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Are you annoyed when you see people with their backlight on unnecessarily?

Are you annoyed?

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 8.2%

  • No

    Votes: 112 91.8%
  • Total voters
    122
I get annoyed when I see people running. Walking is a much more efficient use of energy.
 
Um, I'm pretty sure Mac doesn't let you turn on the keyboard backlight when it's bright out. I've tried and an icon pops up with an X through the backlight symbol. Not sure what OP is smoking.
 
Typically LED's like those use for the backlighting use between 30-60 milliwatts of power. Here are some typical power consumptions of other popular electronics. Surely there are better things to vilify as waste than the keyboard backlighting.

Average plasma: 301 watts
Average LCD (standard): 111 watts
Average LCD (LED): 101 watts
PlayStation 3: 197 watts
PlayStation 3 Slim: 96 watts
Xbox 360 Elite (2007): 185 watts
Nintendo Wii: 19 watts
Xbox 360: 187 watts
Average PC: 118 watts
DirecTV HR20 DVR: 33 watts
Nintendo Wii: 19 watts
Slingbox: 9 watts
Wireless router: 7 watts
 
Which is to say that they consume on the order of 1/100th the power of a mere wireless router and on the order of 1/10,000th the power of an average LCD. So, you'd have to leave those backlights on for something like 2-3 hrs to waste as much energy as watching 1 second of tv.

I'm not buying OP's "wasteful" argument.


SDColorado said:
Typically LED's like those use for the backlighting use between 30-60 milliwatts of power. Here are some typical power consumptions of other popular electronics. Surely there are better things to vilify as waste than the keyboard backlighting.

Average plasma: 301 watts
Average LCD (standard): 111 watts
Average LCD (LED): 101 watts
PlayStation 3: 197 watts
PlayStation 3 Slim: 96 watts
Xbox 360 Elite (2007): 185 watts
Nintendo Wii: 19 watts
Xbox 360: 187 watts
Average PC: 118 watts
DirecTV HR20 DVR: 33 watts
Nintendo Wii: 19 watts
Slingbox: 9 watts
Wireless router: 7 watts
Click to expand...
 
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There is 1,000 milliamps in a watt/volt, so a 7 watt router like the one I posted would consume 7,000 milliamps vs 30-60 milliamps for a LED. I bet most people have their router running 24/7. I definitely do. I guess the argument could be made that it is wasteful to have it on while I am asleep, but there ya go, I do it anyway :)

mobilehaathi said:
Which is to say that they consume on the order of 100x less power than a mere wireless router and on the order of 10,000x less power than the average LCD. So, you'd have to leave those backlights on for something like 2-3 hrs to waste as much energy as watching 1 second of tv.

I'm not buying OP's "wasteful" argument.
Click to expand...
 
SDColorado said:
There is 1,000 milliamps in a watt/volt, so a 7 watt router like the one I posted would consume 7,000 milliamps vs 30-60 milliamps for a LED. I bet most people have their router running 24/7. I definitely do. I guess the argument could be made that it is wasteful to have it on while I am asleep, but there ya go, I do it anyway :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't arguing with you. I was just trying to help to further put it all into perspective. It is rather silly for the OP to claim that leaving the backlights on is wasteful in any meaningful way given how little power they consume.

I too leave my router on. :cool:
 
I've Never Thought About It...

But I can say that I am annoyed with this thread.

----------
mobilehaathi said:
Which is to say that they consume on the order of 100x less power than a mere wireless router and on the order of 10,000x less power than the average LCD.
Click to expand...

OK, now this annoys me... ;)

I think that instead of saying "100X less power" it should read "1/100th of the power." I see it written that way constantly and it drives me crazy... How can something be "100 times less" of something?

Anyone want to save me the trouble of trying to find this the correct answer? I'm not even sure where to begin looking... I don't mind being wrong, but if someone thinks I am I would appreciate a citation.
 
Last edited:
Mojo1 said:
I think that instead of saying "100X less power" it should read "1/100th of the power." I see it written that way constantly and it drives me crazy... How can something be "100 times less" of something?

Anyone want to save me the trouble of trying to find this in the Chicago Manual of Style? I don't mind being wrong, but if someone thinks I am I would appreciate a citation.
Click to expand...

Indeed, I should have phrased it 1/100th and 1/10,000th the power. If I were writing a bloody article, that would have been edited in the final draft.
 
Can you wear some distinguishing clothing? If I ever see you on a plane or some dark area like a movie theatre, I will be sure to pull out my Macbook Pro, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Classic and crank all of them up to 100%.
 
I don't get annoyed per se, but I wonder if they leave it on to show off. I usually turn mine off just to preserve the life (even thought it may not help) because I hear some people's don't work after a while. It may be my OCD :eek:
 
mobilehaathi said:
Indeed, I should have phrased it 1/100th and 1/10,000th the power. If I were writing a bloody article, that would have been edited in the final draft.
Click to expand...

Hey, no offense intended. My comment was 50% facetious and 50% seriously curious. (Since the thread topic is so off-the-wall I figured it would be OK to hijack it.) I cannot recall the last time I saw it stated as a fraction; newspapers in particular seem to always use "100 times less". One would think that professional journalists would get it right...
 
Mojo1 said:
Hey, no offense intended. My comment was 50% facetious and 50% seriously curious. (Since the thread topic is so off-the-wall I figured it would be OK to hijack it.) I cannot recall the last time I saw it stated as a fraction; newspapers in particular seem to always use "100 times less". One would think that professional journalists would get it right...
Click to expand...

Indeed, I'd theoretically expect some editing for style in a proper publication of any sort. As for news articles.....:rolleyes:

No offense taken!:cool: My Chicago Manual of Style is MIA, or I'd go look it up for you. As a matter of clarity though, I think the fraction is best.
 
This is like an "airing of grievances" thread or something, right? Wake me up when "feats of strength" start...

BTW: Happy Festivus one and all! :D
 
I don't really pay attention to the keyboard backlight. It seems to turn on and off whenever it wants so I let it be.

ericrwalker said:
In your face Al Gore.
Click to expand...

Your daughter is going to look up this thread and want to slap you for contributing to her having to live in a horrible wasteland of a planet.
 
Not at all

But the led flashing of people with 4S phones does annoy me....I tried it on mine once and turned it off.....It's more like a strobe light...sheesh, if you can't here your ringtone and feel the phone vibrating then change to a louder ringtone!
 
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