I recently purchased a MagicJack and it seems to be working OK.
I know this is a very general question, but I was wondering if there is a ballpark estimate of how many Kilowatts the average (energy-efficient) desktop computer is using on a monthly basis? I have turned off the monitor and all other unessentials like the printer (including unplugging their wall-wart power transformers).
I'm interested in making a comparison with the price of the landline.
Computer power consumption and MJ
Moderators: Bill Smith, Pilot
It depends on a lot of variables - CPU speed, GPU, memory, peripherals, disk, etc.
A good article to read on this can be found at
http://www.behardware.com/articles/670- ... ption.html
A good article to read on this can be found at
http://www.behardware.com/articles/670- ... ption.html
Re: Computer power consumption and MJ
Hi,vnelson5 wrote:...ballpark estimate of how many Kilowatts the average (energy-efficient) desktop computer is using on a monthly basis?
For measuring watts consumed, you can get one of these devices http://www.p3international.com/products ... 00-CE.html or similar. It gives a direct reading of wattage. I haven't measured a desktop, but my older model laptop consumes 22 watts idling. You'll see people talk about thin clients in these forums and mine consumes 9 watts idling.
Before you ditch your landline, read the discussions in these forums about whether it's right for you. Do you have a backup phone, like cell phone? MJ depends on so many variables that it may not work when you really need it. Perhaps base your savings are on your long distance calls. Another bonus is if you choose a MJ number that is local for distant friends or relatives, they can call you for free, assuming there's a MJ number that's local for them.
Measured watts on my computer
I do have a watt meter but was reluctant to go into all the spaghetti of wires etc under the desk. But, I found a way to hook it up easily and see that my desktop (a Dell 8250) and needed accessory (modem) draws about 92 watts with the monitor turned off.
So, for a 30 day month, left on 24 hours a day, it would consume about 66 Kilowatts. At, say .11 cents per KWH that would come to $7.28 cents a month. My basic phone bill, with Caller ID, is $32 per month, so there is a cost savings.
I am likely though to only use it for local long distance and cross-country long distance outgoing calls. So the cost for just turning on the computer when the MJ is actually needed would pretty much be insignificant.
So, for a 30 day month, left on 24 hours a day, it would consume about 66 Kilowatts. At, say .11 cents per KWH that would come to $7.28 cents a month. My basic phone bill, with Caller ID, is $32 per month, so there is a cost savings.
I am likely though to only use it for local long distance and cross-country long distance outgoing calls. So the cost for just turning on the computer when the MJ is actually needed would pretty much be insignificant.
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wirelessrat
- magicJack Apprentice
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sat May 09, 2009 9:35 pm
I have a watt meter and did the numbers before getting the magic jack.
What I found is:
Laptops: At idle consume just less than 50 watts and go as low as 20 watts with the LCD off. All modern machines; tested several different laptops-dual and single core CPUs.
Desktop: 2.0 AMD Athlon xp, AGP Video Card, 512 Ram, CD, Floppy, One IDE/ATA Hard drive (just basic desktop) utilized around 120watts per hours.
In TN we pay around $.09per kilowatt (per thousand watts consumed). so the laptop takes more than two hours of run time 10 hours of run time to consume a dime ($.10). The previous post is correct around $5-8 in power cost per month to run the PC, however I shut my phone off at night and turn the laptop back on in the morning so I calculate my cost around $3-4 per month. Also, remember that we are computer oriented and I, anyway, have the computer on for most of the day despite the magicjack. Power consumption is a legitimate concern, but after complete analysis it proves immaterial.
What I found is:
Laptops: At idle consume just less than 50 watts and go as low as 20 watts with the LCD off. All modern machines; tested several different laptops-dual and single core CPUs.
Desktop: 2.0 AMD Athlon xp, AGP Video Card, 512 Ram, CD, Floppy, One IDE/ATA Hard drive (just basic desktop) utilized around 120watts per hours.
In TN we pay around $.09per kilowatt (per thousand watts consumed). so the laptop takes more than two hours of run time 10 hours of run time to consume a dime ($.10). The previous post is correct around $5-8 in power cost per month to run the PC, however I shut my phone off at night and turn the laptop back on in the morning so I calculate my cost around $3-4 per month. Also, remember that we are computer oriented and I, anyway, have the computer on for most of the day despite the magicjack. Power consumption is a legitimate concern, but after complete analysis it proves immaterial.