Eco-Button

A Gadget that helps to save the planet is not normally the first choice hear on GFM… But one that can also save you money and give your PC some protection peaked our interest. I give you, the Ecobutton.

This clever little thing is essentially a large LED back lit button that connects to your computer via a USB port. You give the large green button a push and hey presto, the magic happens, or in other words, you PC quickly goes into “Eco Mode”. Eco Mode is essentially standby mode that keeps you hard drive running, but does it while only using 1.8 watts of power (apparently that is loads less then most normal standby modes). I know what you are thinking; “Yawn” “Seen it before” “Who cares” and we thought the same when we first saw it. But read on as the best is yet to come.

In our opinion the cleverest bit about the ecobutton is the software it comes installed with, because once you take your computer out of eco mode (happens almost instantly) the ecobutton page pops up. This shows how much of your hard earned readies (£) and how much CO2 emissions you have saved while you were off gallivanting. Hear at GFM we don’t class ourselves as Eco warriors and we have never really thought about what our carbon footprint may be stepping on, but we found this information very satisfying because the page also carries a running total of exactly how much money and CO2 we has saved. We cant wait to tell some ranting hippy about the exact amount of CO2 we have spared and according to the manufacturers, this little Gizmo will save the average computer user around £50 pounds a year. £50!! Imagine the extra gadgets we could buy with that! Still we cant think of a more self gratifying gadget that will actually show you when it has paid for itself or when it has saved you enough to buy a pint.

As well as all its eco fighting and geniuses money conservation, the Ecobutton in its spare time enjoys, long walks, having fun and securing your computer. Yes, as an additional feature the Ecobutton also has a password protect function built into its software. This allows you to set up a password prompt for every time the Eco mode is cancelled, stopping co workers from sending incriminating emails or pesky family members hopping on the PC wile you are “indisposed”.

We love this little button hear at GMF. What other gadget can you buy that ticks so many boxes? It saves you money (for larger), it saves the world (sort of), it saves your PC (from enemies) and it does all of this for less than the price of a takeaway for 2.

In Short: The Ecobutton is small gadget with a small price tag that makes big changes to your bank balance, the environment and adds security to your PC.