has been there, certainly through the 90's & the fact that society is focusing on green right now is great. We're in an industry that can truly demonstrate" environmental leadership, they said.
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Is Your Computer Going Green?

"I have erased all my files, it's perfectly safe to donate it, " you say. But Consumer Reports says differently after conducting a study of used computers/hard drives purchased on E-bay. In this study, Consumer Reports ran simple & inexpensive application available to somebody to determine what information may still be stored on a computer's hard drive.

Changes in needs for our personal computer, as well as updates & new application occur quickly in our every growing world of technology. As this happens, consumers often decide to "get rid of" their "old computer" & based on their needs & budget purchase another five. Depending on the original cost & condition of the computers, some people offer a trade in to dealers that can be refurbished & sold, some give them away to friends & relatives & others donate them to a charity or school. With the "recycling" of your personal computer, you may feel you have done a lovely deed & helped someone out, as well as avoid waste, making a eco-friendly & socially positive decision of how to dispose of your elderly personal computer or PC recycle. However, no lovely deed goes unpunished, & the risk to your information on your elderly computer may at the least involve identity theft. Identity theft is now the fastest growing white-collar crime & where that information on your elderly computer lands may not be a safe place. You can be sure of one thing, if you left information on your computer, there is probably someone out there that can find it, & use it.

What Do You reckon Consumer Reports Found on Used Computers from E-Bay?

*A Microsoft Word tax document including salary information

* Quicken files with expense & finance data

* A MySpace account, complete with name & password

* Lists of favorite web sites

* Outlook express e-mails

* Love letters & photographs

These computers were all described by sellers as "reformatted" or "wiped cleaned."

In a larger study, a research fellow at Harvard University examined over 1,000 hard drives & found only one third of them were properly cleaned. Microsoft Windows doesn't claim to have an easy or secure way to erase your entire hard drive & recommends using third party program. Mac OS X has a feature to permanently erase Trash files but it's been reported to be slow & only 10.3 or later versions can permanently erase entire hard drives.

Inside Edition also checked out the possibilities & probabilities of identity theft for well meaning citizens who donated their computers to lovely Will. The 25 computers purchased in the east coast hubs for as little as $30.00, as well as one computers picked up from a dumpsite held not surprising but alarming information.

Computer expert Steve Elderkin who examined the hard drives shares that "Of all the hard drives, not one was cleaned of any of the information. Depending on the hard drive itself, you could have all the data in a matter of minutes with no work."

An Arlington, VA resident who believed they had erased all of the information on his hard drive was shocked to learn that within minutes, experts had found both his & his wife's social security numbers. Social security numbers are of work a jackpot for identity thieves who can easily use a social security numbers to connect the dots for identity theft with other easy to access information. A social security number is a winning lottery number to gain access to your financial or medical credit. In addition to social security numbers, the expert found information from previously filed tax returns & passwords.

Before you donate, give away, or recycle your elderly computer, consider options like WipeDrive from WhiteCanyon.com who've been providing security solutions since 1998 or Eraser, which is free at www.heidi.ie/eraser. it is important to thoroughly tidy your hard drives before allowing them out of your hands, if you've used your computer to make purchases, do taxes or finances or monitor bank accounts; even photographs can be much information. Make sure to completely erase your identity before you take the chance of giving it away, along with your elderly computer.

Related Search:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=4979
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Green Technology : Just Hype or Must-have?

There is a very crucial question for all we have that the "green" technology been over-hyped? Scientists throughout the world who study global warming have concluded that drastic changes in human energy-consumption are necessary to avert a crisis.

Energy use in IT, like all other technology-intensive industries, thus has been put under a microscope. Computer hardware and software vendors, sensing a financial bonanza and opportunity to appear virtuous, have flooded the market with so-called green products.

It's enough to make some IT managers dismiss green technology altogether, but even those who are concerned about the environment and their own energy costs have a tough time separating product hype from reality.

