Power Miser PCs Save $$ September '93 submitted by: Gloria Short Brain Storm Learning 713-550-8105 Power Miser PCs Save $$$ Reduce, reuse, recycle. Those three words will reshape the desktop as PCs go "green." The first step is here: energy-efficient PCs. The next generation of energy-efficient desktop computers is here and promises to save you money by cutting your utility bills without sacrificing performance. These machines, which in sleeplike mode use an eighth the power of traditional desktops, also herald an age of environment-friendly computers that are recyclable and produced with fewer pollutants. Our evaluation of three of the first energy-efficient PCs to reach the market- AST Research's Bravo LP 486/66dx, Austin Computer Systems' Green PC 486/66, and IBM's PS/2 E-uncovered a wide range of power conservation features and other innovations. All three power down after a period of inactivity to a notebooklike sleep mode from which they can be awakened with the touch of a key or a mouse movement. Of the models we tested, Austin's Green PC 486/66 was the clear winner. It offers a sleep mode that draws just 28 watts (system with monitor) and traditional PC pricing- the DX2-66 version starts at $2299. IBM's PS/2 E won high marks for technical innovation and draws just 29 watts in sleep mode, but its high price and limited expandability place the unit in a league of its own. For moderate energy savings and a low estimated street price of under $2700, AST's Bravo LP 486/66dx is a solid choice. It provides a sleep mode of 55 watts. To have their products included in this test drive, vendors submitted computers they said qualified for the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Computers program, which requires computers, monitors, and printers to consume a maximum of 30 watts of electricity in an idle state (45 watts for printers faster than 15 pages per minute and all color printers). But there is no monitoring program in place to ensure EPA compliance, and our findings indicate that energy consumption- and your savings-will vary greatly from vendor to vendor. Our advice: Look further than the Energy Star logo to find the most efficient product. Ask vendors for information on how they achieve energy reductions, such as whether they use software modes, low-voltage components, and energy-efficient monitors. And be aware: Each add-in card you install, every peripheral you connect, every bay you fill- even upgrading to a larger hard drive or adding cache memory- will cause your system to use more power. How much power it uses also depends on what you run. For example, the more screen activity, the more power required, so Windows will generally cost you more to run than DOS. The IBM PS/2 E has the most innovative design of any desktop we've seen in a while. For power management, the PS/2 E employs a number of mobile computing technologies- and likewise suffers from some of the common inconveniences of notebooks, such as limited expandability and a high price. In our tests, a PS/2 E system configured with a maximum 16MB of RAM (8MB is standard) and an LCD monitor drew about 46 watts at the DOS prompt and 47 watts while running Excel. In sleep mode, the combo drew 29 watts. The power savings start with the CPU, a clock doubler IBM 486SLC2 with a 3.3-volt design that uses about half the power of traditional 5-volt CPUs and runs at 50 MHz in a 25-MHz system. IBM claims the system performs about as fast as a 33-MHz 486. The company shaved off another couple of watts by using a 21/2-inch 120MB hard drive, a notebook-size device that draws about 2 watts- half the draw of a comparable 31/2-inch drive. IBM opted against standard expansion slots in favor of four PCMCIA slots. You can hot swap PCMCIA cards simply by slipping them into the slot as you would a floppy, which makes them a lot easier to install than typical AT add-in cards. Unfortunately, PCMCIA cards cost a lot more than AT cards, and you won't find as many options- yet. The four PCMCIA expansion slots draw a maximum of 2 watts per device, or about 25 percent of the power used by standard ISA devices, according to IBM. The IBM's optional 9-pound monitor is actually a 10.4-inch LCD notebook screen incorporated into a desktop stand. While limited to 16 colors and 640 by 480 graphics, it has two low-power states. The first keeps it ready for quick power-up; the second is a sleep mode. The monitor never draws more than 30 watts and in PC World tests drew 30 watts at the DOS prompt, 21 watts in the first ready state, and 16 watts in sleep mode. The PS/2 E also deserves kudos for achieving lows in three other areas: noise (there's no fan), monitor emissions (the optional LCD monitor is virtually emissionless), and desktop footprint (the system unit measures 12 inches square, plus it's only 2.75 inches high). One low the product doesn't offer is price: The 8MB system with a 120MB hard drive, the VGA LCD monitor, and a floppy drive costs $6780. For the more price conscious, IBM offers a 14-inch CRT option that powers down to 8 watts. The system with this 1024 by 768 monitor, 8MB of RAM, a 120MB hard drive, and a floppy drive costs $3385. Don't look for the PS/2 E in a retail outlet; IBM is limiting availability to special bid orders. AST's Basic Philosophy While IBM flexed its technical muscle, AST drew on its notebook technology to transform its entry-level Bravo line with a redesigned keyboard controller and a new BIOS. The resulting Bravo LP line consists of three processors- 486SX-25, 486DX-33, and 486DX2-66- in two