Dell Cuts Laptop and Computer Energy Use by 25 Percent

Dell laptops and computers now manufactured with energy efficiency as a top priority; all laptops now come with LED displays.

Dell Latitude laptop

Efforts to make Dell laptops and computers greener appear to be paying off for customers, at least according to the company. In a statement released this week, Dell claimed that its increasing use of Energy Smart technologies, have made Dell laptops and desktop computers far more energy efficient than they were, a mere two years ago.

According to the company, the use of new energy efficient circuit designs, fans and power management features in Dell laptops and computers have helped customer’s drive down their energy consumption costs by at least 25% since 2008 and in some cases, north of 50% since 2005.  These new energy efficient designs have also helped Dell receive Energy Star certification for these Energy Smart laptops and desktop solutions.

Also contributing in a big way to the improved efficiencies of Dell laptops is the company’s use of energy efficient LED displays on all laptops. The LED displays are significantly more energy efficient than conventional cold cathode fluorescent lamp displays and enable significant cost reductions and lower carbon emissions. The company claims that the 15-inch LED monitors on Dell laptops consume about 43% less power than comparably sized CCFL displays at full power. According to the company, these new LED monitors for Dell laptops will save consumers a total of $20 million in 2010 and 2011 and consume about 220 million kilowatt-hours less over that time frame.

While such estimates are hard to validate, the fact that companies such as Dell have begun focusing on energy efficiency highlight the importance that IT vendors are attaching to Green IT. Dell is by far not the only one touting its green credentials. IBM has made energy and climate-related issues a part of its long-term strategic planning. Under its two-pronged strategy, the company is focused on making its own computers more energy efficient. IBM is also helping customers reduce their environmental footprint through efforts such its Green Sigma coalition and through its involvement in efforts to build green buildings and smart grid infrastructures.

Hewlett-Packard is another technology giant that has publicly committed to making its products more energy efficient. One example of the company’s efforts in this direction is its use of Instant-On Technology in its printers. The technology eliminates the warm-up period typically associated with printers, and has resulted in HP printers consuming about 50% less energy than a few years ago. Last year alone, Instant-On helped HP customers reduce carbon emissions associated with printers by a whopping 1.3 million tones, or roughly the equivalent of 240,000 cars, according to the company.

HPs Power Assistant is another technology that the company claims has been helping with energy efficiency. The technology, which is integrated into the company’s line of desktop PCs and laptops allows users to monitor their energy consumption in real-time and guides them in making more environmentally friendly decisions such as reducing monitor brightness or turning off wireless internet when it is not needed.

Since computer products will vary in energy efficiency based on the model purchased, you should check the efficiency specifics and battery life on the model of your choice before purchasing. But rest assured that whether you're purchasing IBM, Hewlett-Packard or Dell laptops, computers or other IT devices, you are purchasing from a company that has set energy efficiency as one of its priorities.