"There is a lot of hype, and it's hard to discern the difference between things that have been 'green-washed' and things that are really green IT,"

says Forrester analyst James Staten. Many vendors also like to "shine up" old products and sell them with a green tag, which makes it all the more deceiving.

IT vendors might be taking a cue from car companies that boast about selling one or two eco-friendly cars while selling millions of gas-guzzling SUVs. Dell, for example, has lots of ads talking about the greenness of their servers and PCs, Staten notes. While Dell's blade servers are very efficient, on the whole the company's "servers are not a whole lot different than other people's,"

he says.

It's not just Dell. Vendors, such as IBM and HP, are pushing green data-center service engagements that tend to push customers to standardising on either IBM or HP equipment, rather than picking the best from multiple vendors, Staten says. Vendors say, "if you want to go green, you have to go with all my products," he says. "I wouldn't point fingers at one. I think everybody's guilty of this."

Rather than looking to individual vendors, IT pros should turn to industry organizations like The Green Grid for less-biased information, he adds.

In the US for example, data centers consumed less than 1% of total US electricity use in 2000, but that number will rise to at least 2.3% of all electricity use nationwide by 2010, according to the Uptime Institute. Figures in other part of the world can be comparable.

IT departments therefore have a big responsibility," says Derek Kober, director of the BPM Forum. The organisation recently surveyed 150 IT pros and executives, and found that most IT pros are concerned about the IT department's impact on the environment -- or are at least interested in the economic benefits of being more energy-efficient.

In the survey, 86% said IT organisations have a "responsibility to substantially improve efficiency and green activities." Only 41% have any specific green plans in place, however, the survey also found. "The biggest overarching message was that despite concern and despite increasing priorities for improving the environment and greening the data center, IT departments in general are pretty far behind," Kober says.

Some IT shops view green technology as too expensive upfront, but Kober noted that many businesses save money over the long run by consolidating systems and replacing old processors with newer, more energy-efficient models. Because of these long-term savings, economic benefit rather than environmental concern is the initial driver that gets IT departments thinking about efficiency, Kober says.

Forrester's Staten shares this perception. "IT administrators define green as that rectangular dollar bill rather than something that is environmental," he says. "They don't really make a lot of decisions around what's environmentally responsible or not."
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The Greatest Green Event Ever

Today is World Environment Day. Today a movie being released worldwide by producers as "the greatest green event ever", a high-budget documentary to save the planet from Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

From New York's Central Park to the Champs de Mars by Paris Eiffel Tower, the French photographer known for the "Earth From The Air" books and "Seen From The Air" on TV, is releasing the green-awareness movie "Home" in over 100 countries simultaneously.

"More than a movie, Home will be a major event,"

the producers said.

Shot from the air in a chopper, the environmental documentary will be available across the globe June 5, mostly free of charge, in open-air spaces as well as theatres, TV, DVD, and the Internet.

"The idea is to explain what`s happening to the planet by beginning at the beginning, by the miracle of life on earth,"

the photographer-director told reporters.

Kicking off with stunning aerial views of the earth's natural wonders before focusing from the air on polluting factories, airfields and oil platforms, the message translated into more than a score of languages is: "It's too late to be a pessimist."

"Although there's a general trend towards an awareness of ecological issues, concrete action is still too little, too slow,"

he says.

"In 200,000 years on earth," adds the film, "humanity has upset the balance of the planet. Humanity has barely 10 years to reverse the trend."

The commentary, narrated by Glenn Close in English and Salma Hayek in Spanish, was submitted for editing to 2007 Nobel-prize winner Al Gore and Lester Brown, the US environmental guru.

It took almost three years to finalize the mega-movie, shot over 217 days in 54 countries, providing 488 hours of footage.

"We have the power to change so what are we waiting for?" it asks.

French movie mogul Luc Besson is distributing the 10-million-euro movie, a huge sum for a documentary put up by the luxury consortium PPR headed by Francois Henri Pinault.

"The massive and free distribution of the film will enable anyone, anywhere, to see it, whatever their income," Pinault said.

