By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
While some may regard this as a silly question with the answer being “the laptop, obviously” as it, supposedly, only used 10% of the power consumed by a desktop computer.
However, it is not as simple as that, really...
The desktop has advantages over the laptop in that it is easier to maintain and upgrade. Much of that work could, in fact, be done by a user with the appropriate knowledge. Which is something that is not that easy, if at all possible, with a laptop, let alone a netbook.
It is, as so often with things, very much a case of horse for courses.
While it may be true that a desktop PC draws more current than a laptop this is, often, due to the fact that the power supply in a desktop is laid out too big and also that the cooling fans that are in use take quite a bit of energy. On the other hand this cooling prevents damage to the circuitry and thus could contribute to a longer life for the PC.
In addition to that the power draw also depends on the amount of processing that the PC has to do and when running Microsoft Windows there is lots of activity; when running the likes on Linux, on the other hand, there is much less there and thus less power consumption.
Linux is also an operating system that can keep old computers regarded obsolete as they may have difficulties running the newer version of Microsoft Windows running and that for a considerable time longer than even their manufacturers had intended, considering the obsolescence that has been factored and giving the machines a thought out lifespan of about two to four years under Windows.
Linux Ubuntu (and others) can significantly prolong the life of older computers, the ones that are only given a couple of years lifespan, and thus, if we look at that, the question is as to whether the newer machines are, necessarily, the better ones for the Planet.
This is what also needs to be factored in when we talk about this or that type of computer being better than the other as far as environmental friendliness is concerned.
While it may seem that a laptop is better for the environment as it may use less power other factors need to be taken into consideration also. The main case of most desktop PCs are far less plastic than laptops in that they are, to a great degree, made of sheet steel. A much better choice, in my opinion, than being entirely from plastic and ASUSs bamboo laptop also does not cut it here.
It all sounds very simple at times, as I have said, but it is not and so many other factors need to be considered. Is portability really that much of a need. Do you have to be on the computer on the move too?
I may also be somewhat of a Luddite when it comes to computers but to me the desktop PC still has many benefits over the laptop, and especially the upgradability and repairability factor. With a different kind of power supply a desktop would also, in the power consumption field, probably end up superior to the laptop but that is another story, I guess.
© 2011
