Nowadays, saving energy is quickly becoming common sense as opposed to forward thinking.  More and more tech consumers are aware of vampire power and and there are plenty of products out there to combat this unnecessary use of energy.

Having recently been introduced to the TrickleStar products, I have found them to be easy to use as well as being relatively easy on the wallet.  What I can say right away is that you are not going to see a noticeable difference in your electric bill.  Not unless you are using a ton of them.  You’d really have to have your whole residence outfitted in order to see your bill go down.

Now that’s not to say that every little bit doesn’t count for something.  I’m sure it does work to prevent vampire power, you just have to have faith and believe in the product.  To help with that faith, the TrickleStar PC Energy Saver and Switch look very consumer friendly using a brilliant white glossy plastic and an attractive logo.

To explain what the TrickleStar PC Energy Saver and switch does is quite basic.  It limits the amount of stand-by power your computer and peripherals draw from the wall outlet when not in use.  When you power down or put to sleep your Mac or PC, the energy saver is activated.  Without the switch, the energy saver is automatically set into use upon shut-down, whereas you have manual control when you have the switch integrated with in the set-up.  I really have no idea why this wasn’t one product, but I’ll save that for gripe time.

The set-up process is really easy as well.  All you do is plug the energy saver into the wall and then plug the power strip containing your PC/Mac and all its peripherals (Scanner, Printer, USB Hubs) into the female end.  From there you plug the USB end into any port that reaches your computer.  The switch is the middle man between you computer and the energy saver and uses female and male USB plugs to make that connections.  Super easy.

I have a MacBook laptop so I am often using my computer away from my hard drives, USB hubs, and iPhone dock.  The TrickleStar PC Energy Saver and Switch worked perfect for this.  All I had to do was flip the switch and my whole surge protector  and hard drives were shut down.  The switch itself denotes power through a bright green LED.  For more permanent set-ups, the Energy Save plug is mountable and the Switch has a peel adhesive.

Simple as that, my only problem with these products is that they are not one product.  There’s really no need for this and it is much more practical to power your gear down manually, especially when using several chained hard drives.

Beyond that, the TrickleStar products work as advertised and will cost under $30 for the pair.  If you are looking for a way to assure yourself that your computer set-up is not wasting energy I strongly suggest you give these products a try.

Pros:

• Easy Set-Up
• Attractive Aesthetic
• Saves Energy

Cons:

• Products should be combined as one package
• No real way to prove it works without the help of MythBusters

Buy the TrickleStar PC Energy Saver Plug Here For $17!

Buy the Trickle Star PC Switch Here For $10!Similar Posts:

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Lexmark has announced the release of 8 web-connected AIO (All in One) printers that come with a 4.3” touchscreen.  Lexmark has publicly announced it believes touch screens are now a “must” for AOIs, and is continuing its support of this trend with these new products.

Aside from conventional features like ID card copy and RSS feeds, these new printers come standard with innovative features that promise to increase your business’ efficiency. These include:

• Vizix Print Technology – Can enhance speed and print quality. The secret is the use separate tanks of ink, which lets users pick a printer on the needs of the individual job.
• Wireless printing – Lexmark developed the first wireless printer with a function in the WiFi 802.11n networks that can connect to a computer in wireless mode.
• Power saving Eco Mode – While printing documents, Eco Mode automatically distributes the text on both sides of the printed sheet, saving paper and energy.
• Business card Scan – When printing business cards or emails with individual’s contact information, all of the contact info is automatically loaded in the user’s address book.

These amazing touchscreen inkjets are expected to be released on September with prices ranging from US$199 to $399.

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What is it: The Dell Wasabi PZ310 pocket printer is exactly that–an extremely tiny mobile printer designed for printing on the go. It’s inkless since it’s based on Zink’s Inkless technology. So how does it work? Color dye crystals are embedded into the special ZINK paper and released when heated by the printer

Features:

• Prints instant, borderless, color 2″x3″ photos on ZINK’s peel-and-stick paper
• Connects to any device with PictBridge over USB or Bluetooth support
• 12 sheet ZINK paper capacity
• Available in black, pink, or blue
• Prints full photos in less than a minute

Availability: Here

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Sony got scooped on not one, but two patents today. I now present to you the touchscreen printer.  It’s best described as a Microsoft Surface with a printer built-in.  Just place the camera on the printer’s touchscreen and the photos are wirelessly downloaded.  The touchscreen allows for editing and modifying of the photos, such as cropping or color changing.  When finished, hit print and out of the side emerges the photo.  It’s not clear why the printer features a foldable design, but it might be safe to assume it expands the touchscreen surface area or allows for scanning.