Speaking to reporters, Arthus-Bertrand said it was time to call a halt to a world where 20 percent of the population consumed 80 percent of the planet's riches.

"I explain what is happening, I don`t offer solutions," he said. "But we all have solutions within ourselves."

"We would live better by consuming less and sharing more, and we need more courageous policies".

"The idea is to convince people to push politicians to action."
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Ways to Restore Old Machines to their Former Glory

Just because your computer is playing up doesn't mean it's time to throw it away. Toby Green discovers five easy and inexpensive ways to restore old machines to their former glory

There are following steps:

Smarten up your security

If you feel your computer slowing down, this could be a sign that it has been breached by malevolent forces. "One of the symptoms of becoming infected is that your system starts to go down," says Con Mallon, a director at Symantec, producer of Norton security software. "It has a split personality where it's doing the things you want it to, but it's also doing what the hacker or the malware writer wants it to."

Running a virus scan regularly should pick up any nasties, but run the updates program so it has the best chance of detecting every virus.

"Anyone using a Windows PC online should have an anti-virus tool, firewall and anti-spyware utility," says Allen. "You can get all three for nothing." He recommends AVG Free (free.avg.com ) or Avast (www.avast.com ) for anti-virus; the ZoneAlarm Free Firewall (you'll need to disable the Windows version); and, for an anti-spyware program, Ad-Aware Free (www.lavasoft.com ).

Boost your memory

The amount of memory your computer has isn't only about the number of photos or songs you can store on your hard disk. Alongside that you also have RAM (random access memory), which is used by your computer temporarily while it is running programs.

The more RAM you have, the more programs your computer can cope with running. "Adding more memory is one of the best ways to boost a PC's performance," says Allen. "The more memory, the better, although the standard versions of Windows XP and Vista have an upper limit of 3GB. www.crucial .com/uk and www.kingston.com/tools can tell you how much memory your PC can handle and what type to get."

Prices vary, but you could pay as little as £15 for 1GB of RAM – in terms of a minimum to aim for, Microsoft say Windows Vista can run on as little as 512 MB, while GB would provide optimum performance.

As well as being good value, extra memory is also easy to install yourself, though any computer store can do it for you. As long as you have the right memory for your motherboard, it should be a case of popping the old memory out and slotting the new memory in www.computeractive.co.uk has tutorials for desktops and laptops.

Let a program do it for you

There are a huge number of commercial programs that claim to clean your machine at the touch of a button. One area where they can help is the registry – where settings for everything in your computer are kept. It is so important to the running of your computer that you should never attempt to edit it yourself unless you're 110 per cent sure of what you're doing.

But some of the tasks that these programs do you may find you don't need. "System clean-up utilities are ten a penny and we've found that many of them simply automate tasks home users can perform," says Allen. Not all of them have to be paid for – Allen recommends CCleaner (snipurl.com/ ba4ln ), which includes a registry cleaner.

Before you buy or use any program do your research – with so many available you need to be confident that what you use won't damage your PC, so go for a big brand or something recommended by a reviews site you trust. Make sure your registry is backed-up before editing it, even if you're confident about the program you're using – Microsoft's Help and Support website (support.microsoft.com ) gives a step-by-step guide.

Call in the experts

If you don't have the time or confidence to mess with the inner workings of your computer you may decide to call in the experts. There are independent computer shops and numerous high-street stores you can bring your PC in to, while many offer home-visits.

Tim Fairs of TechGuys, the technology experts who offer their services in branches of PC World, says that such a service can give you peace of mind. "You get the plumber to come round or hire someone to service your car. I think the same these days is true of technology in that a lot of customers would much rather have someone else do the work than take the risk."

Of course, this all costs money and Allen believes it's often unnecessary. "Everyone should at least give it a try themselves before paying for a homevisit or in-store service."

However, if you are unsure in any way about what you're doing, always consult an expert first.

Source: independent.co.uk
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Features of Energy Efficient PC

A typical desktop computer, together with a monitor and printer, can consume as much electricity as five or six powerful incandescent household light bulbs.

