I've been looking for one of these powerboards that automatically switches on and/or off for a while now. Usually they've been around the $30-40 mark though, regardless of brand. This seems like a pretty good deal, a few stores have stock already but you can order online for free pick-up wherever you want. Home delivery was $6 or something for me, but I was trying to order 2 (and ended up opting for pickup).
they are literally the worst things in the world. just get the remote controlled sockets
I literally died when I read your comment.
You heard wrong mine is working perfectly.
Have to agree, I've been using a few similar automatic Powerboards for years without any problems… mind you I'm not using a TV to trigger them. Cheers OP, I might get a few of these tomorrow!
Oh those things.
Bad.
isn't there or was there a gov program that had people (backpackers) giving these out for free? I got two and both died within a few months from the program
Yeah I got two as well. Except mine had an IR receiver attached, which flashed every hour and required you to push a button on your remote. If you didn't, it powered both master and slave devices down. So if you were playing Playstation and didn't notice a little flashing light, you were screwed. Needless to say, I reverted back to a regular power board pretty quickly.
haha i have one of those in the bedroom…wish there was a way to increase the duration from 1 hr.
I like it because when i turn off the tv it turns off my raspberry pi.
I have one also and you can set the automatic power off to 3 hrs.
Just hold the button down for 5 secs or so and let go, once you let go the light should start flashing. You should then press the button 3 times then you will be all set.
Lol, your Pi that costs $4 a year to run.
@tomski182: lol i dont care about the cost…I just hate the lights that stay on….keeps me up at night. And the only way to turn it off is to pull out the power cord
Not to mention constant hard power downs that risk corrupting the SD card. I'd just tape over the lights.
@tplen1: I just use PI for xbmc/kodi (openelec). Library is through the network via mySQL. There's no data locally to corrupt. If the system files get corrupted I just have to reflash openelec. No big deal. Although this hasn't happened once in 2 years.
What kind of crazy person creates a power board like that…
At the very least you could build it into the TV or something so it came up on screen.
My 2012 Sony Bravia does have an auto standby option which requires you to push a button after a pre-determined time. It's pretty neat but I rarely leave the TV on longer than it needs to be.
The backpackers or the power boards?
I'll be honest I didn't mind the swedish blonde girls in my room explaining how the powerboard worked, I did let them go after
I have had one for several years for my TV - turn the TV off and the various other things go off as well (blu ray, speakers etc). hasn't broken down
And for me that was the biggest waste of $10 ever, dang.
Yep, I ended up selling mine.
beware, when your TV adjust brightness to low by itself(most new tv), this will go off, and all your unsaved things will lost.
35W on the master socket is the trigger point.
I think my 47 inch led use more than that.
Just use adjust your volume with the remote and it'll add one hour. Mine even has a setting for time 1, 2 or 3 hours.
You must have a bad TV, my plasma never uses so little power that my green power board turns off.
Plasma's use a lot more power than LED based LCD TV'S, I can imagine an LCD triggering this at 35w, especially a smaller one.
Yeah I was making a joke at the high power usage of my plasma.
I like to wait for Aldi to sell similiar thing for half price at $10 a few weeks after they bring out new stock
I had 1 and it DID NOT work for me. I had it set up with my PC.
AVOID……
I bought an ECO switch and put one in my parents place. Saving $$$ and its a NO brainer to install.
two different products.the ecoswitch is just and switched extension cord where as the power board has one master outlet usually the computer power and several slave outlets which can control things like printers,chargers,lights,scanners etc …imo the perfect energy saver.
I am aware they are different products that's why I posted the link to an alternative to the power board as it failed to work for me as it has for many others.
However they are both designed to prevent wasting energy while electrical devices are NOT in use.
With the bad reviews that are out there I think your PERFECT energy saver needs a lot more fine tuning. The Eco switch is a Y cable configuration , if it was simply a extension lead with a power switch it would not suit my needs, but as it has a power switch at 1 end it allows the installer to mount the switch in a more convenient position.
