[kwlug-disc] PC/hardware question

[L.D. Paniak]

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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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