If left running for long periods of time - or even 24 hours a day - a computer can easily cost you more in electrical bills than its original purchase price.

While you can use the power-saving features built in to today's operating systems to put a computer into a sleep mode when it's not being used or simply turn it off, many people don't.

Computers in Internet-connected households or in the workplace are frequently left running non-stop so that they're always available for research or play.

That's why it pays to look closely at how much electricity a computer is likely to use when you're on the hunt for a new machine or upgrading components within your existing one. Computers today run the gamut from power-sipping misers to unabashed energy hogs.

And it's not always clear from the packaging which one you're signing up for.

Notebooks

Notebook computers are built from the ground up to consume as little energy as possible - and therefore to save you money over desktop machines. Not all notebooks, though, are built with power- saving in mind. Models that are touted as 'desktop replacements' typically are built around the same components that appear in full- sized PCs, and they therefore consume as much electricity - and cost almost as much to operate.

Under the hood

Whether you're evaluating a notebook or a desktop computer, the components in it determine how miserly it is, so it pays to know something about the power needs of the parts that make up any computer you're evaluating.

Central processing units (CPUs) - the main chips around which PCs are built - often use more energy than other components. While most processors today go into a low-power mode when they're not being taxed heavily by the demands of software, the maximum power usage is telling.

Intel's flagship Core i7 processor, for example, requires 130W of power, and AMD's Phenom X4 Quad-Core uses 140W. Intel's Core 2 Quad chips use 95W, while most of the Core 2 Duo chips consume significantly less, at 65W. What this illustrates is clear: today's powerful processors are also power-hungry, and the more powerful chips consume significantly more electricity and will therefore be costlier to operate.

Processors designed specifically for notebook computers fare much better. Intel's high-end Core 2 Duo chips designed for notebooks, which generally run at 2.1 GHz or better, consume either 25W or 35W, depending upon model. The Core 2 Duo U7700, which runs slower at 1.33 GHz, needs only 10W of power, while AMD's Sempron for notebooks runs at 1 GHz and requires just 8W of power.

Video cards

Today's fastest processors are typically paired with today's beefiest graphics cards, which use so much electricity and throw offso much heat that dedicated fans are required to keep them cool.

The graphics cards from Nvidia and ATI, built for running today's games and 3D applications, can consume anywhere from 117W when idle to well over 300W under load. 'Under load' refers to the power draw of the cards when rendering complex objects or powering through a game, while 'idle' refers to the power required just to have the video card turned on.

Hard drives

Hard drives are on or at the ready almost always when a computer is powered up. So they're always drawing energy. As with other components in a computer, higher performing hard drives - those with rotational speeds of 10,000 revolutions per minute (rpm) or higher - consume the most electricity. To save money, look for hard drives - either desktop or notebook - that spin at 5400 or 7200 rpm. Western Digital's 'green' drives, for instance, spin at a variable rate to conserve energy, and they consume about 40 per cent less power than comparable non-green drives.

Solid State Disks (SSDs) are increasingly popular as replacements for hard drives, both in desktop and laptop computers. While many assume that SSDs consume less power than traditional spinning- platter models, recent tests have shown that their power usage is about the same.

Monitors

If you're still using an old cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor, ditch it. Its power requirements are probably twice that of a similar-sized LCD panel. Most LCDs use fluorescent back lights, which are energy efficient. What's more, when in sleep mode, many LCDs consume just 2W or less. Better yet, monitors are easy to turn off completely. Do that if you won't be using it for a while.

Final decisions

The bottom line is that the energy efficiency of any computer - and by extension the cost of running it - boils down to how much power the individual components consume. In today's world of mix- and- match PC purchasing or building, you have a great deal of control over how energy-efficient your computer will be when armed with the knowledge of how power-hungry its parts are.

Source: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/tech/features/article_1465958.php/Buying_an_energy-efficient_PC__Feature__
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D-Link announces Green Technology solutions

D-Link has announced its second-generation 5-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch which provides up to 73% reduced power consumption without sacrificing network performance.

