Are netbooks.......green? (good for the planet)

[user1397]

I just thought about this.

My mindset on computer hardware has always been the same up until very recently. I always had this thirst to have the latest hardware, the latest intel chips, the latest graphics card, etc

It was like a thirst that could not be quenched.

But recently, I bought a netbook and I have adapted to it so much that I think it has changed my mindset on computer hardware forever. I don't really need all that power in a desktop or high-end laptop (the most intensive stuff I ever did on my desktop anyways was play some 3d games...other than that, web browsing, office software, some image editing, etc)

A netbook fits my needs perfectly, and I suspect it fits the needs of most people (as in the average user), aka web browsing, office productivity, simple image editing, etc.

A desktop or high end laptop consume a lot more power than a netbook, plus it just seems like a waste of money, space, electricity, and power to have such powerful hardware when only 20% of it is used by the user.

What do you all think?

[weasel fierce]

The majority of users really dont need much computing power.
Clicking on Chrome or openoffice wont go much faster whether you have 2 or 8 cores

[TNT1]

The majority of users really dont need much computing power.
Clicking on Chrome or openoffice wont go much faster whether you have 2 or 8 cores

Yip.

I was using a friends Linkbook (Freescale PowerPC processor, 256 MB of RAM, 16GB flash storage) Was agonisingly slow for me, but she never has a problem...

[Mr Bean]

Living in a shack in the woods is good for the planet. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Being "green" also encompasses more than just energy usage. Consider for example:

1. cost to manufacture and transport
2. cost of disposal
3. efficiency (energy usage vs work done)
4. longevity (how long will the product last before you need to replace it)

I suspect that buying a netbook under the pretence of it being green is actually a rather poor decision in the grand scheme of things. Especially if you buy it in addition to a desktop computer. Seems to me that the "green" decision would be to not buy a netbook at all.

[TNT1]

Being "green" also encompasses more than just energy usage. Consider for example:

1. cost to manufacture and transport
2. cost of disposal
3. efficiency (energy usage vs work done)
4. longevity (how long will the product last before you need to replace it)

Too true. When we had our kids we did the comparison along those lines of disposable nappies versus re-usable/cloth nappies... When you factor in the cost (monetary/environmental) of washing the cloth nappies, the disposables come very close in terms of overall impact.

The reality is that in going green, the calculations of the true costs of anything become very complex. We now make our own cleaning products/detergents/etc, grow our own vegetables, and so on...

[Mr Bean]

I think an important question is not "what can I buy that is green?" but "what can I stop buying altogether?".

That side of things doesn't get much media attention though, as companies still have product to sell.

[weasel fierce]

I think an important question is not "what can I buy that is green?" but "what can I stop buying altogether?".

That side of things doesn't get much media attention though, as companies still have product to sell.

I imagine the answer to the latter is a lot longer than people tend to suspect. Our economic systems are mostly based on people buying stuff they don't need or on a whim.

[phen]

if you buy a netbook in addition to your desktop, its not a green decision but a decision to power the economy (as allready mentionend above), but if you want to replace your years old desktop, you could save up to 80%-90% of power consumption.

also, I think that such a decision could save many companies a lot of money. I remember hundreds of fully equipped dual core desktops running office and a browser and nothing else. Often those systems aren't powered off in the evenings.

A laptop like hardware could save lots of power, also because they offer better power saving options

[TNT1]

I think an important question is not "what can I buy that is green?" but "what can I stop buying altogether?".

That side of things doesn't get much media attention though, as companies still have product to sell.

Exactly. See my previous post.

[handy]

The corporations that make whatever product are where the action is:

http://www.greenpeace.org/internatio...anies-line-up/