Would substituting devices save a lot of energy?Is it worth it?

Film2240

Hi
I'm glad I stumbled across the renewable energy and energy saving tips section as I'm curious about many things on this front.

Is it better than people replace desktop PCs with laptops whenever possible? As I've noticed that my Desktop is hardly used as I do nearly everything on my MacBook Pro including video editing (currently with FCP7 and FCPX and learning Avid). I wonder why some people still prefer desktops to laptops,even though you can do fairly well with a laptop and use FAR less energy to get the same tasks done with it,plus portability?

If you have a laptop as your only computer is it worth it for me to down size to a tablet (win 8,not an andriod or iPad) if I can run the majority of my apps on there (I don't know if Avid Media composer can run on the ARM CPUs?If not I'm probably better off sticking to an ultrabook or sticking to my MBP)

I'm looking to learn tips from other people who can advise me on how to have a more energy efficient setup while still keeping a level of performance that's fairly decent for video editing and the setup? How can I reduce my reliance on frivilous gadgets (Mi-Fi's,old digital camera,etc) and stick to the basics I need to live modern life (laptop,smartphone,current digital camera,MFD,fan,portable phone charger,etc) without too much clutter or wasting energy (and rising utility bills)?

Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated as I loom forward to a successful move in the future (assuming all things are finalised and sorted out).

johntheexpat

I suppose it depends on what your primary concern is.  Replacing a desk top with a tablet may save electricity, but would it save you £400 (the cost of the tablet)?  Generally I would suggest that the cheapest option (which is almost always the greenest option) is to use your current kit until it is no longer viable and then change.

Other than that, if you want to save electricity, turn it off.  And if that isn't a realistic option, then have all the peripherals on a separate running block and turn them off until you need them.

Andy98765

If you need a desktop PC that is for general use then Net top PC's drink the same amount of fuel as a lap top but you are not restricted to the screen attached at purchase.  Personally I hate working at a lap top and rather a PC with a 24" screen.  What is the point of a lap top that stays indoors.

So for me it would Desktop and tablet.

Film2240

That would generally make sense.I've had to move from a desktop pc to a MacBook Pro for my uni course when I had to use Final Cut Pro for all film and video projects so the desktop has to be sold off as parts (as the move to my flat for the final year was very difficult for me due to the bulk and weight of it) at some point.

My question will be if moving from an MBP to a win 8 tablet would be worth it or simply move to an ultrabook since I may have to migrate to avid (since TV companies seem to use this rather than FCP) for any future projects?

I'm also curious to see how much more energy efficient moving from my MBP to a win 8 tablet would be (surface pro since you can't run avid on Surfaces ARM CPU, incompatible and most likely too slow) compared to the move from my desktop PC to my current MBP?

I mean how much of a change would this be in terms of power use in both scenarios?

The desktop also imposes a limitation on me, the fact that I can't take with me whenever people need me to capture and edit on location for other people.

This is what really made me realise quickly late in 2009 that it'd be pointless to keep a desktop that can't run any of my mac only based software needed for video production.

Had it since 2004,it went through 2 major upgrades (last major one being in 2009,last minor being in 2011 due to bitcoin mining needs at that time) and is now no longer useful to me.

Bugbait

In short, too many variables as each person can have varied requirements from their equipment.  A PC may use more power but if it's more efficient then you can get your work completed sooner.  For me, browsing on my PC is faster than a tablet which is faster than a phone.  I'm not talking just about load speeds but the amount of time it takes to get the information you need which ties back it I/O interface and screen real estate.

If you really want to track it then buy a power draw monitor that will track the power from the socket.  This way you can compare the power used to achieve your needs on each platform.  Is this a cost effective way?  Not really but anything else would be a guess.  Otherwise you can take a guess using the maximum power consumption that's published for each device.  However this isn't very accurate since you are unlikely to use the maximum power draw for any device 100% of the time you're using it.

I have always been a desktop user and never been a fan of laptops because they simply don't meet my needs.  I like having a large screen (30&#8221 so whatever platform I choose is never really going to be portable.  That's fine for my personal needs as I don't need portability.  My wife used to love having small laptops (11”-13” screens) but once she started doing more graphic work she gave her small laptop away and got a 27” iMac (don't get me started, I'm a PC man).  For portability I have a smart phone.  I occasionally use a tablet but it never leaves the house.

Film2240

All good points.I do find it quicker to browse the internet on a MacBook Pro than on my Galaxy S3 LTE simply because you can use a trackpad and keyboard (same reason I plan to move to an ultrabook when MBP stops working rather than a tablet) as opposed to just tapping buttons on a phone which takes more time,however I can write about 25  words a minute in a text message so my typing speed isn't that bad.

I only prefer laptops because I can be there for people (family as they can see me while i work or working with clients capture and edit footage on location.) whereas it's physically impossible for me to do all that with a desktop. I have a 15in screen on my MacBook Pro so I can see fairly well on it (can't cope with smaller screens,small text gives me eye strain). Larger screen laptops are far too heavy for me (and have the same problem as moving my desktop into and out of my former flat as it's hurts my back and arms.)

I really wish there was a device that existed where you can see the energy use and cost of everything running in the household and then choose to switch off individual appliances (Don't know if Smart meters meet this or not-I really hope they hurry up and give me one already).

I'd love to have something like this but I don't know when it'll be in the UK market and how much it'll be MeterPlug.Lower your ElectricBill.Measure real Electric cost | Indiegogo as i can use my phone to measure,control and remotely switch off applicances.You can even set a budget meaning that once a heater uses say £2 of electric,it'll switch it off so as not to spend more money than you want.

johntheexpat

If you click on the link and follow it through it gives the price for the UK version.  Postage is extra, I assume.  But even so, I'd be surprised if you save much money. If you leave stuff on, while you are out/away, its on for a reason.  If its connected to a heater, you need to know the temperature before turning it off (otherwise why leave heating on in the first place?).  Fridges and freezers, well you can't turn them on/off etc.  So what does that leave?  TVs and related 'boxes' are left on to record things, or turned off.  Not much else really.

paulr

Apparently changing from an old to a new fridge can have a two year payback due to huge improvements in energy efficiency.

MartinPickering

Here on the island, the electricity supply can go off without warning (and often does). So I made a giant "UPS" with deep cycle batteries, charged from photovoltaic panels, feeding a 240v inverter. While the mains is on, the inverter is also powered via a 40 Amp DC power supply. It's slightly inefficient because of the back-forth conversions but it's the best I could do towards achieving several hours of mains-free operation on a small budget.

In order to get the most from the batteries, I've been looking for alternatives to my current Mac Quicksilver G4 1.8GHz and 2.8GHz i5 "Hackintosh". The best compromise I have found for speed and low power consumption are a second-hand G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz and a Mac Mini Server MC408B/A Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz 4GB RAM 1TB HDD Wi-Fi.

I'll be using these with external monitors, Hard Drives, keyboards and mice.

I could probably have done slightly better but the choice was limited to what was available second-hand, that would run the software I have. Also, my limited budget, making newer models impossible to buy.

The computers haven't arrived, yet, so it remains to be seen whether my choice was a good one.