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370

A computer with an internal clock that can turn it self ON at scheduled times.

370 points posted to Environment, New Product Ideas by jmxz 12/11/07

To save power I'd like to turn my computer off or hibernate or suspend it when not in use.
However I also have some scheduled tasks I'd really like to run.

My always on computer does everything from installing security patches in the middle of the night; to checking my stocks and email every few minutes.

Could a Dell desktop have an internal clock that can turn itself on at a programmable time. If so, I could even use the computer as an alarm clock.

A feature with a number of turn on times would be nice "power yourself on at 12:00 midnight, and also 6:30 am". Normal software could handle the "if it's the middle of the night and the computer's idle shut down after the security updates are done" or "if it's 6:30, play music like an alarm clock".

Also nice would be a "if suspended, wake up every half hour" feature whereby my computer could do my email, stocks, etc checking; and alert me (play a loud sound so I hear it even when I'm away from it; and/or send my cell phone an I/M) if there's anything I should react to.

cosh
12/11/07		 My computer does that. Can only set one interval though.
aikiwolfie
12/11/07		 XPS systems do that. Well mine does anyway :op
jmxz
12/11/07		 cool. guess I should stop buying the cheapest junk :)

One interval is OK if it can be controlled by software. Would be interesting to be able to issue "suspend for 5 minutes" or "hibernate for 6 hours" commands. And I imagine if that's available it's just a small matter of programming to make it look when the next cron job's due to run and set the interval based on that....
aikiwolfie
12/11/07		 It's controlled from the BIOS. you can set it for any time you like and specifiy weekdays, weekends or or every day. There's only one time slot though.
jmxz
12/11/07		 So if I can find a driver to let applications program the bios it could be very flexible. Perhaps I'll look into it more next time I consider upgrading -- though I'm leaning towards a very-low-power always-on machine that was posted as an idea earlier.
aikiwolfie
12/11/07		 Well I don't know about that. As a rule I prefer not to let application software mess with my BIOS.
ubondell
12/13/07		 Look at a Gumstix. There is a 200MHz Linux computer in a package the size of a pack of gum (hence the name) with a 10/100 Ethernet and a slot for CF or MMC flash storage. The whole thing uses 1/2 Watt at 100% CPU utilization. Can't get much lower power than that. They can be configured into a variety of systems including bluetooth and 802.11 wireless. The web site is gumstix.org. You have to be a little adventurous on both the HW and SW side, but the applications seem to be unique.
cosh
12/13/07		 Upon further examination, my old Pentium 2 lappy also has this resume on time feature. Probably all Phoenix BIOS's have had it for years.
aikiwolfie
12/13/07		 I think it's an amazingly understated feature. I get home from work and my PC is booting up just as I walk through the door. By the time I have my jacket off I'm all set to log-in.
wleara
12/14/07		 Try hitting the "F2" key when you turn on your computer. Go into the Setup program, and you probably already have this feature.
arvitis
12/15/07		 i like this idea, i think it would be very useful
jmxz
12/15/07		 wleara:

Thanks. What I guess I'm looking for is a somewhat more programmable version of the same feature; where I can make it unsuspend hourly.
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