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Set-top boxes go green to save on energy bills

January 22nd, 2009, 8:16 am by

For consumers hoping to shave a few more dollars off their annual electricity bill, TV service from AT&T’s U-verse now come with an additional benefit: the set-top box is Energy Star certified.

According to the Energy Star web site, that means U-verse boxes is at least 30 percent more energy efficient than conventional models. They reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and costs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which runs the Energy Star program.

AT&T joins DirecTV as the first companies to get Energy Star certification for its boxes. New U-verse customers will get the Energy Star models from Motorola and Cisco. 

Is this a big deal? Well, it’s apparently not a surprise. AT&T said its existing U-verse TV receivers “already exceed the efficiency requirements,” even though they aren’t Energy Star certified.

Its boxes are more efficient because of the technology it uses to get TV service to customers. It uses Internet Protocol technology and doesn’t have tuners inside so its set-top boxes are inherently more energy efficient than most of the competition. U-verse customers are at least 36 percent more efficient than set top boxes from cable TV companies, says AT&T.

According to Energy Star, if all set-top boxes in the U.S. met the ENERGY STAR specification, the nation would save $2 billion a year in energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by the equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions from about 2.5 million vehicles.

Noise from the web:

Green screens: Set-top boxes sap energy even when not in use (The Capital Times)

Set-top box international energy-efficient regulations (Power Integrations)

TV tuner delivers ‘green’ solution for ATSC converter, set-top boxes (EE Times)

STB and Other Set-Top Device in the Home Vendors Thinking Green? (ABI Research)

Recent TV stories:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | Comments Off

Power up: Different takes on travel chargers

January 13th, 2009, 2:00 pm by

The show ended Sunday. Here is the rest of what I saw at CES… To see more, visit Gadgetress@CES 2009

If you had one charger that charged your cell phone, iPod, laptop, camera and all of your other electronic devices, wouldn’t you want it? Multi-device charging hubs got some sleek redesigns and technology boosts so that travelers won’t have to lug multiple power bricks on a trip.

In addition, quite a few companies showed off portable power, so you can charge your cell phone, camera or other small gadget while on the road. I got an APC Mobile Power Pack for Christmas and believe me, it came in handy. Smartphones really weren’t meant to last all day on one charge. 

Here are a few such gadgets I spotted at last week’s Consumer Electronics Show:

Travel power options: Click to enlarge:
6-in-1 charger: Callpod’s VZ ChargePod, a CES Innovations honoree, is an update from last year’s version (a handy device itself that charges 6 mobile gadgets). The new model includes multiple ports, including 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 for either a PC or Mac laptop, 3 ports for small devices. Four tips are included, with extra tips at $9.99 each. Available April 2009 for $199. More details at callpod.com/products/chargepodv2
6-in-1 charger: Lenmar’s PowerPort Hub PPUHUB6, a CES Innovations winner, charges up to 6 gadgets. But it’s design is what attracts attention. The circular hub stores cables right inside. Twist off the lid to access the cables. It has 6 USB ports — 4 with retractable cables, 2 let you add your own cable. Includes tips for an iPhone/iPod, Motorola RAZR/Q and BlackBerry phones for $79.95. More details at www.lenmar.com.                 
Green tech: Go green with iGo’s new iGo Green laptop charger. This only charges one device at a time. But the key is that when it’s plugged into a wall socket and charging a laptop or other gadget, the iGo Green turns itself off after it charges the gadget. More details at igo.com.
3-in-1 charger: Ohmetric Power charges three devices at the same time, including a laptop, cell phone and another USB device. Power cable for the device wraps in the lower ring, while cables for other devices are on the top ring. The two rings separate. Product expected to launch this year. Price not available but rumored to be around $200. More details at ohmetric.com.
Portable power: The sleek Powerstick is about the size of stick of gum and looks like a USB storage drive. One end has a USB port (to get charged), the other has a port to plug in a tip. It comes with 9 tips to charge anything from an iPod to micro USB device. A small display shows amount of ‘power’ remaining to charge up gadgets. Available for $59.99 at BestBuy.com. More details at www.powerstick.com.  
Portable power: Energizer’s EnergiToGo charges aren’t new but the company has shifted focus to smartphones. These handy chargers use 2 AA batteries so you don’t need to worry about charging up the charger before you head on the road. The price isn’t too bad either, at $19.99. More details at energizer.com.


I’ve got a sample of the Energizer Energi To Go to anyone who wants it. This includes 2 AA Energizer batteries, 1 mini USB tip and 1 Micro USB tip. Leave a comment below if you’re interested and I’ll randomly select a winner. 

For more Gadgetress reports from CES 2009, visit gadgetress.freedomblogging.com/ces2009.

Posted in: Cell phones • Computers • Gadgets • • • • • • • | 7 Comments »

How green can Fuji’s EnvironMax batteries be?

January 7th, 2009, 6:00 am by

Reporting from CES 2009 in Las Vegas - Being/thinking/living green is so … 2008. But the trend lives on as consumers (hopefully) readjust their lives to be kinder to the earth. So, it’s no surprise that Green is a big theme with this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. The official Las Vegas event, which opens at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Thursday, even will have a “Sustainable Planet” exhibit area. 

