4 CULV Laptops Worth Owning

In case you haven’t been paying attention to the gadget market, there is plenty of buzz around netbooks and mobile netbooks on the market. But not everyone in the main-street knows about CULV laptops. CULV laptops are energy efficient machines that are powerful and capable of performing high-level computing operations (unlike some netbooks). These netbooks are based on Intel’s new CPUs and are intended to add to battery life and help manufacturers introduce more energy efficient laptops.

CULV laptops have gained a lot of attention recently, and many experts have claimed that they will indeed challenge netbooks for supremacy in the laptop market. There aren’t many of them around, but the ones available on the market are very good. With that in mind, here are 4 cool energy efficient CULV laptops worth owning:

MSI X340-021US Slim 13.4-Inch Laptop: it’s a super slim laptop that comes with energy-efficient 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 Processor, Windows Vista, and a HD screen.

Acer Aspire 4810 Timeline 14.0-Inch Laptop: this is what I like to call a powerhouse. Comes with Intel Pentium SU2700 1.30GHz Processor, 3 GB of Ram, and 8 hours of battery life. It’s portable as well.

Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810TZ-4880: another 14 Inch CULV laptop that is not only energy efficient but highly powerful. The battery will last you 8+ hours. You get 4 GB of Ram and Windows Vista.

MSI X320-037US 13.4-Inch Laptop: another super slim MSI laptop that is highly energy efficient as well. Comes with wireless N capability, 2 GB of RAM, and 4 hours of battery life.

There you have it. 4 CULV laptops that are way worth it. They provide you with a lot of bang for your buck and are much cheaper than a Macbook Air. If you are looking for a slim, portable, and energy efficient laptp system, you should give these a try.

Green Home Improvement 101: How To Get Started – Part I

So you want to go green? There is no better way to do that than by starting the process right at home. I remember when I decided to get started with this process. Everywhere I looked in my house, there was an opportunity to go green. Whether it’s the way your power up your house or consume water, there is always opportunity to improvement. As someone who jumped into this field without having too much background, I can tell you that things can get a bit confusing. There are a lot of things you can do, and you want to make sure you have the right knowledge to get the maximum out of your dollars.

There are plenty of ways to get started with this process. I personally would suggest breaking it down to a few main things and then tackle them one by one — divide and conquer if you will. Here is how I would divide it:

• Energy: you know, solar panels, solar chargers, wind mills, and so on. Look for ways to reduce your energy consumption at home and find new energy alternatives.
• Light: going back to the first point, you need to use energy efficient lights to save money in the long run and conserve energy.
• Cooling & heating: we all want to have the coolest/warmest rooms during summer/winter. But you should avoid going overboard. It’s not good for your pocket, and it’s not good for the environment either. Using a thermostat always helps. You can also save a lot of money with evaporative fans and more.
• Plumbing: wasting water is not exactly an admirable thing to do. So if your faucet is leaking or there is something wrong with your showers, you should take time to fix them to not only save money but also water. Water is a precious thing. In some companies, people pay a lot of money to buy it. So conserving water is a great move for today and the future.
• Outdoors: you’d be surprised how many opportunities you’ll find in your yard to save the environment and money at the same time. I am not just talking about putting soloar panels on your roof. Think about your lawn. Using an energy efficient lawn mower could be a good start. You can focus on organic gardening to avoid introducing harmful material to the environment. How about collecting rain water? Doesn’t sound too silly, does it?
• Green Gadgets: Energy star gadgets are energy efficient and are in general better than their non-eco counterparts. But you should always read the descriptions of what you are buying to get gadgets that are not only energy efficient but also don’t introduce any harmful material to the environment.
• Accessories: there are lot of small little things that you can buy to go even greener at home. Green bags, detergents, and … are all helpful towards your cause.

There you have it. You can obviously break these down even further. But as I have experienced, anytime you feel you have done all you could to go green around your house, there is more to be done. Trust me.

5 Cool Eco Friendly Lawn Mowers

I don’t know about you, but I wish my lawns could mow themselves. Unfortunately, that’s too much to ask. So if you are anything like me and have a decent size lawn, you are going to need a good lawn mower. There are all kinds of lawn mowers available on the market. You can choose among cordless, gas, electric, self-propelled, and robotic lawnmowers, just to name a few. While the grass in your lawn is green, there is nothing green about using a non-eco lawn mower to get the job done. If you are taking time to take care of your lawn, doesn’t it make sense to use a green lawn mower to do it?

