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Thread: laptop cheaper to run?

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    laptop cheaper to run?

    Would a laptop be cheaper to run that a conventional Tower? I mean electricity costs.

    We have to save on our bills and just had Gas and Elec bills and they are stupidly high!! I usually have my pc on quite a bit.

    I am tempted to sell the base unit and use my laptop and keep my existing TFT, Keyboard and mouse!! Times are that desparate!!

    Regards

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Yes, much cheaper. But it's only relative - I would be surprised if the PC really took up a large portion of the bill.

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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    You'll not be talking more than £50 per year electricity use. Maybe using your your laptop will cut that by £10 - £25 a year - is that saving worth losing your PC?

    Butuz

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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    TBH if you want to save on Electricity, Energy Saving Bulbs turn lights of when not in use. Stanby lights there are lots of ways to save energy the hard part is getting into swing of it. As said above just using your notebook won't make a huge difference.
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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    stand by buttons saving power are a lot off rubbish, they have stand by for a reason. it uses barely any power
    Last edited by Georgy291; 30-05-2009 at 01:36 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK View Post
    now that i think about the word "throttled" in a certain light... its not so far different to strangled really

    our boiler broke so we has no heating or hot water, this is the bloody result ^^

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    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Quote Originally Posted by ixos View Post
    I am tempted to sell the base unit and use my laptop and keep my existing TFT, Keyboard and mouse!! Times are that desparate!!
    Will you end up spending more money on the laptop than you will get from selling your current system?

    If that is the case, you would be just as well keeping the desktop. The difference in electricity costs would probably take you at least a couple of years to make money.

    Unless of course you are trading a fully loaded gaming rig for a moderately powered regular laptop. In that case, yes the difference in power consumption could be significant.

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Quote Originally Posted by Georgy291 View Post
    they have stand by for a reason.
    stand by is just a mith
    What?

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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Quote Originally Posted by Funkstar View Post
    Will you end up spending more money on the laptop than you will get from selling your current system?

    If that is the case, you would be just as well keeping the desktop. The difference in electricity costs would probably take you at least a couple of years to make money.

    Unless of course you are trading a fully loaded gaming rig for a moderately powered regular laptop. In that case, yes the difference in power consumption could be significant.
    I think he already has the laptop. So as soon as he sells his desktop he is making money from it.

    I don't know if the benefits will be all that significant tbh. Is it worth losing your desktop over ?

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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Quote Originally Posted by Haiku32 View Post
    I don't know if the benefits will be all that significant tbh. Is it worth losing your desktop over ?
    Depends on your usage. I had a laptop as my main system for about 4 years (i think). Until I eventually gave in to the fact that a laptop driving a 24" montor and photo editing with Lightroom and Photoshop was not ideal. So I built a quad core box

    For various reasons though I've been using my laptop excusively for th past month and will do for the next month. I miss the big monitor from my desktop, but in reality, 90% of what I do can be done from a laptop just as well. The other 10% just takes a little bit longer.

  10. #10
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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Quote Originally Posted by kalniel View Post
    What?
    I think he meant that turning things completly off instead of standby is just a myth. It wouldn't really make it that much difference.

    That how i read it anyway. I'll be interested to see what he meant.

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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    sorry got slightly confused...doing math revision at same time.

    i meant (and il correct now) stand by only uses tiny ammount off power. what i was going to say was:

    "standby uses 90% off the normal power" - quote of powersaving ad on tv i mean to say is rubbish.
    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK View Post
    now that i think about the word "throttled" in a certain light... its not so far different to strangled really

    our boiler broke so we has no heating or hot water, this is the bloody result ^^

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Quote Originally Posted by Georgy291 View Post
    what i was going to say was:

    "standby uses 90% off the normal power" - quote of powersaving ad on tv i mean to say is rubbish.
    Okay, normally grammar/spelling etc. isn't all that important, but this is an example of where it is.

    If you mean what you typed, and that standby uses 90% off the normal power then that's the same thing as saying it's using 10% of the normal power, which is a tiny proportion and the same thing as you're saying earlier in the quote, so it doesn't make sense to say it's rubbish.

    Alternatively maybe you're saying the advert says it uses 90% of the normal power, which is quite different.

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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Quote Originally Posted by Georgy291 View Post
    stand by buttons saving power are a lot off rubbish, they have stand by for a reason. it uses barely any power
    But it uses power right?

    The point I was making was by saving power in all the ways suggested would make a bigger impact than just using his notebook.
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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    I hate to be a power saving tight asss.... but I am

    Standy or OFF is very VERY rarely off.

    My PC, when OFF, uses 22w - 30w constantly. Over the course of a year, that's a lot of money.
    My Microwave uses over 10w all the time, even when doing nothing.
    My Monitors all use 8w, and my PC speakers use 3w and 6 w respectively. While not on.
    The printer uses nothing though.

    IF yu do as I do and switch EVERYTHING off at the WALL every time you walk away, you'll save HUNDREDS of pounds per year. HUNDREDS.

    Power saving lightbulbs help a lot if you have them on a lot. Even some lamps dont switch OFF whyen you turn them off...some use power all the time. And in SUMMER you don't need the additional heat that it's making. Turn them OFF at the WALL!

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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    sorry still doing math revision, stupid vectors who understands them...

    i would mean this one

    Quote Originally Posted by kalniel View Post

    Alternatively maybe you're saying the advert says it uses 90% of the normal power, which is quite different.
    and i still think you would save slightly more by going to the lap top then bothering with stand by.

    have a look at laptop power suplies a desctop ones, laptops tend to be a lot less and they have to provide that when the computer is not idleing. where as desctops have got more powerfull PSUs and they only provide say 200w on idle

    my dad has got a pretty nice laptop. cant say exactly what it is but it has i think its 16" (or its hugeto say" screen, amd turion 1.6 x2 cpu and geforce 7300. and it only has got power suply for 230w, Now m desctop has got a 450w crossair one and i think it uses more than 230w on idle...have a look at my specs to the left
    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK View Post
    now that i think about the word "throttled" in a certain light... its not so far different to strangled really

    our boiler broke so we has no heating or hot water, this is the bloody result ^^

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    Re: laptop cheaper to run?

    Its a netbook i have which i could plug up to my 17" TFT and use my existing keyboard and mouse?

    I don't game on the PC. I only use it for internet, office mainly.

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