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The Asus U20A is the best laptop ever! It’s the ideal compromise between size, weight and features, and it’s designed from the ground up to save energy! It’s not cheap, but if you can afford it, then get it!
Several months ago I decided not to purchase any more laptop computers that didn’t have a backlit keyboard and an LED backlit display. After purchasing my U20A, I’ve come to realize that having an HDMI port in addition to a VGA port is also important, but even more important is having a ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) CPU. The U20A’s ULV CPU not only reduces power consumption, but it also reduces heat and fan noise. (The U20A is extremely quiet.)
The Asus U20A’s CPU is only 1.3GHz, but it is dual core, so it is more than fast enough for all normal purposes. If you purchase a laptop computer with a faster CPU that’s not ULV, you are asking for trouble! A faster, non-ULV CPU means more heat, more fan noise, decreased battery life, decreased reliability and decreased longevity! Programs such as Windows Media Player, Splash Media Player and BSPlayer, which take advantage of the dual core feature, can play full HD movies perfectly smoothly when using the included 64 bit version of Windows 7. BSPlayer is my favorite because it can handle external SRT subtitle files. Therefore, if there is a mistake in a subtitle, I can fix it in a few seconds using an ordinary text editor such as Notepad. I can even have BSPlayer reload the subtitle file without losing my place in the video! Hitting the “,” (comma) key rewinds the video 10 seconds, so I can instantly check to see whether or not the change was made correctly!
The U20A is my main computer. I use it every day for several hours. I carry it with me to the library, and I use it at home as a desktop replacement. It allows me to do everything that I need to do in fine style!
Here are the main desktop replacement components. Please note that both the laptop and the monitor were designed for maximum possible power savings:
1. Asus U20A laptop—4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, and Windows 7 64 bit (http://www.techara.com/asus-u20a-b2-12-1-inch-laptop-with-windows-7-home-premium.html).
2. Dell G2410 monitor—24" full HD (1920x1080) LED backlit (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/
productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-7956
3. USB Powered Speakers (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12347221—This link is for my seldom-used desktop computer that the speakers actually came with, but I use them with my U20A in order to save even more electricity!).
4. Saitek LED backlit keyboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823175006&cm_re=backlit_keyboard-_-23-175-006-_-Product).
5. Belkin optical mouse.
The following table shows the average power consumed while connected to the Internet via Wi-fi, with an 8GB USB flash drive plugged in, with the mouse and external LED backlit keyboard plugged into a 4-port USB hub, with the USB powered speakers unplugged, with the back lighting of the laptop's keyboard turned off, and with the laptop switched to “High Performance.” Also, the following readings were made in a semi-darkened room. (The monitor takes slightly more power in a brightly lit room, because the screen automatically becomes brighter in order to compensate!)
* The power that the laptop is listed as using in “Sleep” mode is actually for “Hibernate” mode. I never use sleep mode. Hibernate mode saves more power than sleep mode because, as far as power consumption is concerned, it’s exactly the same as “Shut down.”
Assuming that the system is at full power for an average of 8 hours a day and the rest of the day in sleep / hibernate mode, and that electricity costs 16 cents per kilowatt-hour:
(8 * 26 + 16 * 1) * 30 / 1000 * 0.16 = US$1.08 per month for electricity!
For archival storage, I use 500GB USB hard drives, but one of these only needs to be powered up for a few minutes at a time an average of once every couple of days.
Another big advantage of this system is that if the power goes off, I don’t lose anything, because the laptop’s battery takes over.
So far, this computer system has given me no problems whatsoever, and I am very happy with my purchases.
1. Always unplug USB devices when they are not being used.
2. When using the computer at night, use it in complete darkness. The LED backlit keyboard allows you to do this.
3. Use earbuds instead of speakers. Not only does this save electricity but it also helps to prevent others from being disturbed.
4. Using coarse sandpaper, sand the top of the back of the left earbud so that you can easily distinguish left from right in the dark.
5. At night, use an LED flashlight or the optical mouse as a flashlight when plugging in USB devices.
By the way, one thing that I try to make a habit of doing whenever I get a new computer is to delete all of the partitions on the computer’s hard drive, create one big partition, do a “quick” hard drive format, and then re-install the operating system / drivers. I also periodically “clone” the hard drive. If the computer is a laptop, I remove the hard drive. Then using Acronis True Image Home 2010 on a desktop computer I make an exact copy to a 2nd, identical hard drive. I then use the cloned hard drive, saving the original hard drive as a backup. (See How I Create a Bootable Backup (Clone) of My Laptop’s Entire Hard Drive.)
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