Fuji and its new EnviroMax alkaline batteries was the first green product I spotted. But how green are they, I dared to ask.  Jerome Pruett, with Team Fuji, gave me the spiel. 

Green packaging? Check.

Green manufacturing? Of course — in the world’s only eco-friendly battery manufacturing plant in Indonesia (a factoid I have not verified myself). Approximately 92 percent of the materials used in building the plant were recycled and reused from elsewhere. Additionally, no ozone depleting compounds were used in manufacturing the batteries.

Green batteries?  The batteries are free of Cadmium, Mercury and PVC, which means you can toss them in the trash when you’re done, Pruett said. Really, I asked? I thought all batteries must be dumped at a hazardous waste center. Not these ones, he replied. “These are totally earth friendly.” On the packaging, it says EnviroMax are landfill safe. 

Now, I didn’t delve into the actual technology of what makes these batteries so special. But consumers may be interested to learn that Fuji says EnviroMax batteries last 13 percent longer than regular batteries and have seven times the shelf life.

I left with a free sample — a 4-pack of AA batteries. The ‘Best Before’ date says July 2015. The batteries should be available by Earth Day for the same price as normal batteries. But if you want my free sample, I’m giving them away. Just submit a comment on this post and on my return from CES, I’ll randomly pick a winner.

From around the web:

Green Batteries: Responsible, renewable energy

The Alkaline-Manganese Battery (The Florida State University, the University of Florida, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Posted in: news • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

11 sites that pay for your old iPod, PC, other electronics

December 2nd, 2008, 5:56 am by

UPDATE: Make that 12 sites. (When I find more sites, I’ll add them.)

Beyond digging for deals and finding the lowest price, there is another way to fund your next electronic purchase without opening up that wallet.

Several companies will pay you money for your old computer, iPod or other gadget. Some pay cash, others gift cards. Another company lets you lock in how much money you can get for a gadget after six months to two years of use. 

As you may or may not know, such recycling efforts are part of the whole green tech trend. In California, it’s been illegal to dump a monitor or computer into the trash can for years. More recently, consumers here pay an ‘e-recycling’ fee when buying a new monitor, PC or other device with a screen.

While many computer sites now offer free recycling, I’ve honed in on the sites that give you a little something extra for your junk. Pretty much all offer free shipping — you just print out a label on your computer and ship the gadget.

Using my old 40 GB iPod Photo (in good condition, with minor scratches) as an example, here’s what I can get for it (from high to low): 

$60 = Toshiba America - Uses eztradein.com to run its program. Gives gift cards and cash for old electronics. Read my past story on the program, “Toshiba’s PC recycling program now accepts all e-junk.”

$60 = BestBuy.com uses the same service as Toshiba. But instead of cash, you’ll get a gift card to Best Buy.

$60 = PayPal.com uses the same service as Toshiba. Pays with PayPal credit.

$56.70 = Amazon.com uses several companies including Gazelle (mentioned below). All pay with Amazon gift cards. In this case, NextWorth accepts old iPods and iPhones. Using FlipSwap.com, my iPod got me $35.29 in Amazon gift cards.

$56 =  Costco.com uses GreenSight Technologies for its recycling program. Program pays in Costco gift cards.

$56 = SamsClub.com uses EcoNEWonline.com for its recycling program. Program pays in Sams Club gift cards.

Read the rest of this entry »

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A TV that uses less energy? Vizio unveils the EcoTV

November 7th, 2008, 12:47 pm by

For the most part, LCD TVs use less power than plasmas, CRTs and other types of TVs. But still, when I walk past my own 48-inch Vizio LCD TV, I feel the heat emanating from the screen. In fact, when I’ve plugged the TV into my Kill-a-watt electricity usage monitor, it was registering around 300 watts, or eating up as much energy as three 100-watt light bulbs!

Vizio, the Irvine TV company that began the trend of selling big TVs for lower prices, said today that all of its TVs use less power by meeting or exceeding the new Energy Star 3.0 requirement for lower power consumption. In addition, it announced a new TV, the 32-inch EcoHD TV (pictured above), which uses 44 percent less energy than a typical 32-inch LCD HDTV.

Curious, I took a look at the new Energy Star 3.0 qualifications, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The maximum energy a 50-inch HDTV can use while powered on is 318 watts (click chart below for larger image).

Well, that’s about what my two-year-old TV was coming in at. So, I’m not sure how much energy Energy Star 3.0 TVs will truly save when compared to older LCD TVs. They were already more efficient than other TVs. But there are other requirements to get the logo, including using less than 1 watt in standby mode.

The EPA requires that TVs that get the 3.0 logo must be “30 percent more energy efficient than conventional models,” according to the EPA press release. Since the standard just started rolling out on Nov. 1, I’m sure we will see a ton of other TVs meeting these new energy requirements.

For Vizio, at least nine models exceed the 3.0 requirement by as much as 25 percent. Also, all of its 22-inch and 19-inch TVs use less energy than a conventional 60 Watt light bulb.

