Frugal Computing

[lucille]

I was listening to a radio program this morning that was discussing the negative environmental impact of all of the electronic gadgets we throw away every year. All of those devices have toxic substances and heavy metals in them. So making your gear last longer or re-using items rather than putting another new item into the system is good for the environment.
Even if you replace something like memory, video card or a mother board in an existing computer that piece can be recycled. There are electronics recyclers that take for free or even pay for greenboard. Many recyclers are careful about assuring everything is properly recycled. About five years ago some stories emerged that scrap brokers were selling this stuff to places in third world countries and China and it was just getting dumped in fields polluting the soil, the area and the water. I don't know if this is still going on after all the media attention or not.

[redambrosia]

Well, I'm not one for Linus or computer moding. I prefer the Mac OS, so I get a pricey puter, but I make it last a long time. I've had this iBook G3 for almost 6 years now, and it still mostly works (and I'm gonna fix it for free in a couple days). Eventually I'm going to have to get a new computer, cause there's only so much upgrading you can really do with a laptop, but I'm pretty sure that if my fix works I'm going to have this computer for a couple more years.

[lilac]

I'm an all-around geek that has pared down the computer geekery the past few years, but my partner works in IT. Because of that, we get a lot of parts that the company would otherwise throw away.

We have a small laserjet printer, countless sticks of memory and hard drives for our media center pc, mice, graphics cards, cd wallets, even cell phones! (they are a cell phone distribution company). My recent cell phone was a test model that they made sure worked with their partner companies and then they were going to throw it away afterwards. The screen protecting film was still on it and everything and the phone was just released 6-12 months ago. Before that, I had the same phone for 2 1/2 years.

Another strange thing they tend to just throw away (or at least my partner's company) is laptops. Granted, they're not state of the art, all are at least 3 years old, but they are perfect for surfing the internet wirelessly and playing around with them on Linux.

I myself have a first gen Macbook. It's really great because it's easy to upgrade, much easier from what I've heard it was to upgrade the iBooks of years past. I've already upgraded the RAM a few months ago and for Christmas I got a bigger hard drive (320gb versus the 60gb that came with the machine), a purchase that will extend the life of my laptop easily by 2 years and is a heck of a lot cheaper than a new one!

When buying software (or even hardware sometimes), ask your company or school if you can get specific discounts. I've done this before with systems and have reaped 10-15% discounts on new computers.

Also, look into refurbished systems including a warranty. I've done that with my 3rd generation iPod and it's been working happily for 3-4 years now.

[FrugalNYC]

I recently put Ubuntu 8.10 on an old Thinkpad (T40), it works great! Love all the ideas and the repurposing people are doing with their pcs

[FrugalNYC]

@lucille, I always think about that myself. Which makes my pack rat mentality harder to give up. Do I bouts of uncluttering and throwing out once in a while, but I try to give stuff away or sell it cheap. People always love a bargain. Which brings to mind, I need to sell an old laptop soon.

[Babalu]

I plug my router into a powerstrip, and turn it off at night. Many people keep theirs on all night, but there's no reason for my computer to be online all night. Also, nefarious deeds are performed in the middle of the night, and you might wake up in the morning with a computer virus if the connection and computer are left on all night. There's no harm to shutting off your equipment when you're not using it.

[FruWiki Meg]

I use Ubuntu Linux -- though my computer could handle just about anything I threw at it. (In fact, I have to admit that I have Windows on here, too -- as well as Mac OS. Just in case, ya know?!)

I really like Linux

[FrugalNYC]

@Babalu
Great tip. That's one most people forget. Putting all your electronic needs into one power strip and then turning that one switch off at night is a great way to save on your electric bill. It adds up at the end of the year.

@FruWiki Meg
I'm a fan of Ubuntu myself. Though recently I have had some issues with it. I still use windows as my primary OS. I've been using FreeNAS for network storage recently. The latest version 0.69 is great! I have it running on an ancient PIII 500Mhz pc with 320MB of RAM.

[amyschiff]

An extension of that power strip idea is to put your computing equipment on a battery backup Uninterruptible Power Supply. I would classify this as a frugal computing option because it's preventative. In the event of a power outage, the UPS gives you buffer time to properly shut down your computer--allowing you to save whatever you're working on.

The UPS I have also does voltage regulation, meaning it outputs a consistent voltage, regardless of whether a drop or surge is coming in. This can reduce wear and tear on your hardware.

You can also turn them off just like you would a normal power strip.

[apprye]

Great tips! Can definitely do more to cut down on my energy bills...