The DGS-2205 is one of four environmentally friendly small office/home office (SOHO) unmanaged gigabit switches that will ship this year with newly enhanced power-savings.

The Green technology of D-Link conserves energy by recognizing when a port is active. It is also capable of altering power usage in relation to the length of its cable, conserving energy use for both the user and the environment without any loss of performance.

Even, when a computer is shut down, switches often remain on and continue to consume considerable amounts of power. Through D-Link Green technology, the new switches can detect when a computer is turned off and will respond accordingly by powering down.

Normally, switches send full power to cables regardless of the actual length. Through D-Link’s Green technology, the switches are able to analyze the cable’s length and adjust the power accordingly.

The incorporation of D-Link Green Technology into these DGS-2200 series switches re-emphasizes D-Link’s strong commitment to protecting the environment, leading the development of eco-friendly products that comply with RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directives.

D-Link commitment to making its products more energy efficient is being appreciated by leading industry-watchers, such as PC Magazine and Laptop Magazine, which recently named the D-Link Green initiative the most innovative of 2008.

Steven Joe, president and CEO or D-Link Systems, Inc. “Our goal is to maintain industry leadership as a pioneer of Green networking technology by building in even more energy-saving features into our products without sacrificing performance.”

“We plan to continue the momentum of success we’ve realized with our first generation Green products as we seek new avenues that protect the environment and help our customers save money in the process,” he added.

Power saving equals cost saving with the new second generation D-Link with MSRP prices set at $59.99 for the DGS-2205 and $79.99 for the DGS-2208. MSRP pricing of the DGS-1016D and DGS-1024D are $219.99 and $249.99 respectively.

Source:http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0320/1224243120934.html
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Apple's New Green Computer

If you are in the market for a new computer or laptop there are now greener options. Computers and laptops that are manufactured normally contain harmful chemicals, including brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), in the circuit boards, internal cables, connectors, insulators, and adhesives. Apple has worked to remove these chemicals from the aluminum-based MacBook family by launching green computers.

The new MacBook Pros are the greenest ever. Made with arsenic-free glass, BFR-free internal components, Mercury-free LED-backlit display, PVC-free internal cables and highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosures, Apple’s laptop range can now be recycled a lot easier than the earlier versions. On top of all this, the battery in the new 17-inch MacBook Pro lasts up to five years or 1,000 recharges. This means that the laptop uses just one battery in the time that typical notebooks use three. Apple is also committed to using between 34% - 37% smaller packaging for the notebooks.

Apple also created the new Mac mini desktop computer which uses a combination of highly recyclable aluminum and polycarbonate, and is only 6.5 by 6.5 by 2 inches, making it a fraction of the size of a typical desktop tower, which requires less packaging and allows more units to be transported at a time.

On the technology side of things, the new Mac mini uses an advanced power management system that allows it to use up to 45 percent less power at idle than its predecessor, making it the most energy-efficient desktop computer. According to the Apple website, “Mac mini meets the stringent low power requirements set by the EPA, giving it ENERGY STAR certification. In addition, Mac mini meets the latest efficiency requirements of ENERGY STAR Version 5.0 Specification for Computers before its July 2009 effective date.”

Source:http://www.examiner.com/x-4443-Philadelphia-Green-Living-Examiner~y2009m3d15-Apples-new-green-computers
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Facebook New app Encourage Towards Green PC

Popular social networking website face book is now in Green Technology. Face book new application promises greener PC, which encourages to save environment as well as energy. It also encourage environmental and energy conservation. Many offer obvious advice like to use green technologies, save environment, use LED bulbs, but a new app offers to green up the PCs Face book members rely on to access the social networking site.

"Green Your PC," developed by Redwood City, Calif.-based SupportSoft, Inc., offers to help configure settings including your computer's monitor timeout, disk timeout and standby mode so that they comply with Energy Star and Carbonfund.org recommendations. Users can do this either by downloading a piece of SupportSoft software (an .exe file) that automatically performs the configurations or by following a tutorial written by SupportSoft that instructs users on how to change their PC's configurations themselves. So use green PC to save energy, save environment as well as money.

