As most computer users are well aware, power-saving features are built into XP, Vista, and OS X. What sets Edison apart from what Microsoft and Apple provides is the estimated cost of savings from your electical bill, conserved electricity in kiloWatt hour, and how much carbon dioxide not put into the atmostphere.
It was neat play around with the setting, going from zero savings to over a thousand dollars a year(the cost of electricity can be changed). If the cost of electricity is different from the default value, click on the value and Edison will provide the option to enter the correct value.
There are limits to what Edison offers. The can be moved from "Save More" to "Save Less". However, the time for different parts of the system cannot be manually adjusted.
It's a very interesting program. I can't recommend because of the limitations. In addition, there is no way to know how accurate the figures for the savings are. With the different types of motherboards, CPU, disk drives, and monitors, I question if it really know whether I've got a newer CPU with power saving features or one from three years ago plugged into the system.
I have a couple of recommendations on how to improve this. One, let the user manually adjust the timer. I think the work and non-work time is a good touch but if users are allowed to save profiles, that would be even better.
One more thing, it'll be nice for it to keep a running tab on the saving. Cost. Carbon Dioxide. Something. Or like how many polar bears saved.
Bottomline: It's free. And it brings awarenss to those who uses it on power saving features and the environmental impact. I'll try it on different systems and laptops and get back to you to see if Edison is aware of its environment too.
It's only for the XP and Vista. Macs are left out of this one. Once it's installed, it sits in the toolbar for easy access. It beats having to go to the control panel.
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