{"id":3055,"date":"2009-09-03T00:00:53","date_gmt":"2009-09-03T05:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.olino.org\/us\/?p=3055"},"modified":"2009-08-23T08:37:48","modified_gmt":"2009-08-23T13:37:48","slug":"energy-consumption-on-the-apple-mac-mini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/articles\/2009\/09\/03\/energy-consumption-on-the-apple-mac-mini\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy-consumption on the Apple Mac Mini"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.olino.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/apple_mac_mini-300x199.jpg\" class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-7039\" src=\"http:\/\/www.olino.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/apple_mac_mini-300x199-100x66.jpg\" alt=\"apple_mac_mini-300x199\" width=\"100\" height=\"66\" \/><\/a>The Apple Mac Mini is a small and efficient computer for domestic use.\u00a0 By default, there are nowadays (August 2009) 3 different configurations available: all 3 based on Intel Pentium Core2Duo processors, but all vary in the range of harddisk capacity and memory capacity.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>As my laptop is ready to be replaced due to age,\u00a0 it became time to upgrade to an Apple computer. It\u2019s my very first Apple \u00a0since I\u2019ve been working most of my life with Windows-based (and some Linux based) computers. The 2009 Mac Mini edition is marketed to be very energy-efficient, which is for me very interesting. Can the marketing of this computer claims to be THAT efficient? It\u2019s time to find out!<\/p>\n<h3>The Configuration<\/h3>\n<p>The Apple Mac Mini is a small sized computer: it\u2019s slightly larger than an CD-ROM hardcase, and approx. 7 cm. high.\u00a0 In this small space, Apple succeeded \u00a0incorporating the following components:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Intel Pentium Core2DUO (model P7350) running 2 Gigahertz,<\/li>\n<li>2 Gbyte internal RAM (busclock at 1GHz, DDR3);<\/li>\n<li>Nvidea onboard GPU with mini-DVI outlet (onboard memory is shared, to a maximum of 256Mb in co-operation with 2Gb or more internal memory (otherwise: 128Mb video is used)<\/li>\n<li>320 Gb internal harddisk;<\/li>\n<li>dual layer DVD-unit;<\/li>\n<li>5 USB 2.0 ports;<\/li>\n<li>1 firewire 800 port;<\/li>\n<li>Bluetooth en WLAN functionality (802.11n);<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of course there\u2019s also an UTP connector (10\/100\/1000BASE-T (Gigabit).<\/p>\n<h3>The Installation and Set-up Process<\/h3>\n<p>Installation of\u00a0the Mac Mini is really Plug-and-play. Connect the keyboard, mouse and power supply and turn on the system! \u00a0During initial startup, \u00a0the system requests the desired language, location, and automatically detects (or requests) for WLAN setup.<\/p>\n<p>After all was said and done, the setup was really easy to do, and was done within approx. 20 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>My screen (Samsung SyncMaster 226BW, 22 inch flatscreen) \u00a0already showed a very crisp display of the Mac OS\/X environment:\u00a0 besides the high resolution(1680 x 1050 pixels), it\u2019s probably also the result of the DVI-signals: very crisp and clear.\u00a0 \u00a0As far as I can tell, the onboard Nvidea GPU can really handle the graphics. \u00a0How it will perform in intensive 3D-games, I can not tell,\u00a0 but if you\u2019d like to game you might consider an Xbox360\/PSP or similar.<\/p>\n<p>For ordinary\/domestic use, this Apple Mac Mini is a very good solution. With the performance of the Intel Core2Duo CPU the OS\/X 10.5.8 operating system (code name \u201cLeopard\u201d) is really impressive!<\/p>\n<h3>Sound<\/h3>\n<p>As I\u2019m working for more than an hour on this Mac Mini, \u00a0it\u2019s really impressive how little\u00a0noise is emitted from the Mac Mini. The noise that IS produced is mainly my external harddisk drive (80Gb Maxtor in external USB case). Without my external harddisk running, it\u2019s completely silent during normal jobs (domestic use, like surfing, mailing etcetera). Ofcourse, when you use the integrated DVD-unit, you certainly will notice the increase due to the speed of the DVD-drive.