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What is it: The Mattel Barbie B-Nail Printer is just like a regular inkjet printer only it prints images directly onto a fingernail. To keep the print in place a nonproprietary gloss (any nail gloss) must be applied.

Features: Software for managing, printing and importing custom or stock images, built-in camera, finger slot for accurate printing and more.

Availability: Summer 2009

Price: Similar price to a “Barbie Dream House”, which is apparently about $200

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What is it: A handheld scanner/printer that scans information such as a barcode, sends/receives data wirelessly, then prints a smudge-free non-toxic image. Great for shipping companies such as UPS and Fedex because it can print a label directly on the box. No paper label sticker needed

Features: Built-in scanner, Wi-Fi, and inkjet printer

Availability: Now

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Not that 3D printing will show up in your house anytime soon, but the folks at Mcor Technologies are making it a closer reality than ever before.   Their Matrix 3D printer uses regular old A4 paper to build, yes, 3D objects.  It works by gluing the pieces of paper together to form what looks like a relatively sturdy object.

Makes sense, since it’s probably far cheaper (cost per cubic centimeter is $0.0144)  than other 3D printers we’ve seen. But I’d wager a bet that they’re at the top of sone environmentalist’s ‘watch list’.

The Matrix 3D printer will be available in the US Q1 of 2009.  More info here

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Just in time for the holidays, Canon has slapped their Selphy CP770 printer with a Hello Kitty finish. The printer has a built-in bucket that’s intended for storing photos, AC cord and whatever other crap you wanna tote along with you.

Expect it sometime this November, although I’m not sure it will make it State side.

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Don’t expect to cruise down to your local Staples and pick up this printer any time soon.  The Alaris 30 Desktop 3D printer requires a CAD file and a $40,000 bank roll.  But once you’ve dragged the 180lb printer back to the office you’ll be knocking out detailed 3D models.

“It works by shooting out photopolymer in thin layers into a tray. These layers are cured right away using UV light. As each layer stacks on top of each other, the form becomes complete. It builds the model right before your eyes.”

Video after the ‘leap’

Official site here

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Although both of Canon’s latest printers are almost identical, the ES3 takes the big brother label by sporting 1gig of on board memory for storing photos, additional clip art and photo frames and a larger LCD.  They both feature a 15-in-1 memory card reader, a 3.5-inch LCD for previewing photos (3.0-inches for the ES30), are PictBridge compatible (this allows you to connect a camera and print from it), and use Canon ink and paper cartridges.

I guess they’re available now (Amazon has them) and will go for $200 for the ES3, and $150 for the ES30. I don’t see the appeal, but they do look oh so Euro.  Plus the cartridges probably cost an arm and a leg.Similar Posts:

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ZINK Paper™ is at the heart of ZINK™ Zero Ink™ Technology. ZINK Paper is an advanced composite material with cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals embedded inside and a protective polymer overcoat layer outside, enabling true ink-free prints. Before printing, the embedded dye crystals are colorless, so ZINK Paper looks like regular white photo paper. A ZINK-enabled device uses heat to activate and colorize these dye crystals.These crystals, named Amorphochromic™ crystals, represent an entirely new class of molecules, invented by ZINK Scientists through a rigorous discovery process. The properties of each dye crystal were finely tuned to achieve the color palette and image stability required for beautiful, full-color digital prints. ZINK™ scientists also invented a way to activate each of the crystals independently using heat pulses of precisely determined duration and temperature to achieve any color under the rainbow. The printing process is now radically simple.

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Of course at about $1 / page I wouldn’t go too nuts.

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The hand-held printer will ship with a disc containing 40 designs, a black ink cartridge, a docking station, and 2 9-volt batteries. You can download additional designs with twelve additional discs available for $29.99. Ink cartridges will come in black, green, and red and sell for $39.99. Each cartridge should print up to 5,000 inches.

The printer was developed by Xyron and will ship in December ‘05 for $139.99.

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