There’s an interesting initiative going on to rate computers based on a fairly comprehensive set of criteria, called EPeat:
EPeat ranks computers as Bronze, Silver, or Gold. Gold is a tough one, it represents meeting all EPeat requirements and exceeding them by 75%. Silver, much more common, represents a 50% margin. Both are pretty good signals that the computer hardware you are considering is ecofriendly.
Having said that, there’s a weakness to EPeat – it doesn’t take into account software. It’s strictly a hardware standard, which means evaluating the systems based on how well they handle standby, sleep, or hibernation based on the combination of hardware and software is left out of the criteria.
I point that out because the combination of the two will have an impact on how energy efficient the unit is in actual use. A poorly implemented set of drivers that makes sleep mode unreliable will influence how likely you are to take advantage of the feature, impacting your energy savings capabilities.
Filed under: Greener Computing, Hardware
EPEAT does not explicitly “rate” software. However, EPEAT’s definition of “product” intrinsically includes the software the product ships with, including the OS, BIOS, drivers, and utilities that affect power management. All EPEAT registered computers must meet the new, tough, Energy Star 4.0 energy standard which includes specs for how long it takes the product to enter sleep, standby, and hibernation states.
EPEAT does not cover how well a product handles these transitions.
Bottom line: EPEAT includes tough specs on power management, including how long it takes to go to sleep.
A very valid (and potentially important) point – the included software is component in the EPEAT rating. I actually modified the post title to include the word “Good” to emphasize that i think EPEAT is an important point for consideration when evaluating system purchases.
In real-world use, how well a product makes these transitions is important, because if they are handled poorly, sleep features are likely to be disabled, thus defeating some of the benefits of an ecofriendly system.