<\/p>\n<h3>Energy-efficiency of the Apple Mac Mini<\/h3>\n<p>Certainly I monitored the energy-consumption on this Mac Mini (2009 build) which is marketed as \u2018low-energy\u2019. As my meter is installed (a Cresta RCE1106) to my system (Mac Mini 2GHz\/2Gb\/320Gb HDD) I measured the following:<\/p>\n<table border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Device<\/th>\n<th>OS<\/th>\n<th>Powermanagement<\/th>\n<th>max. consumed power [Watt]<\/th>\n<th>Sustained power consumption [Watt]<\/th>\n<th>Annual consumption [kWh]<\/th>\n<th>Energy costs on annual base [EUR]*<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Inspiron 6400 Core2Duo T7200 @2GHz<\/td>\n<td>WindowsXP Media Center<\/td>\n<td>Home\/Office<\/td>\n<td>69 Watt<\/td>\n<td>39 Watt<\/td>\n<td>140,40 kWh<\/td>\n<td>EUR 37,90<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Inspiron 6400 Core2Duo T7200 @2GHz<\/td>\n<td>WindowsXP Media Center<\/td>\n<td>Max. battery<\/td>\n<td>34 Watt<\/td>\n<td>33 Watt<\/td>\n<td>118,80 kWh<\/td>\n<td>EUR 32,07<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Inspiron 6400 Core2Duo T7200 @2GHz<\/td>\n<td>OpenSuse R11.1 64-bit<\/td>\n<td>Performance<\/td>\n<td>46 Watt<\/td>\n<td>44 Watt<\/td>\n<td>158,40 kWh<\/td>\n<td>EUR 42,77<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mac Mini Core2Duo 2GHz<\/td>\n<td>OS X 10.5.8<\/td>\n<td>out of the box<\/td>\n<td>35 Watt<\/td>\n<td>13 Watt<\/td>\n<td>46,8 kWh<\/td>\n<td>EUR 12,63<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>* Assumption: 1kWh = 0,27 EUR (all in)<\/p>\n<p>As I\u2019m blogging this article, with several applications opened in OS\/X (like Capture NX, HueyPro, Safari) the energy consumption is approx 13 Watt (steady).<\/p>\n<p>During boot-up phase, \u00a0the energy consumption peaked at a (short) 35 Watts.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see, \u00a0the Mac Mini (2009) is really energy-efficient.\u00a0 Keep in mind,\u00a0 the 22 inch flatscreen also uses electricity and is left out of the \u00a0measurement for both systems (laptop and Mac Mini).<\/p>\n<p>55 Watts on annual base is\u00a0good for 198 kWh of electricity for the flatscreen only. So if you need to replace your computer, you can re-use your monitor (and also keyboard and mouse).\u00a0 \u00a0Keep in mind the Mac Keyboard has some specialized Mac-keys to be used in the OS\/X environment, and can not be found on the ordinary US-keyboard you already might have.<\/p>\n<p>Of course the user can really learn the OS\/X environment in a low-level entry manner. Even I can find my way around, with gadgets like Spotlight (to find help-texts and documents)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.olino.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/desktop.jpg\" class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7040\" src=\"http:\/\/www.olino.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/desktop-400x265.jpg\" alt=\"desktop\" width=\"400\" height=\"265\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Another first hand experience is the superb and really fast installation of printers. My Hewlett-Packard all- in -one takes several minutes to be installed in WindowsXP,\u00a0 but within OS\/X it\u2019s more or less than 1-2 seconds! But for now, I\u2019m migrating my files and email to this Mac\u2026. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Niels Thijssen, Weblog: <a title=\"Renewable Energy: NOW!\" href=\"http:\/\/www.renewable.niels-thijssen.nl\/\" target=\"_blank\">Renewable Energy: NOW<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Related articles<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a title=\"Building a low power consuming server (1) | OliNo\" href=\"http:\/\/www.olino.org\/us\/articles\/2006\/07\/11\/building-a-low-power-consuming-server-1\">Building a low power consuming server<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Apple Mac Mini is a small and efficient computer for domestic use.\u00a0 By default, there are nowadays (August 2009) 3 different configurations available: all 3 based on Intel Pentium Core2Duo processors, but all vary in the range of harddisk capacity and memory capacity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3055"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3060,"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3055\/revisions\/3060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olino.org\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}