[kwlug-disc] PC/hardware question

Bob Jonkman bjonkman at sobac.com
Tue Mar 3 01:27:03 EST 2009


conveniently, the CBC has some possibly relevant info:

http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2009/03/full-interview-allan-chochinov-on-
greener-gadgets-and-sustainable-design/

(curse those chatty, line-breaking URLS!)

--Bob.


-- -- -- --
Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>         http://sobac.com/sobac/
SOBAC Microcomputer Services              Voice: +1-519-669-0388
6 James Street, Elmira ON  Canada  N3B 1L5  Cel: +1-519-635-9413
Software   ---   Office & Business Automation   ---   Consulting



On 2 Mar 2009 at 17:14 L.D. Paniak <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org> wrote
about "Re: [kwlug-disc] PC/hardware questi[...]"

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>LED backlit monitors are out now and should be widely available in the
>next few months eg.
>
>http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&cs=cadhs1&sku=320-7958
>
>These should cut power consumption in half and still be reasonably priced.
>
>Any modern dual-core PC has plenty of computing power for office use and
>many can match the Energy Star 4 ratings for efficiency:
>
>http://www.energystar.org.tw/pdf/Computer_Spec_Final.pdf
>
>I agree with Oksana that Virtualbox is a great way to run other OSs in
>Linux for those applications that require an MS platform.
>
>Oksana Goertzen wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 4:18 PM, Insurance Squared Inc.
>> <gcooke at insurancesquared.com <mailto:gcooke at insurancesquared.com>> wrote:
>> 
>>     There was an article in last week's Record about a program that
>>     small offices like mine could get an energy audit and maybe get our
>>     flourescent lites swapped out for something energy efficient (and I
>>     thought flourescents were efficient - but what do I know).  I've
>>     applied for an audit to that program.....but now I'm wondering what
>>     it would take for my office to go much greener than it currently is.
>>      My requirements aren't much; we've got leased space, a phone system
>>     and some computers.  That's about it.  So if they make my lights
>>     energy efficient, then the only thing I've got drawing power are my
>>     computers......which brings me to my question:
>> 
>>     Are there any low power/green computers available that are suitable
>>     for an office environment - that'll run XP or linux?  Ones that have
>>     enough horsepower that I don't need to compromise?  What about LCD
>>     monitors?  Are there such things as low power consumption LCD monitors?
>>     Now to tie it into linux.....we have a variety of industry niche
>>     programs that only run on Windows, and a printer or two that doesn't
>>     have linux drivers, and a scanner that isn't in SANE,  calculator
>>     programs, and even some sites that require IE only.   If I go buy
>>     all new low power consumption PC's and go completely Mandriva in the
>>     office at that time, does linux now have the ability for me to
>>     confidently run Windows apps seamlessly?  I know codeweavers has
>>     something, I don't mind paying - but I would want to know ahead of
>>     time that we're not going to have to back out because we can't run
>>     some windows apps.
>> 
>>     In other words, I'm already running Mandriva myself.  Am I safe if I
>>     move my wife's computer over to mandriva as well :)?
>> 
>>     g.
>> 
>> 
>> Hello All,
>> 
>> First place I'd stop is at Greenpeace to look at overall environmental
>> impact:
>> http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up
>> 
>> You can see off that first link - which companies are doing the best at
>> handling electronics that they
>> produce.  The Greenpeace site has a lot of info on electronics in general:
>> http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/electronics
>> 
>> Lenovo makes a number of Gold and Silver EPEAT energy rated models and
>> Energy Star models .
>> This is quite a cool tool and can give you and idea of Canadian energy
>> costs:
>> http://lenovoweb.com/energycalculator/
>> You can select different models and see what their overall costs are.  I
>> believe LED-lit LCD panels
>> are more energy efficient as is DDR3 ram (newest laptops).  Some laptops
>> also run with a onboard
>> video card and you can swap it to a dedicated video card for more
>> intensive video applications --
>> Lenovo T500's.  I'm most familiar with Lenovo products because that's
>> what we use at work.  I
>> think laptops in general use less energy (watts) and produce less waste
>> overall vs. a desktop and
>> monitor.  I think you probably want to consider too  - TOC, which
>> manufacturers produce a better
>> product so that you are not forced to replace or fix or upgrade
>> equipment you've purchased in short
>> order.  Throw-away electronics are costly in the end (to the environment).
>> 
>> You could use Sun VirtualBox (or any other virtualization product) to
>> run Windows on the same
>> piece of hardware (Mandriva) when you require the use of Windows though
>> you'll need a license
>> (something you generally already pay for when you buy a new machine
>> these days).  You could
>> also look to Virtualizing servers or desktops for maximum efficiency. 
>> I've used Codeweavers and
>> while it supports IE 6 fairly well, IE 7 is a whole new ball game.. for
>> my uses, VirtualBox is better.  I
>> have also used VMware workstation for Linux and I like VirtualBox
>> better.  There is also a product
>> that allows for multiple users connect to one machine.  Perhaps there is
>> an open-source player in
>> this field, I'm not sure. 
>> http://www2.userful.com/products/userful-multiplier  VMware and others
>> make virtualization products for desktops as well.
>> 
>> Hope this helps.  :)
>> 
>> - Oksana
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> 
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