The EcoButton is a large backlight button which you plug into a computer via USB. Press the button and the computer is put in a low power suspended mode, press it again and the computer wakes up. This idea has got mixed reviews. On the one hand the device doesn't do any more than can be done with built in functions in the computer (my laptop has a suspend/resume button already or you can do the same thing with a few mouse clicks). The device will use extra resoruces to make and use. On the other hand having a dedicated on/off switch, by being simple and convenient, might be used by people who would otherwise leave their computer on. At least this is better for the environment than a USB cup warmer.
Friday, January 30, 2009
EcoButton Energy Saver Gets Mixed Reviews
The EcoButton is a large backlight button which you plug into a computer via USB. Press the button and the computer is put in a low power suspended mode, press it again and the computer wakes up. This idea has got mixed reviews. On the one hand the device doesn't do any more than can be done with built in functions in the computer (my laptop has a suspend/resume button already or you can do the same thing with a few mouse clicks). The device will use extra resoruces to make and use. On the other hand having a dedicated on/off switch, by being simple and convenient, might be used by people who would otherwise leave their computer on. At least this is better for the environment than a USB cup warmer.
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Actually, I believe that this post has some factual errors. Firstly, the ecobutton does add functionality to the computer as it enables S3 sleep. Only S1 and S4 sleep is normally enabled on most computers. Hibernating takes longer to start up that S3 sleep so normally people just standby (S1) which uses more power.
However, it is possible to enable S3 sleep with a registry key.
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