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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