The app became available earlier this month for Facebook members using PCs (a Mac version is in the works). SupportSoft, a provider of third-party helpdesk services, got the idea for the app from a free service it's been offering its customers since last year. The company offers that service when customers call up with other information technology support needs, but Facebook opens up a much broader audience, which SupportSoft hopes "Green Your PC" will serve. (Previous ScientificAmerican.com coverage of Facebook apps has included one written for Burger King, which Facebook later disabled.)

"We're doing something that the majority of users don't know how to or don't think to do on their own," says Anthony Rodio, SupportSoft's executive vice president of worldwide operations. Rodio says he has no plans to offer the app through MySpace or any other social network.

It's unclear exactly what impact computer energy settings will have on the environment. But Carbonfund.org, a non-profit that advocates for renewable energy, estimates that if 100,000 computers and monitors reduced electricity use to the level set by the "Green Your PC" app, it would save more than 11 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually (roughly the same as emissions from burning 13,000 barrels of oil).

Source: http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=facebook-app-promises-greener-pcs-2009-03-17
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Donate Your Old Computer Equipment to A Good Cause

Donate Your Old Computer Equipment to A Good Cause. Why Recycle When You Can Re-Use?

We have to donate all electronic garbage so that it can be further recycle thus use it again for good purpose. By doing so we can save environment, earth as well money. So, take steps to save energy. Got any old computer equipment lying around? You could recycle it, or you could put it in the hands of someone who will get some good use out of it.

That's the idea behind Computers With Causes, a charity that accepts old computers from individuals and small business, refurbishes them, and gives them to people or organizations who need them.

This reduces e-waste, cuts down on clutter, and puts perfectly good electronics back to work where they can help change the world for the people or groups who receive them.

According to their website, "Computers with causes evaluates each and every donation on a case by case basis. Whenever financially beneficial, computers with causes will repair, refurbish, and properly prepare donated property for placement into an educational environment or other cause we support. The ultimate goal being to maximize the benefit of your donations both financially and through educational purposes to the communities in which we live."

Functioning computers will be put back to use in the community. Non-functioning computers can even be useful, as they'll get donated to schools to help teach computer repair.

Anything Computers With Causes receives that can't be used gets recycled, using what they call a "zero landfill" process.

Donations earn you tax deductions, and some donations can even earn you a free vacation!

Source: http://www.riverwired.com/blog/donate-your-old-computer-equipment-good-cause
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How to make your PC Efficient?

It costs hundreds of pounds, but your PC may have a surprisingly short life. Fresh out of the box, it runs like a dream, but after only months of use, it can become frustratingly slow. It takes ages to start up, browsing online becomes tortuous and running multiple programs at once is impossible. Plus, it could begin crashing with alarming regularity.

In more financially stable times, we might have simply bought a new computer, but this has become less attractive as household budgets tighten. There is an alternative though; perform some simple tasks and install a few upgrades and you could get your PC firing on all cylinders again.

There are two Windows utilities that Allen recommends. The first is the Disk Cleanup program, which prompts you through a series of steps to get rid of computer clutter, such as desktop icons for programs that you don't use. The next is the Disk Defragmenter – this organizes the data on your hard-drive so the computer doesn't have to work hard to access it.

Another easy task is to fully delete any installed programs that you don't need. "These eat up hard disk space and slow down the speed at which Windows starts," says Allen. "Check the list of installed programs in Windows XP by clicking the 'Start' button, opening the Control Panel and selecting 'Add or Remove Programs'." In Vista, open the Start menu and type "programs" into the search bar, then select "Programs and Features". Go through the list and select the programs you no longer need for removal."

Just don't be too gung-ho. "If you don't recognise a program, leave it be," warns Allen. "Windows and security applications store updates here and these shouldn't be removed."