If you are looking for an eco-friendly lawn mower, here are 5 cool ones you should consider:

Earthwise 60120 20-Inch Electric Bag/Mulch/Side Discharge Lawn Mower: a 3 in 1 lawn mower that functions as a mulching mower, a side discharge mower, and a rear bag mower. It’s designed specifically for environment-aware consumers. It’s powerful, green, and gets the job done.

Epic EP21H 21-Inch 24-Volt Cordless Lawn Mower: an emission-free, and extra quiet lawn mower that lets you cut long and wet grass without any problems. You can also easy maneuver it around your lawn to cover those tough angles.

WORX ECO WG780 Lawn Mower: a powerful eco-friendly lawn mower that gets the job done without hurting the environment. It’s 24-volt battery lets you mow up to 17,500 square feet on a single charge. Not cheap by any means but it’s very powerful.

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4 Energy Efficient Green Hard Drives

Hard drives are more than just luxury gadget these days. A few years ago you could say that having an external hard drive was not that necessary. But things have changed quite a bit, and if you have downloaded any music or video in the past few years, you probably know how crucial having a decent hard drive is. Now if you have more than a few hard drives, you could end up consuming a whole lot of energy. Those energy hog hard drives can cost you or your business more than necessary, and they could die on you sooner than their green counterparts. Whether you are interested in helping save the planet or just want to save money on your electricity bill, green hard drives are good gadgets to consider.

Eco Friendly hard drives perform to the same level as their non-eco counterparts. But they run cooler and spend less energy. If you are looking for an eco hard drive, here are 4 cool ones you should consider:

160GB Kanguru Eco Drive: an energy efficient hard drive that costs you less money and lets you enjoy your videos and music without hurting the planet. Not that expensive either.

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AeroGrow AeroGarden 6 vs. AeroGarden Pro 200

Recently, I had a chance to write a post on how one can get started with Hydroponic Gardening. If you don’t have a lot of space in your garden, and you want to have fresh vegetables for your food, there is no better way than getting one of these cool gadgets. A lot of folks got back to me and asked about AeroGrow AeroGardens. It seems there are plenty of models around, and a lot of people were confused about which model to go with. AeroGardens are great for folks who want to grow their own food at home and keep things clean at the same time.

There are really 2 models that I would consider buying. AeroGrow AeroGarden 6 and Pro 200 are the top of the line models and can help you start your own garden fast. These two models both come with the same dimensions. So the size won’t be a factor. The main difference between these two models is in the technology that is used to grow the plants. AeroGarden Pro 200 uses the Classic technology that uses water pump to oxygenate your plants. AeroGrow AeroGarden 6 is far less messy based on my own experience and uses an airpump to oxygenate your plants.

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5 Cool Eco-Friendly Trimmers For Your Garden

I remember when I bought my first house.  I was trying to save money and didn’t want to spend too much money on gadgets for my garden. But I should have bought a trimmer regardless. If you have any kind of garden, it’s much easier to put finishing touches on it with a trimmer. You can always improvise, but why would you want to do that when you can save time getting it done with a trimmer.

There are many trimmers out there, but you do want to make sure you get one that is as environment friendly as possible. If you care about the planet, you want to make sure you adopt eco-friendly products in all aspects of your everyday life, including gardening. Eco-friendly trimmers not only save you money but they also have the least effect on the environment as well.

If you are looking for a green trimmer, here are 5 Eco-trimmers you should consider:

LEHR ST025DS Propane Eco Trimmer: an EPA Clean Air Excellence Award Winner, LEHR trimmer is going to help you put the finishing touches on your grass in the most eco-friendly fashion as possible.

Black & Decker CCC3000 Electric Lawncare Center: more than just a trimmer, it comes with 3 tools in one. You get a string trimmer, hedge trimmer, and sweeper. It’s a great set of tools to help you trim your gadget.

WORX GT WG151.5 Trimmer/Edger: another energy star trimmer that helps you take care of your lawn and handle those rough edges without too much trouble. Powered by battery, this trimmer is highly flexible and an excellent tool for those tricky areas.

Black & Decker NST2036 Electric Trimmer: an eco-friendly trimmer that is designed for heavy-duty weed clearing and cutting. It’s an electric trimmer so you don’t have to mess with gas either.

There you have it. 4 trimmers/edgers that help you take care of your lawn and garden without putting too much effort. And they are eco-friendly and affordable as well — a win win situation.

