Environmental group still not happy with Microsoft's Xbox One energy-saving option

NRDC: "Although Microsoft just announced it will issue a software update to the Xbox One that will allow U.S. gamers to choose the energy-saving option when they first set up their console, it's too early to know whether this will really end the $250 million worth of annual electricity waste due to be caused by the Instant-on feature."

[nicksetzer1]

Accidentally leaving a single light on overnight uses 3x more power than leaving the xbox one on 24/7. Considering an average household has 20-50 lights, many of which are left on during hours when the sun is out and accidentally left on overnight makes this seem silly. Not to mebtion most PC users leave their computer on 24/7 full power which is generally 300-500 times more power consumption.

Idiots being idiots as usual.

For reference:
Xb1 in instant on (which CAN be changed to almost 0w and is lower than most devices use while "off" such as TV's and cable boxes) - 12w

Average light bulb - 60w

PC power supply pull - 150-1000w the average high end PC runs around 300-500w on average while fully on.

[nicksetzer1]

Just read the article that is being referred to by polygon and found this:

"You'll note that there's no mention of the respective standby power levels for the options: less than 1 watt for Energy-saving mode and 12.5 watts for Instant-on, which translates to an extra $33 to $75 (depending where you live) of electricity use over the typical five year life of a console"

Essentially they are whining about $10/year (aka less than $1/month) and AGAIN has the option to be set to almost 0w.

[Stiffler]

Yup, well said nick +1. Compared to what really drains power on standby in almost every house, this is very minuscule in the grand scheme of things. Ah well, we'll see what comes from the second claim from this group.

[lameguy]

You know, I generally believe in optimization across all engineering disciplines and processes. If you can do the same thing but with less, well, you do the less part.

However, I can't fully with a straight face, read that sentence and rationalize $75 over the course of 5 years... I get it though in that there's still some fat to trim from Xbox so I'll let them slide; but come on!

[uth11]

Instead of rationalizing it with "well other devices use as much in standby" I'd rather see all devices engineered to use less power in standby. There is a "1 watt initiative" to try to do this.

Maybe it's only $10/year for one device, but if you have multiple devices with this problem as many of us do, it adds up.

Why throw money away? Why waste the natural resources?

[Iceball2000]

Polygon?

...LOL

[nicksetzer1]

@uth it is not a "waste" it is an OPTION. Guess what, if you don't want to use the power, put it on energy saving mode.

[Bigpappy]

It is nip picking. But they are pushing M$ to do better. I have no problem with it, as long as there is no additional cost to consumers and there is no plan to try and ban the console from the market. The environmentalist have a useful purpose, but like most people who find themselves with too much power (Law enforcement; politicians...), they often get carried away and overstep.

[Why o why]

agreed

[TheCommentator]

I'd said it in the last thread, why doesn't this group do something useful and ban the incandescent light bulb? 7 billion people use those compared to 10 million XB1 owners potentially wasting 12 watts.

[Cernunnos]

My rig pulls close to 1100 watts when under load...

[SunnyZ]

OMG!
Al Gore is gonna sue you!

[Outthink_The_Room]

The best part about these articles is that the PS4 actually uses more power overall, given the same everyday scenario.

Breakdown: XB1

Standby with instant-on for 18 hours at 12.5w = 225w
Gaming for 4 hours at 119w = 476w
Watching a movie for 2 hours at 80w = 160w

Total for XB1 on an average day = 861w

Breakdown: PS4

Standby with instant-on for 18 hours at 9w = 162w
Gaming for 4 hours at 140w = 560w
Watching a movie for 2 hours at 98w = 196w

Total for PS4 on an average day = 918w

The PS4 uses 20 watts more in almost every area: navigation, gaming and movies. Yet, here we are. Amazing.

[TOTSUKO]

A more powahful machine requires more POWAH!

http://desmond.imageshack.u...

[rawrock]

Wish we could go back to the 80's where everyone left lights on and we all ate transfatty fast food and put real toys in sugary cereal boxes and no one complained. I am tired of the pansy liberal way the world has gone lol...

[endi123]

Power consumption is the last thing that I look when I'm buying a game console, don't know why is there such a fuss over that

[mhunterjr]

Essentially, these guys want the energy-saving mode to be the default, which isn't going to happen, since the Instant-on mode offers a better consumer experience, and MS is, rightfully, going to push the best consumer experience. These guys bash the "negative messaging", but energy conscious people who, value savings over convenience, would still see the value in using the energy saving mode. People who want to get the most out of their console should know what they are sacrificing by by using energy saving mode.

Then they falsely claim that the 'main reason' for instant-on is so that users can use voice commands to turn the box on... This is clearly false, since most xbox's sold don't even include a kinect. The real reason is for suspend/resume and a better hdmi-passthrough experience. For me, those to features are more than worth the negligible $33-$75 I could save over the course of five years.

Then there are these baseless comparisons to cell phones and tablets... I understand that they a have an agenda, a noble one at that, but let's get real here.

[rawrock]

I have had the instant on feature since I bought it over a year ago. Have not noticed my electric bill go up one dollar from it. Thing this energy use thing is way overhyped right now.

[Letros]

Now they are just trolling

[Jedislayer]

Who gives a S***!

[DDOS-DelDaemonicOSes]

The extra heat and hot air of fLAMERS BSing is where we're really losing efficiency and paying more than we should.