eco peripherals

Monitors connected by USB to save energy

Multiple Display arrangement for Power Saving

A recent study organized by Microsoft, done by DisplayLink, suggests that using more than two or even more displays for work can increase the productivity up to 50%. It also points out that those who make use of multiple displays commit as fewer mistakes as 33% compared to others who work solely on single monitors.

Extending the above findings, in its own study, DisplayLink has stated that connecting multiply monitors via USB consumes far less power than using conventional DVI cable. To connect more than one monitor to a pc requires a special graphics card solution which has dual-DVI ports. This, however, still consumes more power than integrated graphics solution. With DisplayLink, user are simply required to make use of USB ports so there wont be any need for a separate graphics card with dual-DVI ports and integrated solution would suffice.     
The results were based on comparing two systems, one equipped with USB adapter for multiple display while another using traditional graphics card’s dual-DVI ports. While the addition of a separate monitor on USB configuration incurred only 7% increase in power consumption, the discrete graphics solution demanded a whooping 67% of increased power consumption. For 4 display configuration, the power consumption sky-rocketed to 132% compared to single-display configuration.    

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LG Flatron Green w2252te monitor

LG’s Flatron W2252TE

Like many other companies, LG too has taken initiative for the energy saving and has recently introduced the brand new LG Flatron W2252TE monitor. It is reportedly world’s most eco friendly monitor which operates on just 22w of power when in use and merely 0.3w in when in stand-by mode. Other 22-inch monitors, in comparison, draw more than twice the amount of power when they are in use. So, indeed, LG’s claims true to the word.

Apart from energy saving, the monitor supports resolution up to 1680 x 1050 pixels as well as the screen isn’t glossy, which gives pleasant viewing experience. With dynamic contrast rations of 10000:1, excellent response time of 2ms and a DVI-port which is in compliance to HDCP, the image reproduction is simply unmatched. The power saving is not at the cost of limiting the brightness of the monitor, either. The monitor beams solidly at 250cd/m2.

The model supports a ‘Fun’ button at its front, which applies various image enhancement/distortion effects to the picture, on the fly. This includes monochrome; sepia and even a Gaussian blur effects, if you are so inclined. The LG Flatron W2252TW will empty your wallets by around $372.

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LED based laptops from Dell

LED Based Displays

Dell will announce its new range of Laptops in the coming year whose displays will be powered with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).

Starting from as early as December 15^th, its existing range of Latitude E-family Laptops and Precision series will ship with LED backlighting which will be mercury-free. 

There are many advantages of using LED backlights compared to cold cathode florescent lamp (CCFL) technology of displays. LED backlights are very recyclable and are mercury-free. They are also much more energy efficient. According to Dell, a standard 15-inch LED display consumes a whooping 43% LESS amount of power even at its maximum brightness settings.

This means that consumers would be able to save around $20 million and 220 million kw-hours for combined time period of 2010 and 2011. Interestingly, this amounts to the equivalence of annual CO2 emission from more than 10000 homes energy consumption.

Dell plans to equip more then 80% of its laptop ranges with LED backlit displays which will get extended to full 100% by end of 2010. This is in accordance to company’s ‘Going Green’ campaign which is started in June 2007. In less than a year, June 2008, Dell became the first company to implement the ‘80 PLUS Gold-certified’ power supply for it’s internal servers. 

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eco-friendly wireless router from D-Link

Eco Friendly Wireless Routers

Freshly entering the ‘Go Green’ scene is D-link with its objective of offering green WiFi home-networking. The company claims that its eco-friendly initiative adds various features to its ‘Xtreme NT’ series of wireless routers, which can potentially reduce the power consumption to as much as 40% without affecting the performance.

This is achieved by cutting down the power usage requirements by automatic detection of link status and cable length. The power is dynamically adjusted depending upon these parameters. These new routers also support WiFi scheduling which allows the user to conveniently program the radio signals of WiFi and selectively turn them on or off to further maximize the power savings. Although this function is not radically new, the DLink design has made the programming procedures really simple to use.