Cook On The Go with Sport Solar Oven

If you are into camping, you probably know how useful a portable oven that could cook things would be for your camping trips. You can always try to cook things on fire, but if thanks to Sports Solar Over you don’t really have to worry about that. Sport Solar Oven can cook your food, roast your meat, and even help you make cookies during your camping trips, and best of all it doesn’t require you to bring anything extra with you. The oven uses the power of the sun to heat up your food and roast your meat.

This is more than an oven. It’s a complete kit for serial campers. It comes with two pots, oven thermometer, water pasteurization indicator and a recipe book. The fact that it doesn’t weight too much makes it the perfect gadget to take on the go. And it does cook the food in 2 to 4 hours, depending on the type of food you are trying to cook. If you are looking for a more advanced solution, you can get the version that comes with a reflector as well. That increases the temperature in cooler days.

Overall, Sport Solar Oven is a great gadget to own for anyone who’s remotely interested in camping. It lets you cook your food and extend your camping stay, and it’s easy to carry around to. Best of all, it doesn’t hurt the environment, which is a big plus.

3 Affordable GreenHouses To Start Your Own Garden

I don’t know about you but nothing beats eating fresh fruits and vegetables that I have grown by my own hands. The fact that some vegetables are not even that easy to find in this part of the world makes growing things much more fun. Now I don’t have a huge backyard garden. I don’t really have a whole lot space for it. But I do have a small area that I use to grow some of those vegetables that I would have to travel 30 miles for each time to get my hands on. With the price of gas going up and down all the time, and me being busy all the time, it’s just much easier to grow my own vegetable.

If you have a house with a small garden, you can always use one of the greenhouses that I use to start your organic garden and save money in the process. Some greenhouses are so large that you would need a huge land to install them. But the smaller ones are not only affordable but get the job done as well. The fact that you won’t have to spend more than a couple of hundreds to get your hands on them makes these smaller greenhouses much more attractive.

Here are 3 cool affordable greenhouses that I have tried at my own home:

Systems Trading MGH610 Backyard Garden Greenhouse: a very cool greenhouse that is not only affordable but comes with enough space to let you grow your plants for a longer period of time throughout the year. It literally takes minutes to assemble and you are ready to go.

OrchidHouse Greenhouse: a cool greenhouse that maintains high humidity levels to create a decent growing environment while letting you extend your growing season. What I like about this is the open floor that makes it easy to put it over existing plants and bushes.

Flower House SpringHouse: another open floor green house that makes it easy to grow your own fruits and vegetables throughout the year.

These greenhouses are a great way to grow plants and save money and time. Besides, gardening is a lot of fun and a rewarding experience. With these greenhouses, you don’t have to worry about your plants dying on you in cooler seasons. So you can spend more time growing and less time worrying.

4 Eco-Friendly Evaporative Coolers For Home & Office

The summer time is finally here, and unless you are one of those lucky folks who live in an area with cool summers, you are going to need an air conditioner or cooler to keep you cool during hot summer days. Usually, your central air conditioner does the job when it comes to cooling down your room or office. But if you are anything like me, with multiple server and hot computers all around you, you are going to need some extra cooling power to help you get your job done without you sweating all day.

You can always invest in a new air conditioning system or you can go green by using an evaporative cooler to keep your rooms cool without you hurting the environment by any means. These coolers use water to keep you cool and are more energy efficient as well. If you are looking for a green machine to keep you cool during hot summer days, here are 4 cool evaporative cooling machines you should try:

Pelonis Evaporative Cooling Fan: a great way to keep your rooms cool. In fact, as long as you keep using your ice, your rooms are going to be very cool. This is a portable cooler, though it is too small.

Fujitronic FH-776 Evaporative Swamp Cooler: a cooling fan and an air purifier all in one device. It’s portable, gets your room cool, and handles the dust as well.

SPT SF-608R Portable Evaporative Air Cooler: this is an evaporative air cooler, humidifier, and fan for cooling and humidifying your room or office. It does keep your room comfortably cool but doesn’t exactly make it ice cold.

Surround Evaporative Air Cooler by Symphony: another air cooling system that uses ice and water to keep your room cool. It’s very portable, eco-friendly, and energy efficient. It comes with humidity control as well.

There you have it. If you are looking for an energy and cost efficient way to keep your room cool, you are going to love these 4 air coolers.