Power Users

video game consoles

Electronics are definitely the ‘it’ gift this holiday season–one of Amazon’s featured gifts for preschoolers is a frog with a keyboard on it. But there are many ways to get great gifts while keeping other things in mind.

All video game consoles are not created equal. Nintendo was recently castigated by Greenpeace for their lack of transparency on toxics and recycling, which took Nintendo by surprise. But their Wii game console uses only 17w of power–roughly 10x less than the other two hot consoles the PS3 and the Xbox 360, which both use close to 200w. If you are shopping for your first console, consider a last-gen device like the PS2 or GameCube, which both use less than 30w, and will be cheap and have lots of games available.

In the market for a new TV? LCD screens, in general, use almost 70% less energy than their tube counterparts. Plasma TVs use a bit more, and rear-projection TVs used the least. But some used way more vampire current than others. A Sharp TV set used a whopping 72w in standby mode. Check out this CNET chart for different models.

“Laptops use half the energy–and are twice the fun,” boasts a ConEdison subway ad. Laptops are designed to use much less power because they must be able to run on a battery. But new laptops (which have been outselling desktops since 2006) have capabilities similar to a desktop–without the power consumption. A new laptop will use around 45w, compared with 200w for a speedy desktop.

And as always, recycle and freecycle any old electronics that are taking up space in your apartment.


Posted on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 12:25 pm | Tagged in Energy Efficiency, Recycling | posted by Marc

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