basic configurations: 170MB with 4MB of RAM, and 340MB with 8MB of RAM. All of them are expandable to 64MB of RAM and offer local bus video, and you can upgrade to OverDrive for DX2. The keyboard controller, similar to those used in AST's notebooks for power management, lets the Bravo LPs communicate with a new family of low-emission monitors via a vacant pin in the video connector. After a user-defined period of keyboard inactivity, the controller signals the monitor to go to sleep. The monitors will also be sold separately. While the Bravo LP systems are able to use any monitor, the sleep signal works only with monitors equipped to receive it. AST also reached into its bag of mobile computing tricks to implement a hard drive power-down state that's user definable in setup. A relatively austere prototype configuration- the Bravo LP 486/66dx with a single floppy drive, 8MB of RAM, a 170MB hard disk, and an energy- efficient 15-inch monitor- pulled 55 watts in sleep mode. With Windows idle, the unit- including monitor- pulled 100 watts. This 486DX2-66 unit will have a street price under $2700. The 486SX-25 Bravo LP 425s with a 170MB hard drive, 4MB of RAM, 1MB of video DRAM, and the 15-inch, flat-screen, low-emission monitor sells for about $1600 ($1200 without the monitor). That's $100 to $200 more than similar Bravo PCs, but, company officials note, the system includes local bus graphics, a larger hard drive, and a larger monitor. Austin's Optimum Innovation For price and performance, the unit we preferred was Austin's thoughtfully designed Green PC 486/66. Even with a 14-inch monitor, 16MB of RAM, a 340MB hard drive, a tape drive, and two floppy drives, it had a sleep mode of just 28 watts in our tests- less than half the EPA ceiling. The prototype we tested drew 79 watts at the DOS prompt and 31 watts with the monitor off and the hard drive spinning. The tested configuration sells for $3199. In addition to turning off the monitor, Austin's Green PCs can shut down the hard drive after a user-configurable period of time, putting the unit in its 28-watt sleep mode. Or the system can leave the monitor off while performing some activity, such as backup, at night after you've gone home. Power management is activated after a user-configurable period of time or via a button on the front of the PC. To reduce noise pollution and energy use, the fan varies its speed according to the operating temperature. The company plans to offer a low-radiation monitor. The Green PC 486/66 is the high end of Austin's new Green PC line of 15 systems; the low end is a 486SX-25 model with 4MB of RAM expandable to 32MB and a 170MB hard drive for $1499. The basic Austin Green PC 486/66 with 4MB of RAM, a 340MB hard drive, and a 14-inch monitor is $2299. All the systems offer several configurable power management options and solid Energy Star benchmarks, and they include a low-emission, 14-inch super-VGA monitor, local bus graphics, and an IDE hard drive adapter. How does the power consumption of these PCs compare with that of traditional computers and business equipment? A Texas Instruments DX2-50 notebook, fine-tuned for power management, hovered around 21 watts for every task except an animated sequence in Microsoft Golf that pulled 27 watts. A 66-MHz 486DX2 from CompuAdd's new high-performance Centura line with a 500MB hard drive and Diamond's Viper local bus video card drew 95.6 watts at the DOS prompt. A Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 550C drew 7 watts while idle and around 11 watts while printing. The new Energy Star LaserJet 4L draws 180 watts while printing and powers down to 10 watts when idle, according to HP. There's More to Being Green Cutting energy use is all well and good, but it's only a start in creating truly "green" computers. Recyclability is also important, and some vendors are already addressing the issue. Many of the parts in the IBM PS/2 E are easily recycled, and 25 percent of the plastic used in the unit is recycled plastic. Apple and TI were the first companies to accept laptop batteries for disposal. You can get advice on where to drop off your computer's packaging for recycling by calling 800/944- 8448. Industry watchers predict that within a year, energy-saving features will be built into nearly every computer, monitor, and printer sold. Once all computer equipment is energy efficient, computer power use should drop by as much as 75 percent. Computers currently account for about 5 percent of total U.S. power use, according to EPA estimates. What does that mean in dollars and cents? According to the EPA, if energy-saving computers and monitors are left on 24 hours a day, you could save as much as $120 a year per system, or $600,000 for a corporation with 5000 PCs. Makes you think: Is your PC on now? AST Bravo LP 486/66dx The top system in an extension of the Bravo line. Key Features: Energy-efficient monitor Upgradable to OverDrive for DX2 Power-down hard drive Pricing: Under $2700 Availability: Immediate AST Research Inc., 800/876-4278, 714/727-4141 Austin Green PC 486/66 Power management features at the same price as traditional PCs. Key Features: Multiple power management settings Local bus IDE and graphics Pricing: $3199 Availability: Immediate Austin Computer Systems, 800/752-1577, 512/339-3500 IBM PS/2 E A radical design wraps notebook technology in desktop form. Key Features: No-fan, noiseless operation Four PCMCIA slots Pricing: With LCD monitor $6780, with 14-inch CRT monitor $3385 Availability: Immediate IBM Personal Computer Co., 800/772-2227