Apple's Mac Mini is the "Greenest" Computer

According to Sust-it.net, an energy website that ranks energy usage and cost for thousands of home appliances, entertainment devices, and computers, Apple's Mac mini is the most energy efficient of all the computers on the market.

With its 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, the Mac mini uses .94W when powered off, just 1.71W when it's in sleep mode, and 12.6W when turned on but idle. According to the website, the energy cost per year (sans monitor) is $5.51 when calculated in accordance with the average United States electricity rates. While this particular model is no longer made by Apple, the new 2.26 GHz is and it's even more efficient. Apple's environmental report for the mini shows the revised model uses only .80W when powered off, 1.39W in sleep mode, and 13.4W when idle.

As far as other "green" computers on the list, Apple computers (both laptops and all-in-ones) were all ranked pretty high. The 1.86 GHz MacBook Air comes in at second place in the laptop category behind the HP Pavilion DM3. Both the laptops cost around $2.39 per year, but the HP had lower power consumption when powered off and in sleep mode.

As for the all-in-ones, eMachines, Acer, Asus, and MSI all came in the top five spots, followed by the iMac at number six.

If you're looking to make a smaller carbon footprint and buy a greener computer, the list at the sust-it website is a good place to do some comparison shopping. Though it's not apparent how often the list is updated, just make sure you know that the computer world is ever-changing and tomorrow, Apple or any other company could come out with an even greener PC.

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It's a Great Time to Buy a Mac

People are generally pretty defensive when it comes to whether they prefer a Mac or PC, but still, there are some people on the fence, debating making the jump to a new Apple product. Well, according to some experts, there's no time like present to invest in a new Mac. Last week, Apple released several new products, as well as updating several of the old ones.

So, which Macs got updates? Well, the Mac Mini got a little refresher. Now you have a new option to choose two hard drives with no optical drive. And the MacBook is now built out of a durable unibody enclosure. It also now features a new non-removable, long-lasting battery (7 hours of estimated life). The bottom is also now made out of a non-slip material.

As far as new products go, the new Magic Mouse is hot. It's an average Apple desktop mouse combined with a trackpad like you would find in a laptop. It allows desktop users to perform the same finger gestures as laptop users can and for that reason, Apple calls it the "world's first Multi-Touch mouse."

The new iMacs have new, bigger screens (21.5" and 27" models) but they are also IPS panels, which are considered by many to be the top LCD panels. But it's little luxuries like this that have allowed Apple to become such a computer giant. And while the new monitor size, alone, is reason enough to get excited, it's got new upgrade options including including a Quad Core CPU, up to 16 GB of RAM and up to 2 TB of disk space.

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