The standard unit of measurement of electrical power. One watt is one ampere of current flowing at one volt. Watts are typically rated as AMPS x VOLTS or VOLT-AMP (V-A). However, this rating is only equivalent to watts when it applies to devices that absorb all the energy, such as electric heating coils or incandescent light bulbs. With computer power supplies, the actual watt rating is only 60% to 70% of the VOLT-AMP rating.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Flipping Fantastic
- I used to carry around a 1/2 dozen.......100 watt daylight-balanced, blue incandescent photoflood bulbs that I'd use to swap over at any normal interior location, to boost up the ambient light levels. With excellent automatic white balance nowadays, you wouldn't need the expensive blue photo bulbs, just ordinary incandescent...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-21
- TomTom Car Kit for iPhone
- Unveiled alongside its turn-by-turn navigation app for iPhone at WWDC 2009, TomTom's Car Kit for iPhone is finally available for purchase. Offering a bit more than just a way to hold your iPhone steady while driving, the Car Kit also has a GPS receiver built-in, a car charger, and...
- Product reviews 2009-11-19
- From the ashes of Geode, AMD brings Bobcat with 1:1 possibilities
- And, lower power consumption lowers prices across the board. Cheaper power supply, smaller cheaper batteries, less money spent on heat dissipation, and so on.Plus, you get a lighter weight computer.The sweet spot will probably be at about 11 inch screens with a close to full size keyboard.Errata: 800 Mhz...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-13
- 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5i
- Photo gallery:2010 Subaru Outback 2.5iAs much as we respect the general utility of many Subaru models, the cars have proved very limited in useful cabin electronics. That hasn't changed much for the 2010 model year, with Subaru moving very tentatively into accommodating personal electronics. The 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5i maintains...
- Product reviews 2009-11-11
- Seeking a bright idea on light bulbs
- Government please helpI need to big Gov to feed & cloth me.Dimmable Light BulbsI hope those new dimmable light bulbs are completely dimmable from 0 to 100% in a linear scale.Otherwise, incandescent is the only way to go for home automation as I use ramp rates in Insteon lamp modules.CFL's...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-06
- Deck the halls with LED
- Sounds OKSounds like a reasonable idea although the cost of LED lights is quite high ($30?).lehnerus2000$30 for LED lights?We buy sets here for $15... and considering that the power consumption is so much lower that they quite literally pay for themselves in the savings on my electric bill, they're worth...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-03
- The perfect computer?
- Do we have the technology to build a perfect computer? Would it be perfect for a specific purpose or is it possible to build a perfect general purpose computer? Small Business Computing's Mark Beckley has some answers. Do we have the technology to build a perfect...
- News items 2009-11-02
- Onkyo SKS-HT870
- Onkyo is known for having speaker expertise, even though it's not primarily a speaker company. That's because of Onkyo's success selling home-theater-in-a-box systems HTIBs, which combine a speaker system and an AV receiver in a single box, taking some of the confusion out of putting together your own system. The...
- Product reviews 2009-10-30
- Onkyo HT-S7200
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- Product reviews 2009-10-27
- More Apple teardowns: Fall 2009 iMac & Magic Mouse
- The crack engineers at iFixIt are at it again. Yesterday I posted their teardown of the new "unibody" (a.k.a. poly) MacBook which revealed a relocated Bluetooth antenna and a larger 60 watt-hour battery. Today's installment includes teardowns of the new Fall 2009 iMac and the mysterious Magic...
- Blog posts 2009-10-22
- iFixit: Disassembling the new MacBook unibody
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- Blog posts 2009-10-21
- Like frequent flyer points, but for energy reductions
- This post is related to the "carrot" side of the carrot versus stick theory, suggesting that people need to be rewarded before they will substantially change their habits. If you or someone you know is already looking for ways to cut electricity consumption in your household, there...
- Blog posts 2009-10-21
- Gadget Gal's daily deals: Acer Aspire One netbook, Sony CyberShot digital camera, KEF PicoForte 1 iPod speaker
- A KEF PicoForte 1 iPod speaker system, an Acer Aspire One netbook, and a Sony CyberShot 12.1-megapixel digital camera. Here are your daily deals for Friday, October 16, straight form the Gadget Gal: 1. Get the KEF PicoForte 1 Speaker System for iPod for $99.88 at OneCall. ...
- Blog posts 2009-10-16
- Oracle unveils Exadata 2 [video]
- I disagree...[i]"The future is about moving from the data center to the desktop - delivering previously impossibly analytics on massive amounts of data to everyone that needs it. Companies want to learn something. Predict. Adapt as fast possible, without super computers and without great expense or a single massive check...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-15
- CFL Calculator Free for iPhone 1.0.1 (Mobile)
- CFL Calculator Free for iPhonee helps the environment and save money by converting from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs. It is easy to get bogged down in the calculations - kilowatt hours, hours of use, and watt differentials. Simply type in your average light bulb usage time per...
- Software downloads 2009-10-13
- CFL Calculator for iPhone 1.0 (Mobile)
- CFL Calculator for iPhone helps the environment and save money by converting from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs. It is easy to get bogged down in the calculations - kilowatt hours, hours of use, and watt differentials. Simply type in your average light bulb usage time per day,...
- Software downloads 2009-10-13
- Netgear slammed for doing the right thing
- So Welte is a 30-something who thinks his $hit doesn't stink...big deal.Wow..."Harald Welte has more power than I do, power he has earned over many years with good works."Power? Is that something that makes him special? I doubt it. Is power something that impresses you Dana? I feel sorry for...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-12
- DOJ probes IBM's mainframe business
- M/F competitionThere use to be plug compatible m/f from Amdahl and Fujitsu. When IBM switched from bi-polar to CMOS technology, the competition was unable to make the same switch. They have left the field.A few years ago, there was a small manufacturer of a PC server capable of...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-08
- 2010 Lincoln MKZ
- Photo gallery:2010 Lincoln MKZThe same sort of modern stateliness we saw on the Lincoln MKS last year finds its way into the 2010 MKZ, along with an impressive technology array. Lincoln's new winged-grille design covers the front of this smallest Lincoln, giving it stronger presence than its platform mates, the...
- Product reviews 2009-10-07
- Photo of Powerhouse Solar Shingle
- YES!I've been waiting for this kind of solar option for years. I'm glad someone has finally made the push to make it a reality!RE: Photo of Powerhouse Solar ShingleWe need more of this technology as soon as possible. I wonder if new building codes will be necessary to optimize...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-06
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