I love Green gadgets, and I’m not just talking about their color. The ECO Button is a small device that connects to your Windows PC (sorry, no Mac support at this time) through the USB port. When you aren’t using your computer, you can press the Eco Button and your computer will go into energy saving mode. When you come back to the computer, pressing any key on the keyboard will instantly wake it back up to where you left off. The included software will also display how much power, money and green house gases you have saved by using this device. The Eco Button is available now for $13.70 from EFO.
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So…it’s like “sleep” or “hibernate” from the Start menu, but you’re paying 13 bucks to click one less time, and taking up a valuable USB port?
Nice. (I don’t get it.)
@Derek I think the whole point is that it is something easy to use and since it is sitting right there on your desk, you will see it and use it. How many people actually sleep/hibernate everytime they get up from their desk to take a bio break or go to lunch? I’m guessing very few.
I think it’s a good reminder staring you right in the face.
Companies should issue these for employee PC’s, think of the money they save and the energy saved for the city.
We’re a Mac family and I buy two for my wife and son as soon as they come out with a Mac OS version.
I hardly think this is ‘green’. The manufacturing, the cost to make, the materials used just to save yourself 2 clicks (or if your keyboard already has this built into it)? This is a gimmick, not green.
Seems that a simple icon on the desktop pointing to a simple vbs script to put the PC in hibernation would have the same effect without spending all the energy and resources in to creating a little plastic widget.
Cheaper, too. And doesn’t use a USB port.
Eh … Don’t I have this as a keystroke on my mac mini?
My mac mini uses hardly any electricity when hibernating.