Comments for Wal-Mart Re-Stocking Green Linux Machines at http://www.ecogeek.org , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://www.ecogeek.org Thu, 23 May 2013 17:49:12 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.ecogeek.org/computing-and-gadgets/1154#comment-7806 Even when shutdown, the gPC consumes 5 watts! (The USB powered speaker remains on, as does the green light on the ethernet connection.) During normal operation, my gPC consumes 41 Watts (0.5 Amp at 122.8 V). The VA reading is 66 and the power factor reading is 0.61. I will definitely use a switchable power strip. Alas, the Green PC is not so green as I’d hoped. The old gateway PC I use for my web server only consumes 30! The cpu may be a light sipper, but the system is not as abstemious as I had hoped. :( - Greg Hoke Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:42:52 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/computing-and-gadgets/1154#comment-7471 Sure, while you can build a box for less, it's not going to be as efficient as the one for 200$, plus like buying a Prius, it's more a statement at this point. I've been looking at the VIA board they sell as a stand-alone for 60$, along with some more efficient power supplies. After that the hard drive will really eat the power, so that'll be a pick, although a laptop one would likely fit the bill. As for floppy and cdrom drives; you really don't need them after installation. If you rip cds for mp3s and such you likely already have a box or laptop to do that on, for this shoot for the lowest power box you can. I'm aiming to build something like this to take over my server, which I hate having run 24/7, but would feel better with if I were running a board that was only sipping 7.5 watts! - fak3r Fri, 23 Nov 2007 07:27:18 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/computing-and-gadgets/1154#comment-7452 As much as I hate wal*mart, this is an awesome thing they're doing for linux. Not only are they bringing it to the forefront of technology, but they are packaging it as green. Can't ask for much more at this point from such a giant. - Drew Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:08:09 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/computing-and-gadgets/1154#comment-7382 As it turns out, the bare motherboard is also available for $60. If you already have a power-hungry clunker, or a computer with a fried mother board, you can save an significant amount of money (and energy) by taking your old computer apart and re-using the floppy drive, optical drives, hard drive, power supply, and case. Of course, this assumes you have a computer with compatable hardware...but that isn't too unlikely. The link below has all the specs you need to judge compatability, and a link to buy the mother board itself. http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS5305482907.html - Joel Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:22:33 +0100