e-on's New "PowerDown" Plug

[[R-DEV]Rhino]

I saw this on TV either on the News or an Advert last week, not sure which but I've not seen it since but anyways most things on the box dont grab my attention that much since most of it is just crap but this was quite a big exception as 5mins after seeing it I was on my PC doing some research on it.

Basically this thing is a plug that you put into your wall socket, then you plug your PC and all your PC's peripherals into. Not very exciting so far I know but here's the clever part, this plug can tell when your PC is on or off and basically what it dose is when your PC is on, it supplies power to the peripherals plugged into it such as your screen, speaker systems, printers, scanners or external hard drives etc, but when you shut your PC down, it automatically detects when your PC is off, and cuts off the power to these devices, saving you power and money. There main aim with this product is for it to be "green", ie, environmentally friendly but tbh I dont buy into that sh*t too much, this product in my eyes is a way to save money, power and natural resources, not the environment although that may be a bi-product if this thing is used enough ye but not that much

Money wise, this thing is meant to pay itself off in between 6 months and year so its a pretty solid investment IMO providing this thing dont brake, thou it has a product warranty you just need to fill out this form as this product is still in its "trial stages".

This is what e-on have to say about it anyways: Powerdown : E.ON

PowerDown
Ensuring that all your peripherals are turned off when you shut down your computer

Using a PowerDown will ensure that all your peripherals are turned off when you shut down your computer, this might include your modem, printer or anything else you plug into it.

Plug your computer lead into the main PowerDown socket and then plug any related peripherals into the side sockets. You can plug a flat multi socket adapter into the PowerDown if you have a lot of peripherals. Make sure none of the items are things you need to use when your computer is turned off.

When you switch off your PC, the PowerDown senses this and will automatically cut the power off from the rest of your devices. When you turn your PC on it will automatically power them all back on.

The annual saving by using a PowerDown is over £16*, so its payback period is under half a year. By using a PowerDown you will save 1.76kWh of electricity annually and reduce CO2 emissions by 0.75kg.

After doing some research on this I decided to order one, was going to order more but at the moment since its on trial you can only order one maximum for one account which was a smart thing to do it seems as its saying here it dont work with laptops on the box where I was planning on giving my dad etc one.

Anyways, using it at the mo and after turning on / off my PC a few times, it dose exactly what it says on the tin really, even my remote still works for turning on my PC which was one of the little things I was unsure about. So what this means for me now is that I can watch that episode of South Park or 24 just before bed and then after shutting my PC off I wont have to hop out of my warm cosy bed to turn off my speakers so they dont buzz all the way though the night

Anyways any one who wants to get this from the UK you can get this here: https://www.eonshop.co.uk/ProductDet...CKB&Category=5

Dunno when/if it will be available in the US or anywhere else since afaik e-on is a UK based company and I would have thought they would have quite big patents on this, even thou if they where soo "eco friendly" they would take off the patent and let any one makes these so that everyone could have them, all they want to do is make money

But ye, from what I've tested of it so far today, which is very little, I would recommend it. Plan on testing it out on my dad's laptop and the TV etc but dunno how well or if it will work on them but will report back here


Hope this helps some ppl here!

[McBumLuv]

That's really cool

I always have to take about 5 minutes just disconnecting/reconnecting my PC stuff (mainly just my Joystick, because it's light stays on otherwise, and since it's in my room, I can't get to sleep ).

Would save me quite a bit of hassle, and would probably save enough money after since I still have a printer and w/e that I don't bother unpluging.

[[R-DEV]Rhino]

what are you using, a x52? very rarly I get that with my x52 but not often, but ehh, if this joystick is powered only by a USB port, then ehhh dunno if this plug will make any difference to that as it still provides a small bit of power to the PC so it can turn on when you want it to.

otherwise my remote wouldn't turn on my PC as that's also plugged into the USB.

[McBumLuv]

Nah, its a Saitek Evo Force, which is plugged into both my computer's USB and the power bar. Even if it's unplugged from the computer, though, its light stays on unless you unplug it's power source.

But why would you need a remote to turn on your computer? I can understand with TVs and Stereos, but Computers require you to work right next to them (Unless ofc you're using it as a TV or sound system ). Or do you like to come home from work and turn the Comp on while grabbing a snack to eat then comming up to log on without having to wait for it to boot, saving you effectively maybe a minute?

[Salah ad Din]

That thing is useless, it only has one master and two slave slots and pluggin stuff into extension cords which are not directly plugged into a wall socket is soemthing one should not do.



What you need is this (btw, these things have been around for years):

[[R-DEV]Rhino]

Originally Posted by Salah ad Din

That thing is useless, it only has one master and two slave slots and pluggin stuff into extension cords which are not directly plugged into a wall socket is soemthing one should not do.

nooo, you see its kinda a big difference, the above has loads of high vantage equipment plugged into a rubbish one, meaning the plug is overloaded, a PC, speaker system, printers etc do not take up that many volts and wont overload the socket. So pluging in leads to the slave plugs is fine, providing you dont stick electric heaters, toasters, kettles etc all into the same plug that require huge amounts of power to run.

Originally Posted by Salah ad Din

What you need is this (btw, these things have been around for years):

you mean flip the switch on that or can that thing detect when the main device is off? if it can detect when a device is off then I've never heard about it, but yes, ive seen extension cords with serge protectors built in and have a on/off switch before...


As for my remote, its good to wake up on a Saturday morning, start up the PC from your bed and get music playing, as well as many other things mainly related to multi media.

[[R-DEV]Masaq]

Nice idea, and it's little things like that that help individuals save a bit of cash... but for £8, I can simply keep using the wall socket into which my PC's multisocket powersurge protector and buy 3 pints of beer.... wall socket is conventiently located about 1ft above the ground, about 2ft below where my left hand rests on the desk

If I had to scrabble around under the desk to kill power to everything though, then I'd consider it. Or just using the on/off switches located on my monitors, speakers and printer lol.

[McBumLuv]

Originally Posted by Salah ad Din

That thing is useless, it only has one master and two slave slots and pluggin stuff into extension cords which are not directly plugged into a wall socket is soemthing one should not do.



What you need is this (btw, these things have been around for years):

I guess, the power bar with the switch does help, but that just means you'd have to bend down to turn it off/on each time, which might not be that easy considering what some people (namely my self) have done to hide those ugly wires.

[Teek]

My power bar is on my desk, next to my lamp. All I have to do when shutting down is turn the computer off, turn the light off and turn the power bar off, or I can flip the power bar and they all go off.

[[R-DEV]Deadfast]

Originally Posted by McLuv

I guess, the power bar with the switch does help, but that just means you'd have to bend down to turn it off/on each time, which might not be that easy considering what some people (namely my self) have done to hide those ugly wires.

I have the "crocodile" taped on the back of my table, meaning all I have to do is reach behind it and flip the button.

Not only it's easy to turn on/off, but it also hides most of these nasty cables.


If you don't feel like doing this you can always turn it off the "ape way" - use your leg