Smarten up your security

If you feel your computer slowing down, this could be a sign that it has been breached by malevolent forces. "One of the symptoms of becoming infected is that your system starts to go down," says Con Mallon, a director at Symantec, producer of Norton security software. "It has a split personality where it's doing the things you want it to, but it's also doing what the hacker or the malware writer wants it to."

Running a virus scan regularly should pick up any nasties, but run the updates program so it has the best chance of detecting every virus.

"Anyone using a Windows PC online should have an anti-virus tool, firewall and anti-spyware utility," says Allen. "You can get all three for nothing." He recommends AVG Free (free.avg.com ) or Avast (www.avast.com ) for anti-virus; the ZoneAlarm Free Firewall; and, for an anti-spyware program, Ad-Aware Free (www.lavasoft.com ).

Boost your memory

The amount of memory your computer has isn't only about the number of photos or songs you can store on your hard disk. Alongside that you also have RAM (random access memory), which is used by your computer temporarily while it is running programs.

The more RAM you have, the more programs your computer can cope with running. "Adding more memory is one of the best ways to boost a PC's performance," says Allen. "The more memory, the better, although the standard versions of Windows XP and Vista have an upper limit of 3GB. www.crucial .com/uk and www.kingston.com/tools can tell you how much memory your PC can handle and what type to get."

Prices vary, but you could pay as little as £15 for 1GB of RAM – in terms of a minimum to aim for, Microsoft say Windows Vista can run on as little as 512 MB, while GB would provide optimum performance.

As well as being good value, extra memory is also easy to install yourself, though any computer store can do it for you. As long as you have the right memory for your motherboard, it should be a case of popping the old memory out and slotting the new memory in www.computeractive.co.uk has tutorials for desktops and laptops.

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/how-to-make-your-pc-last-longer-1641868.html
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LTA Saved Over $5.55 million Through Green IT

SINGAPORE’S Land Transport Authority (LTA) has saved over S$8.56 million (US$5.55 million) since embarking on its Green IT initiative.

One of the first government agencies in the island state to launch a green IT initiative, LTA had been successful in its earlier pursuit of going paperless with its e-services and online transactions for motorists and industry partners, which helped the agency gain more than $5 million in productivity improvements and $3 million in cost savings.

A joint task force between LTA and IBM’s Strategic Outsourcing division developed a green programme to fit LTA’s environment, covering the areas of Business Operations, Infrastructure and People. Initial pilots in the past 12 months have yielded savings of about S$560,000 (US$363,000).

The pilots include: • The replacement of ageing IT assets with Energy Star (ES) compliant devices which can reduce energy consumption by 50 per cent or about 500kg of carbon emission per PC annually. This amounts to S$150,000 (about US$97,000) in cost savings per annum.

• The adoption of Green Guidelines for the procurement, deployment and disposal of IT equipment ranging from desktops to servers. The guidelines were adapted from several international standards including EPEAT, IEEE 1680, IEEE 1621 and the European Union RoHS (Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations) Directives.

• The assessment of data centre energy efficiency with the use of thermal imaging technology to identify airflow efficiencies and hotspots. This has since resulted in the layout re-alignment of LTA data centres/control centres, reducing energy consumption by 20 per cent and achieving a cost savings of S$150,000 (US$97,000) per annum.

LTA also collaborated with a local polytechnic and IBM to develop an Energy Monitoring System to track and manage energy usage of all computing devices. When fully implemented, the system will be able to help reduce energy costs by at least S$100,000 (US$65,000) per annum.

Source: http://www.futuregov.net/articles/2009/mar/10/singapore-agency-saves-millions-through-green-it/
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Asus First Green Wireless Monitors

Today at CeBIT, Asus not only unveiled its new "green" series of LCD monitors, but the world's first wireless monitor as well.

Earlier this morning, Asus revealed two different LCD models, each offering unique features that very well may cause buyers to pull out their hair. In one corner, Asus offers the energy-efficient Green monitors, the VH192C and the VH196, designed to conserve energy and protect the environment. However, in the other corner, Asus has brought forth a mighty contender, the world's first wireless LCD monitor utilizing a new generation of EzLink technology. It's certainly easy to be indecisive: take the cool wireless route, or save the world and pick up a Green LCD monitor?

