EnergyStar plugpacks - Page 2

    We're still hanging onto our dinosaur 2001 model basic Nokia GSM
phones and hoping that batteries will continue to be available for them
for a long time. Even if they're not fashionable...

Bob

In my case, GSM is useless in most of the areas I work in.
Got to use CDMA, in about 4 months the network is scheduled to close:(

probably have to go to Next G (replacement for CDMA that telstra is
pushing),
but colleagues who already have used it are less than impressed with
coverage, dropouts etc.

maybe it would be easier to make people call when im at home in
evenings etc ;)

    GSM's useless in lots of places outside the cities. From what I'm
told, CDMA gives pretty good coverage in most areas of the bush as well
as the metro areas.
    After investing in that network not that many years ago, now they
plan to scrap it and replace it with something which is no better and
quite likely not as good for simple voice communication.
    Sorta makes me think of the old "Yes, Minister" TV series. :(

Bob

No better? It's heaps better! How else can Telstra piggyback value-add
data services on top of their network? It would be a really useful
advantage to be able to replace a perfectly good CDMA system with a
new network that allows more money to be made. It also results in a
fast data network that can reach areas that other providers can't
afford to match. The bonus is that the government subsidize it and
Telstra get an uncompetitive advantage.

It is surprising how many customers will sign with Telstra just
because of the coverage that they can offer.

Oh, you meant it is no better for you... well that may be the case :)




'not as good for simple voice communication'? There's too much
competition there already, so it was sold to the government as being
the only way to deliver broadband internet to remote users. It also
just happens to be a great platform for offering other services.

    You should read what me and others have been writing. I'm on the
terribly old-fashioned (Vodafone) GSM network and I don't have
first-hand experience with 3G. I'm referring to basic coverage for voice
services in the bush. Many people have told me that the 3G network has
inferior coverage in the bush to CDMA and silly me has taken them
seriously. Thanks for telling us that there isn't a problem after all.




    Maybe it does have great bandwidth for providing all the things you
personally want in your phone. I'm talking about basic voice coverage.

Sorry, I re-read what I wrote and can understand why it wasn't
interpreted as sarcasm. It was meant to be. My point of view is that
the CDMA system had great coverage and the only reason it is being
replaced is so that Telstra can make money from other services. By
replacing the CDMA system they give themselves the opportunity to sell
other data services, and effectively do this under the guise of
helping people in remote areas.

I had two CDMA phones myself because I preferred the coverage. My own
experiences tell me that there was nothing wrong with the network.

By replacing that network with a new one with the ability to offer
high speed data access, Telstra can gain a market advantage.

It is a very powerful advantage for a Telco to have data access in
almost all parts of the country. I don't know if they provide
equivalent access to competitors for this same network, but I expect
that even if they did it would be at a premium.



Yeah I know. I am one of those people that want just basic voice
coverage. Unfortunately we aren't the best source of income for Telcos
as there is a lot of competition. Data services are the next
opportunity to bring in higher income than what voice calls can
generate.

Dale.

    No worries! It's a relief that you understand my point of view
because we're in agreement. :)

Bob

This online book is quite interesting - it tries to put things like your
charger into perspective.

http://www.withouthotair.com /

Chris

That site (http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/sustainable/charger /) is
almost laughable.
He used a power meter without the required resolution.
I used a better meter and obtained the figures I posted.

But he does have a valid point that phone chargers use a very very
small percentage of people's total power, and I was not implying
anything to the contrary. It's just a NICE thing to have a charge take
0.1W instead of 0.5W, don't you think?

Dave.

Yes it's nice, in a small way.

Chris

That amounts to using about 1 kW-hr per year, instead of 4 or 5 on
your old plugpack.  You're only saving maybe 50 cents US a year.

The real benefit is to Nokia, who gets to market their plugpacks as
being Energy Star compliant.

Mark

He is, but most people probably have upwards of a dozen wall-warts like this
in their homes, plugged in full time... and many of them probably aren't as
efficient as the O.P.'s original power supply was: It's not uncommon for some
higher-power (tens of watts) power supply to draw ten or more watts at idle,
in years past.



I don't think the average consumer is particularly aware of the whole Energy
Star compaign, actually. :-)

I'm at least vaguely enough aware of it that I know I have never bought anything
that was a product that was beneficiary

although i am buying a newly outfitted condo that i bet will have many such
energy savers

i can't say I know yet whether they are or not

because i had no choice in the selection

Hope you enjoy the humor in this story

mk5000

'A mourning figure walks, and will not rest,
Near the old court-house pacing up and down,
Or by his homestead, or in shadowed yards
He lingers where his children used to play"--abraham lincoln walks, vachel
lindsay