The ‘Green’ line of router products include: DLink Xtreme N Duo Media Router, DLink Xtreme N Gigabit Router, DLink Xtreme Gaming Router. These products are made in compliance of WEEE and RoHS standards, which ensures that the end product is made of recyclable materials which can be disposed off easily as well as safe from anyhazardous materials.

Supporting IPv6 by default, these routers also offer great flexibility for routing the traffic. Price ranges from $150 to $350.  

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Simple Tech’s Green Hard Disc Drive

Eco Friendly HDD

Addicting to the ever-growing list of environment-friendly products, Simple Tech has introduced its line of ‘Green’ Hard drives. Being ‘Green’, they are assured of consuming less power and are made of non toxic materials, which can be easily recycled.

The particular Hard Disk Drive (HDD) comes in a package that contains only the bare minimum things. This includes the drive with its USB and power cable, which are tapped to one side of the box. Unlike other similar packages, there is no trace of any paper, plastic other unnecessary material. What’ more, even the ‘Quick Install Guide’ in printed on the inside of the box! Truly, SimpleTech has taken every possible step to adhere to its ‘Go Green’ motive.

The drive itself is partially made of bamboo! It maybe hard to believe so, but the top and bottom potions of the drive are actually two pieces of bamboo strips which are not painted and smell so fresh, you would think they are just out of the lumber-mill! Since Bamboo is an easy to grow plant throughout Asia, it makes sense to use the naturally available resource. Another strategy to save power comes from the auto-switch off design.
It offers 500GB of storage space and USB 2.0 connection. No eSATA or FireWire are supported. A software driver knows as ‘Turbo Mode’ allows significant increase in the throughput speed.    

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eco-friendly LCD computer monitors from NEC, LG, DELL, LENOVA

‘Going Green’ seems to the new mantra for IT product manufacturers these days. If you go in the market searching for eco-friendly LCD computer monitors, you will surely find models from well-knows brands such as LG, Lenovo and Dell.

NEC also announced its new EA line of eco-friendly monitors. Two models of the same were shown to the press recently: the 24-inch MultiSync EA241 WideScreen display and 19-inch MultiSync EA 191M standard format display.

According to the nomenclature policy regarding its 26-inch EA 262WM and 22-inch EA221Wm, NEC has registered the new models as EPEAT Gold and Silver, respectively. Such registration requires the displays to be energy-star compliant, which means they are designed to prevent greenhouse-gas emissions.

Both of the NEC models have a unique ECO mode. In this mode, one can significantly lower the power consumption and thereby the amount of waste heat that gets released in the environment. Each display is also equipped with a meter for carbon footprint which dynamically calculates and tracks the carbon savings.

Some of the features of MultiSync model include: up to 1920×1200 native resolution, new intuitive cabinet design, dynamic video modes for most-optimized image quality. The drive doesn’t sport a separate power switch and actually turns off automatically after a while, when not in use.

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Thanko solar media player

This latest Solar media player is launched by Japan based company called Thanko. This is an MP4 media player with 4GB built in storage with 2 inch screen.

There is a big hurdle for that an hour of charging only gives 35 minutes of music or 15 minutes of video.

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Fujitsu: Wooden Laptop

Every body is trying to be Eco friendly with some sort of innovations. The recent one from Fujitsu is a beautiful designer laptop presented at Japan design 2008 innovation in Milan, Italy.

Fujitsu displayed tuned FMV-Biblo NX95Y/D in a wooden case.

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Solar Beam3 Charger:LED Flashlight cum Charger

This solar powered flashlight is used to charge PDA’s, mobile phones and mp3 players.

Monocrystalline silicon solar panels are used to recharging the built-in 700mAh/3.6v NI-MH battery.

LED flashlight is powered by the solar powered chargers during the day light.

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Green software: developed by Oxford University

Oxford university: New project to develop enery saving green software that is free and easy to download, which will make networked computers more energy-efficient and reduce carbon emissions by saving on electricity needs. The project, underway at Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI), will start with an 18-month pilot project on the Oxford campus, and eventually spread to include educational institutions across the U.K.

The research team on the project will monitor not only energy use, but also cost savings from increase computer downtime. Researchers estimate that most computers are in use less than 25 percent of the time — roughly 40 hours during a 168-hour week.

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