While the decision-making process may drive some consumers to drink, buyers may appreciate Asus' direction in creating an environmentally friendly LCD monitor. Asus said that it kept the environment in mind during the design process, utilizing low levels of mercury during construction and just two lamps to save more than 20 percent in power consumption. Both the Green Asus VH192C and VH196 make good use of an advanced optical film that provides brilliant image performance without sacrificing brightness. The Aspect Control feature even offers a 4:3 aspect ratio or full screen playback without distortion. Additionally, the Green Asus VH192C incorporates the Color Shine glare-type panel, "enriches" image color density and saturation, clarifies borders and improves image clarity.

As for the EzLink wireless monitor, Asus provided very little detail, nor did it say when the monitor would actually become available on the market. However, the EzLink technology will enable users to connect displays either through a Wireless Host Controller Interface (WHCI), or through a Wireless USB HWA (Host Wire Adapter) which delivers the same performance as a conventional display. The EzLink series is ideal in the business environment, eliminating the need for professionals to worry about connecting a monitor to a PC or notebook.

Source: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/LCD-Wireless-Green-Asus,7204.html
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Recycle Old Electronics for Free

Spring cleaning, like our warm spring weather, is coming early this year!

Start by cleaning out and decluttering your home of old, unused, unwanted and outdated electronics by taking them to be recycled for free at the Live Green Electronics Recycling Event.

This Saturday, March 7th from 7am to noon the recycling event hosted in part by Denver Recycles is taking place at 5 locations in the Denver Metro area where you can bring old electronics.

You can recycle for free: computers, CPUs, televisions, computer monitors, VCRs, stereos, computer peripherals, keyboards, home and office phones, printers, photocopiers, cell phones, fax machines and consumer electronics.

The locations are:
Pepsi Center
1000 Chopper Circle
Denver

Southwest Plaza
8501 W. Bowles Ave.
Littleton

The Orchard Town Center
14697 Delaware St.
Westminster

Town Center at Aurora
14200 E. Alameda
Aurora

Comcast
183 Inverness Dr. West
Englewood

What is not accepted for recycling at this event:

• Non-decontaminated medical equipment
• Dehumidifiers
• Microwaves
• Thermometers
• Smoke Alarms/Detectors
• Any unit with sludge or liquids
• Fire Alarms/Detectors
• Large Appliances ex. Refrigerators

Because electronics recycling is expensive and can cost on average around $25 for a television and $12 for a monitor this is a great opportunity to take advantage of this free recycling event. Plus, any excuse to clean or decluttering the home is a good one.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-522-Central-Denver-Real-Estate-Examiner~y2009m3d5-Recycle-old-electronics-for-free
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Dell Launches New 24-inch Green Monitor

Recently Dell Launches New 24-inch Green Monitor. One of the biggest places that you can save on your power usage in your home or business is by cutting off devices like TVs and PC LCDs that draw power even when they aren’t being used. Dell has announced a new 14-inch LCD that has features for green power savings.

The display is called the G2410 24-inch Wide Green Flat Panel monitor. Typically, 24-inch LCDs have a resolution of 1920 x 1200, but dell cuts the G2410 back to 1920 x 1080, plenty for full 1080p movies and content. However, the gamer out there will be disappointed by the lack of full resolution.

Still the display is rather cheap for the screen size at $349 and it supports 16.7million colors with a 1000:1 contrast ratio. The panel has a response time of 5ms, a bit slow compared to other LCDs but that should be plenty fast for gaming. Dell equips the LCD with features for power saving called PowerNap and Dynamic Dimming, though the computer giant doesn’t describe exactly what the features do.

Related Post: Dell Shows Its Green Stripes At Greener Gadgets
New Green Cases for Green Computers

Source: http://www.slipperybrick.com/2009/02/dell-whips-out-green-24-inch-lcd/
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