Nate's Computer Services

Here are some general power saving tips (many that you may already know)

• Unplug USB Devices when not using them (make sure to eject/remove properly if it stores data)
• Unplug charges and other devices when turned off and not being used from electric outlet.
  • Have your monitor turn off automatically when computer is not in use.
  • Have your computer go to sleep.
  • Automatically have your computer turn off and on at a certain time if the computer is not used during certain hours.
    • These settings are in the control panel in windows usually under power options
    • These settings are in the system preferences in Mac OS X under energy saver
• Usually when people ask if they should power their computer off, I say they can but only at night or the time they are not using it. The computer should only be powered on once per day at the most. It is OK to do a soft restart to clear the memory and run start up scripts. Remember to shut down properly if possible. Sometimes people will leave their computer on at night or off hours to do anti-virus/anti-malware scans, updates, backups, and run other utilities.
• Hopefully you aren’t printing all the time unless printing is necessary part of your business. Unless you print all the time printers are usually a good thing to leave off, or turn off during off hours if there are no printing jobs.
• Use energy efficient equipment.

I recommend LED back-lit LCDs for monitor types.
They are free of mercury and lead. They are slim and power efficient. They have good coloring and are easier on the eyes than florescent or CRTs.
OLEDs are also an upcoming type of monitors to look into, however they may have more of a limited lifespan.

Should I through out my old monitor (CRT or florescent)?
No. If you want to get rid of it you need to recycle it.
Pros of replacing it – save power, less heat, more room, better for eyes
Pros of keeping it – save money on buying a new one and hauling old one out, less waste

Do you really need to buy a printer these days?

Many times we don’t send letters in the mail anymore, so there isn’t much need to print for that.
Email doesn’t need to be printed, since most of us have large storage for email. Just back things up if they are important.
Why print a web page? – book mark it or save it.
Do you really need to print a report, or can you email it or post it on a web page?

Photos we mostly keep and share on computers and digital photo frames. For those that we really want printed, we can have printed professionally, most the time cheaper than printing ourselves. I’ve used online photo stores such as dotPhoto.com, and Shutterfly to print and they have turned out very well. Targets photo prints usually turn out well. Walmarts prints are not as good.

You can hand write small notes and addresses on envelopes if only sending a few.

When you do need something printed you could pay to have it printed at a library or at a print shop.

What I would recommend if you do need to print, would most likely be a small black and white laser printer. I bought one from Samsung.

Color Laser printers are still a little bit bigger (sometimes really big) and more expensive to buy and maintain.

Inkjet printers are usually cheap to buy, but the ink cartridges are expensive since they don’t last long usually.

In my personal situation, I do have a laser printer. I usually only print a few times a month so I leave my printer turned off most of the time. Toner doesn’t dry up, since it is already dry.