Saving $$$
Saving around $3 per year is about right…
Best invention since sliced bread …got my first one for free from krudd and have purchased several since then …just remember not to use it for dvrs.
Hate these boards with a passion
I respect your passion, but can I ask why?
Modern devices, especially TV's and monitors today don't use as much power in standby as they used to with the CRTs.
All these things do is make devices turn off abruptly without going through its shut down procedure whilst being a nuisance during movies.
As other people have mentioned, tests have been done to prove their uselessness.
I'd love for someone to calculate the resources used to manufacture, store and distribute and dispose these compared to the savings made by using them
can't buy online anymore
I found these boards use more energy than the sum of all my devices on standby. Hence making them pointless. Off memory, on standby my amp, TV, bluray, Xbox used 6 watts. When all connected the board was using 9 watts!
yeah the whole thing about saving on your bill from standby power is overrated. I have one of those things that measures how much power is being used and found most devices on standby barely even use 1 Watt
So what is the point of this product?
Makes a lot of money for the manufacturers…
My computer speakers have a slight buzz and an incredibly bright light. I usually turn them off at the wall each night, now this thing will do it for me. I don't give a rats about the energy saving.
My computer speakers have a slight buzz and an incredibly bright light.
Sounds like you need a decent set of speakers.
Light is easily fixed with blutack, black tape, or numerous other free methods.
I use a a similar unit to power down my monitors and speakers to cut down on unnecessary light in my bedroom too.
@llama - Valid point, and I use tape on other LEDs already, but for my speakers this is a better lazy option as the entire speaker is translucent plastic with large bright internal LEDs (Harman Kardon SoundSticks, photo here)
I just have my TV, HTPC, Amp all on a powerboard, when I go to bed I turn them off and at the power point too.
Zero power usage.
Same :) ,however adding the eco switch allows me to switch off the power board from a more convenient position rather than bend over the back of my HT shelf each night, but It depends on each your set up.
These were great 15 years ago when all your devices had insane standby power usage.
You will struggle to find devices that are still like this and the purchase of this power board will likely be more then the difference in electricity costs.
I have a belkin one… Don't use it for its purpose but as a signal for other products.
Eg. I put ikea white led strips around back of tv… It turns on only when the tv is on. It turns off about 10sec after tv is turned off and allows me to find my way in the dark outta the room.
At my parents a water feature is on when the tv is on..off automatically when they turn the tv off
At my parents a water feature is on when the tv is on.
So your parents only go and look at the water feature whilst the TV is on?
Yes
I use the same one, picked it up last month after my other one broke (not the same brand). Not sure if it uses less power than everything in standby but it gets rid of those pesky standby lights that always bother me with varying differences of brightness. Also I've got my stuff hooked up to the receiver and I just find it easier to switch everything off with a single button - I am aware of the Logitech Harmony but eh :P
Correct me if I'm wrong but it appears Target has this same board for $10?
http://www.target.com.au/p/jackson-energy-saving-surge-prote…
Not available online though.
Yup same one
I like these products, I prefer the IR ones, so that it knocks everything off apart from foxtel, but including the TV.
Defo worth getting - depending on your setup
We were given one of these from some energy audit… It stopped working soon after finding a use for it.
I found the master-slave power boards better, turn the tv off (master) and slave lose power (blu ray, media box etc)
Couldn't find stock in QLD in both Officeworks/Target.
Stumbled upon it in Bunnings ($15) and got them to price-beat Target, ended up costing $9.
Thanks OP and those linking to Target. Managed to get a couple at Target Forest Hill (Melb) last night. Two left for anyone interested as of about 5.30pm last evening, they are ticketed at $30 but scan for $10.
Tried at Target Garden City, Brisbane last night. Ticketed at $30 & scanned at $30 :-(
I called them yesterday morning and they told me they didn't have any =.=
I heard there are a lot of problem with this kind of green power board.