Cheap Green Computer Runs on 2 Watts

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CherryPal ComputerAs far as green gadgets go, this little desktop computer will give Dell and (to a lesser extent) Apple a run for their money.

The CherryPal promises to be affordable, efficient, and powerful enough for the average PC user. At first glance, that stats on the system look modest, and for good reason. This design actually cuts out 20% of PC components to reduce energy usage. But fear not, despite being small (the size of a paperback), the CherryPal claims it can start up in 20 seconds, and cloud computing provides more power/storage when you need it. A Linux operating system (now more user friendly than ever), and cloud computing means you won’t need to worry about viruses or install protective programs that can slow down your PC.

On a more green note, the CherryPal is supposed to sell for under $400 (monitor, keyboard, etc. not included). It should hit the market on August 4th, 2008. For that price and low energy use, it will appeal to wallets as well as the environmentally conscious. Though there is some understandable skepticism, I’ll praise any manufacturer that lowers the bar on PC environmental impact.

I recently took a blow to all of my electronics in the same week (Murphey’s Law at work), so it’s nice to see alternatives on the market. I’ll definitely have my eye on this cute little computer that thinks it can.

Readers: What are your thoughts on cloud computing? What are CherryPal’s chances of becoming popular?

Image via Inhabitat

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Internet and Energy Usage

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Michelle Bennett (45 Posts)

I'm an environmentalist who loves to write. I grew up across the southeastern U.S.A. and especially love the Appalachian mountains. I went to school in the north east U.S.A. in part to witness different mindsets and lifestyles than those of my southern stomping grounds. I majored in English Lit. and Anthropology. I've worked as a whitewater rafting guide, which introduced me to a wilderness and the complex issues at play in the places where relatively few people go. I also taught English language in South Korea for a year, which taught me to take nothing for granted. Currently I'm applying for grad school to study international environmental policy.


  • http://cleantechnica.com MichelleBennett

    @ Paco Nathan:

    I agree with you on the remote information. My laptop fried recently, but some of my most important information is located online. My contacts, links, and even notes are scattered across the internet for this very reason.

    But on the flip side, I wonder if Ian is right – would a company still use our data against us in some kind of contract dispute? I look at cell phone companies and other notorious services and wonder…

    @ Flava: my pleasure! It’s still a pretty geeky term if you’re not knee deep in gadgets these days.

  • http://cleantechnica.com MichelleBennett

    @ Paco Nathan:

    I agree with you on the remote information. My laptop fried recently, but some of my most important information is located online. My contacts, links, and even notes are scattered across the internet for this very reason.

    But on the flip side, I wonder if Ian is right – would a company still use our data against us in some kind of contract dispute? I look at cell phone companies and other notorious services and wonder…

    @ Flava: my pleasure! It’s still a pretty geeky term if you’re not knee deep in gadgets these days.

  • http://is.gd/Fo2 website design

    Can I get one in blue?

  • http://is.gd/Fo2 website design

    Can I get one in blue?

  • Ian Kemmish

    When I were a lad, we called it time sharing. It’s what PC’s were invented to do away with. It’s difficult to convey just how loathed time sharing was. Not only for the fact that it was very expensive, not only for the fact that if you ran out of resources, you couldn’t just get a bigger computer (although STSC allowed you to ipl different “sizes” of virtual IBM 370 and pay appropriately), but also – and far from least – if you had a dispute with the provider, they had physical possession of your data. As bargaining chips go, that’s a biggy!

    Since PCs arrived, someone has come along every three to five years with a “smart terminal” and claimed that a return to time sharing is the answer to all our problems. So far, every single one of them has been wrong.

  • Ian Kemmish

    When I were a lad, we called it time sharing. It’s what PC’s were invented to do away with. It’s difficult to convey just how loathed time sharing was. Not only for the fact that it was very expensive, not only for the fact that if you ran out of resources, you couldn’t just get a bigger computer (although STSC allowed you to ipl different “sizes” of virtual IBM 370 and pay appropriately), but also – and far from least – if you had a dispute with the provider, they had physical possession of your data. As bargaining chips go, that’s a biggy!

    Since PCs arrived, someone has come along every three to five years with a “smart terminal” and claimed that a return to time sharing is the answer to all our problems. So far, every single one of them has been wrong.

  • Flava

    Thanks for putting the link to Cloud COmputing, I had never heard of it before and this article (while also interesting in itself) offered add’l jump-to’s as well.

  • Flava

    Thanks for putting the link to Cloud COmputing, I had never heard of it before and this article (while also interesting in itself) offered add’l jump-to’s as well.

  • http://ceteri.org Paco Nathan

    Nice article. Probably best to keep healthy skepticism about any product pricing claims until after they’re shipping in quantity… but it seems like a wise approach in the long run.

    So many people use “cloud computing” already without seeing it directly — for email, web search, video, online shopping, and probably the hosting for this blog as well.

    In one sense, cloud computing can be leveraged for better power efficiency in ways not unlike plug-in hybrid vehicles. Server facilities (e.g., Google in Oregon) are located close to power generation plants. Less energy gets lost in transmission. Laptop computers probably won’t become nearly as efficient, due to issues of weight, portability, durability, etc. It makes sense to push the “heavy lifting” for computation and storage off to remote servers which are more efficient — as long as privacy concerns are managed carefully.

    In another sense, my laptop’s disk drive went out last week. I had backups for data, but most important data (contacts, email, work documents, source code) were all out on cloud resources. Those took only moments to restore, once a new disk was installed. In short, quite robust and simple to use.

  • http://ceteri.org Paco Nathan

    Nice article. Probably best to keep healthy skepticism about any product pricing claims until after they’re shipping in quantity… but it seems like a wise approach in the long run.

    So many people use “cloud computing” already without seeing it directly — for email, web search, video, online shopping, and probably the hosting for this blog as well.

    In one sense, cloud computing can be leveraged for better power efficiency in ways not unlike plug-in hybrid vehicles. Server facilities (e.g., Google in Oregon) are located close to power generation plants. Less energy gets lost in transmission. Laptop computers probably won’t become nearly as efficient, due to issues of weight, portability, durability, etc. It makes sense to push the “heavy lifting” for computation and storage off to remote servers which are more efficient — as long as privacy concerns are managed carefully.

    In another sense, my laptop’s disk drive went out last week. I had backups for data, but most important data (contacts, email, work documents, source code) were all out on cloud resources. Those took only moments to restore, once a new disk was installed. In short, quite robust and simple to use.