TechSpotlight
Laptop vs desktop: an austerity look
Nagging power crisis has become a major concern for the government of any country, especially for the developing ones. Due to increasing use of electricity in all aspects of life, saving of energy has turned out to be an issue that needs to be dealt with. For an instance, we can say about computer that is undoubtedly the most used electronic device and runs on electricity. It is true that the use of computer is not only a mere necessity any longer. Its use has rather become a demand of time. As a result, various government, semi-government, autonomous, nongovernmental, multinational and international organisations are exploiting the use of computer hugely for their daily requirements. Computer consumes a certain amount of power to keep running. But, how much amount of power or electricity a desktop or laptop PC consumes? How much a company or an organisation has to bear to run these devices? Why and which one is economically viable in terms of power or cost saving, using Laptop or Desktop? Well, in this article I will explore theses issue. I will also show why using Laptop PC is more cost-effective in terms of power saving issue and other beneficial aspects of it than its counterpart Desktop PC. A typical desktop computer with its full-equipped stage uses about 450 watts. On the other hand, a laptop computer generally uses about 65 watts. That means a typical desktop PC consumes nearly seven times electricity that of a laptop PC does. Say, how much money is needed to be paid in electricity bill for 100 desktop computers? Well, let's have a look at it. Assume that, a company runs these 100 PCs 9 hours a day. Each computer consumes about 450×9 hours×30 days or 121.5 kw-hr a month or simply 1478.25 kw-hr per year. So, a hundred PC will consume 121.5×100 kw-hr a month or 1478.25×100 kw-hr a year. In contrast, about 65×9 hours×30 days or 17.55 kw-hr is consumed by a laptop monthly or 210.6 kw-hr yearly, only 14 percent of the power consumed by a desktop PC. If the company pays Tk 7 for per kwh, it has to pay Tk 85,050 a month or Tk 1,020,600 in electricity bill a year for 100 PCs. Likewise, if the company shifts its focus on using the same number of laptop PC in place of desktop PC, it has to pay only Tk 11,900 a month or Tk142, 800 a year for electricity. Now that we have got an idea of PC power consuming and its expenditures, let's consider the price of a laptop PC. Off late, the average price of a standard laptop PC is not more than Tk 50,000 and that of for a desktop PC is Tk 35,000. That is, the company has to spend an extra Tk 15,000 for each PC if it intends to use Laptop instead of Desktop. From this, it is seen that the company requires spending about extra 30 percent money for each PC if it wants to shift to using Laptop PC from Desktop one. But at the same time it can save nearly 76 percent of electricity, which eventually make sense saving of 76 percent money from electricity bill if it uses Laptop PCs. Isn't it beneficial using Laptop PC? Of course it is, as far as power saving is concerned. In addition, Laptop is portable. It can be carried everywhere one wants. Moreover, Laptop can be used indoor or outdoor while Desktop can't do like this because Desktop is too heavy. What is more, Laptop has battery so when electricity has problem, one can continue doing work and save the file. While Desktop, if one do not has uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and electricity has problem, one may lose his/her work. Besides, Laptop has good design and looks modern, while desktop is conventional and looks old fashioned. For example Desktop has large dimensions and requires large area for operation. From the above discussion we see that Laptop PC is superior to its counterpart Desktop one nearly in all aspects. Of course Desktop also has some advantages but that do not surpass the beneficial aspects of Laptop as far as power saving issue is concerned. Above all, Laptop is environment friendly too. Therefore, form my point of view it's high time especially for corporate organisations to replace the Desktop PCs with Laptop Pcs.
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