Compaq Presario CQ2009F Desktop PC

Compaq's energy-efficient CQ2009F desktop computer

There are lots of websites that will talk about the exciting scientific research moving forward on powering our homes with fuel made from algae or other exotic substances.

Hey, I like algae as much as the next guy, but in the meantime, we get most of our energy from 'dirty' sources like oil, coal and nuclear.

So...what really gets me in a tizzy is when manufacturers makes quantum leaps forward in terms of efficiency, materials and affordability.

My last desktop computer was a Compaq. I bought it around late 2001 or early 2002. I spent around $1000 on it. It weighed approximately 27 lbs and (as I found out when I reviwed the Kill-a-Watt last year) used between 70-109 watts of electricity.

That old Compaq performed admirably for a while, even if it did look clunky and take up a significant chunk of my workspace. But then it started suddenly turning itself on and off without warning. And this thing was loud. It's not fun to be wakened in the middle of the night by the giant 'whoosh/click/whirrr' of your computer coming to life.

I had two choices - hire a computer exorcist or buy a new machine.

After looking high and low, I surprised myself by settling on another Compaq.

Compaq doesn't get much respect these days. Businesses are focused on brands like Dell and Lenovo. The hipsters all love their Apples or maybe their Acer eee box.

But I think the Compaq CQ2009F surpasses them all. Here's what I like:

1. Energy efficiency. My old desktop needed 70-109 watts of electricity. As measured by the Kill-a-Watt, the CQ2009F so far seems to draw only 29-32 watts no matter what it's doing. That's an efficiency improvement of approximately 60-70 percent!

2. Size/materials. As mentioned, my old desktop weighed approximately 27 lbs and took up a massive amount of desk space. The CQ2009F is much smaller (4.41" x 10.71" x 9.69"). It weighs only 7 lbs and requires much less space on the desk. That's a 74 percent weight reduction! So this desktop obviously needs much less in the way of raw materials - and since those raw materials tend to be made of plastic (oil) or metal, less is certainly better from an environmental standpoint.

3. Noise pollution. The CQ2009F is much quieter and unobtrusive than my old machine. Less noise pollution is always a good thing.

4. Features. Energy efficient machines are always great, but they're especially impressive when their feature set matches what other machines can do. In this case, I really wanted the ability to read and burn DVDs. The Asus eee box and some of the other tiny desktops don't have any DVD/CD drive, but the CQ2009F has one built in. It also has a handy little card reader so I can take the SD card right from my digital camera and plug it into the desktop without worrying about finding a USB cable.

5. Design. Remember when PCs used to be boring beige or grey boxes? The CQ2009F is sleek and sexy, slightly curvaceous, but not outrageous.

6. Price. It's nice when someone builds a great eco-friendly product, but if that product is out of reach for all buy a few millionaires (i.e. the Tesla electric car), then the practical environmental benefit is minimal. What's so beautiful about the CQ2009F is that it costs less than $300 (not including monitor)! That's a very competitive price these days and far less than I paid for a much less efficient machine just 7-8 years ago.

Why would anyone in the market for a desktop PC buy any other machine? I can think of just a few reasons:

- You're a serious gamer or video producer and need more RAM/power for your PC. (The CQ2009F has plenty of juice for typical home word processing and Internet browsing, but probably not enough for heavy gaming or video editing.)

- You want the smaller size and more efficient energy use (20 watts, according to Asus) of the eee box and you don't care about having the DVD drive.

- You're a Mac user, in which the Mac mini is probably your best eco-friendly bet (as discussed on Metaefficient).

Incidentally, the Dell Studio Hybrid also looks like a good eco-friendly option for PC fans, but it is a bit more pricey than the Compaq CQ2009F and according to the same Metaefficient article, a bit more power-hungry (26-44 watts).

Where to buy:

You can purchase the Compaq CQ2009F through various only retailers including Compaq's own website ($279.99 with free shipping) and Amazon.com ($269.99 with free shipping).