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Anon

Magic Jack and electric bill

How much electricity does this gadget use? Someone told us it's like using 150 watt bulb all day.

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Anon

The MJ plugs into the usb port on your computer.

If you leave your computer on all the time,
the amount of power your using will depend on
what your computer power supply is rated at.
directivex
join:2004-04-02
La Habra, CA

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My computer (Dell Inspiron 530, Intel core two duo 2.0 ghz) runs about 50 watts. All three of my computers on all the time probably consume 150 watts.
devil_doo
join:2008-07-31

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First off, MJ uses a small trickle of electricity supplied by your computer.
And like the others have stated, it's your computer power usage rating that makes the high/low power usage.

swanboy
join:2001-01-22
Hollywood, FL

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Depends on what question you're really trying to answer:

-How much power does the actual MJ unit it self consume?
or
-How much power does it take to run my computer 24/7?

If you are indeed looking for an answer to the first question, the answer is barely any at all. USB doesn't supply all that much power.
Whether the MJ is plugged in or not, your computer will be using the same amount of electricity.

guhuna
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My MJ is only using 500mA or so windows says.
BruceN
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join:2006-11-17
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Here would be a formula, if running the system 24 hour a day, with Monitor on for 10 hours.

If computer is 100watts (probably typical) and the monitor is the same (can vary a bunch depending if it is LCD or CRT) this would be 3.4 KW per day. If your power is 15 cents per KW (About mid line) then the cost per day is about 50 cents a day or $15 a month. If you ran the system only 1/2 these hours (like turning it off when you sleep then you would have a cost of around $7.50

Or close to $100 a year to have MJ available round the clock. I would suggest turning the system off when not in use. Heat is the death of electronics.

amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

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said by BruceN:

Or close to $100 a year to have MJ available round the clock. I would suggest turning the system off when not in use. Heat is the death of electronics.
I think someone could spend $300 on an old, used laptop, dedicate it to MJ, and use considerably less electricity.

It's been reported that MJ is working on a Linux client. If that happens it will be really easy to run MJ on an old laptop, and replace the hard disk with one of those "Disk on Module" or "flash-to-IDE adaptors." Then there'd be no electricity or heat spinning the hard disk.

When that happens, I'd try to run MJ on Puppy Linux. It's really small. You can install the OS on a 128k USB flash drive. (I splurge for 1meg.).

Mark
BruceN
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join:2006-11-17
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Wonder if it runes under WINE on linux.

Old laptop might do the trick. $200 will buy something decent.
devil_doo
join:2008-07-31

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or get a thinclient and be done with it....

Alternate MJ Forum

MY MJ SET-UP
VanguardLH
join:2005-01-06
Minneapolis, MN

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Have you ever put your hand on a lit 150W light bulb and kept it there? Come on, be a he-man and scorch your skin to find out. Is that how hot your MagicJack USB-to-RJ11 adapter feels? Didn't think so.

Max current draw across paired USB ports (2 per controller): 500mA (from the controller for both ports)
USB voltage: 5V

P = I * E = 500mA * 5V = 2.5W
(and that's across the paired USB ports from one controller)

A nightlight uses more than that. The USB controller manages a pair of USB ports. It has a maximum output of 500mA which is shared across those 2 USB ports. The pinout for each USB port is: one 5-volt, one signal ground, and 2 data pins (+ and - because it is a differential output).

Go tell your "someone told us" self-proclaimed wizard that they've been caught tossing shi[f]t and have lost their wizard status and are now branded a boob, and a dangerous boob.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

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Following up on what VanguardLH said, 2.5W over one year is under 22 KWh, and that's assuming the device is drawing max power 100% of the time whic I doubt. OTOH your system CPU may be taxes a bit more when in the call (not much though) so let's place the electrical demand at around 25 KWh. So, a few bucks a year. If you have a cordless phone that phone will use more electricity than the MJ will.
Expand your moderator at work
booyah50
join:2008-08-09
La Habra, CA

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Re: Magic Jack and electric bill

said by amigo_boy:

It's been reported that MJ is working on a Linux client.
Gosh I hope they make it work with Linux soon. Then I could replace my smoothwall machine for Ubuntu or the like and run MJ off that!

I can't wait!
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

amigo_boy

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said by booyah50:

Gosh I hope they make it work with Linux soon. Then I could replace my smoothwall machine for Ubuntu or the like and run MJ off that!
I hope it's true too. And, Ubuntu would be better for a dedicated machine than Windows due to saving on the OS license cost. But, from an electricity point of view, Ubuntu is large. I don't think you could replace a hard disk with a flash drive, and fit Ubuntu on it. Not unless you spent a lot of money on a very large (8 gig?) flash drive.

That's why I'd look at Puppy Linux. The OS installs on a 128meg flash drive. You can completely eliminate the hard disk in a laptop, and boot from a USB flash drive. If the laptop is old, and doesn't support booting from USB, you can create a CD that bootstraps the USB drive. The BIOS boots the CD, and the CD boots the USB. So, you can use some pretty old hardware this way. And, save electricity by having no hard disk.

There are some other small Linux distros available. Like "Damn Small Linux" (DSL). I believe it's smaller. But, it strives to work with older hardware, sacrificing some new things. Puppy tries to be middle of the road. I don't think it will support hardware as old as DSL. It's not quite as small. But, it's a little more modern and flexible.

Mark
BruceN
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For sure the MJ device pulls little power and if you typicaly leave your computer on 24/7 it is no big deal. Only if you find a need to turn your computer off, then now you need to leave it on is where you will spend maybe close to $100 more per year.
hoffa69
join:2007-07-17
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My system uses about 70-80watts idle. For my area that means it will cost me about $70-$80 a year if I run it 24/7.
booyah50
join:2008-08-09
La Habra, CA

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said by guhuna:

My MJ is only using 500mA or so windows says.
Hey guhuna, where did you get that figure? That's something I should know how to get!