The new Vizio EcoTV is $499.99 and will be available online later this month at vizio.com and select stores like Costco, Sam’s Club, Target, Wal-Mart and Dell.com.

Related stories:

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RadioShack offers gift cards for your old electronics

October 31st, 2008, 5:08 am by

If you’re about to dump your old iPod, cell phone or other electronic device anyway, you might as well get some money for it, right?

RadioShack now offers an electronics trade-in program, which swaps store gift cards for your old e-junk. A lot of this stuff we shouldn’t be dumping into the trash anyway because they are considered hazardous e-waste. 

I just ran a couple things through the site. My old photo iPod which is in good condition would get me a $35 gift card. My husband’s old 14-inch iBook would get me $144.08, although if it was “cosmetically excellent,” it’d get us a $192.10 gift card. Not bad! This could come in handy for holiday gift giving.

The program accepts GPS devices, MP3 Players, wireless phones, digital camcorders, car audio head units, digital cameras, notebook computers, game consoles and video games. Not on the list: desktop computers. For those, I suggest using Toshiba’s trade-in program where you get actual CASH (read “Toshiba’s PC recycling program now accepts all e-junk“).

Just plug in your details at RadioShack’s site: RadioShack.com/tradein. If you accept the price, you print out the pre-paid shipping label, package up the gadget and send it in. The gift card is mailed to you. RadioShack says it issues the gift card 10 to 14 days after the product is received.

Related:

Posted in: news • • • • • • • • • | 9 Comments »

Free Best Buy gift cards at O.C. e-waste events

October 7th, 2008, 7:15 am by

Alt+Save time, money & the earth with the GadgetressAnother chance to score some free stuff while disposing of your old computers and other e-junk starts Friday. The “Pull the Plug on e-Waste” event will take place at three Best Buy stores in Orange County on Friday and Saturday.

The first 100 cars each day will get a $5 Best Buy gift card. Everyone will also be entered into a contest to win a Toshiba Portégé R500, the laptop that has received one of the highest green ranking from the Green Electronics Council. Plus Jeff Levy, host of radio show “Jeff Levy on Computers” on KRLA, will be at the east Orange Best Buy on Friday to answer questions about computers.

The event is sponsored by Toshiba’s Digital Products Division, which is based in Irvine.

**UPDATE 9:36 a.m. ** Based on the first comment below, I should remind readers that it’s against the law in California to toss an old PC, monitor or other electronic with a screen into the trash. That’s why there’s a $6 to $10 fee tacked on to any electronics purchase that contain displays. Since these are considered hazardous waste, you’ll need to take it to a hazardous waste center. In Orange County, there are 4 such facilities. More details at oclandfills.com or check out my Guide to recycling e-Waste. 

::details::

What? Pull the Plug on e-Waste, sponsored by Toshiba and Best Buy

Where?
East Orange Best Buy, 2375 N Tustin St, Orange
Fullerton Best Buy, 120 E Imperial Hwy, Fullerton
Mission Viejo Best Buy, 25422 El Paseo, Mission Viejo

When? 10 a.m. to 4 p.m on both Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10 and 11.

Items accepted: computers, computer monitors, printers, camcorders, fax machines, cell phones, TVs, VCRs, DVD players and audio equipment.

Related green-tech posts:

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O.C.’s green award winner turns sewer water into drinking water

October 3rd, 2008, 11:55 am by

Toshiba Green Innovation Award, which is sponsored by Orange County Innovation and, obviously, Toshiba America , based in IrvineThe winner of Toshiba’s Green Innovation Award goes to two county agencies that turn sewer water into drinking water. And yes, it’s coming out of the faucets for some Orange County residents.

But don’t be alarmed! The Orange County Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District’s three-step Groundwater Replenishment System process turns the waste into water that is more regulated than the bottled-water industry, said Gina DePinto, the spokeswoman for the Water District.

The system, which went online in January, uses a process of microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet light “to purify highly-treated sewer water to state and federal drinking water standards,” she said.  

We’ve written about this before. OC Register green living reporter Pat Brennan wrote about the system at “Soon on tap: purified sewer water” and then when it went live at “Sewer-water system begins filling aquifer.”

Essentially, the process produces 70 millions of water a day, or enough for 500,000 people per year. Besides the 3-step process, half of the water is put into a recharge basin in Anaheim where it takes six months to filter through the water supply before heading to homes in the Anaheim and Fullerton area. The other half is sent to the seawater intrusion barriers, which prevents salt water from getting into the aquifer. Read more at the Groundwater Replenishment System website.

Again, the end result is pure water. The additional six-month cleansing process was required by regulators for public perception, Pinto added.   

“I’m not going to say it’s better or worse (than bottled water), but we do know that the bottled-water companies don’t have to meet as stringent regualtions as we do,” Pinto said. 

The Toshiba award gets the agency $5,000 and a Toshiba laptop. But that’s nothing compared to past awards. In June, the agency received the $150,000 Stockholm International Water Institute Award, which some consider as the Nobel Prize of environmental science.

See my previous write-up of the finalists at “Toshiba names finalists for O.C. green innovation award.”

Related:

More on green tech:

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