3 Responses to “How green is your computer?”

1. Steve Barker
   April 3rd, 2008 at 7:54 pm
   

   Q5.

   “More than 80 percent of the lifetime energy consumption of a PC occurs before you buy it.
   Your Answer: True
   10 out of 10 points.

   True. Not only does manufacturing a PC use a lot of energy, it also usually requires ten times the PC’s weight in fossil fuels and chemicals, most of which are toxic. So, even though you might be tempted to get a new PC every three years (as the average person does), the longer you can keep your current PC in service, the better for the environment.”

   Further proof that Linux is greener. It is good to keep equipment going/functioning. See:

   http://green-pc.blogspot.com/2007/12/linux-is-greener.html

2. Karen
   April 8th, 2008 at 5:15 am
   

   Some great things to think about. I am never quite sure whether to leave my laptop running or not…I usually let it “hibernate” or stand by - thoughts on this?

3. Simon
   April 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
   

   Karen: Here is a short explanation of the difference between “hibernate” and “stand by”:

   Standby mode is used to conserve energy. When the computer is placed in this mode it switches to a low-power state. All files and applications that you had open remain open but certain devices, including the monitor and hard disks, turn off. Everything that is in the computer’s memory stays there. It is not saved to the hard drive.

   Hibernate mode takes everything in your computer’s memory and writes it to a file on the hard drive. The computer is then almost shut down completely. You will notice that it takes longer for your computer to go into and come out of hibernate mode than stand-by. Ideally, if you do not want to shut down your computer, hibernate mode is the better choice when you will be away from your computer for extended periods of time than standby mode.