Save Energy, Extend the Life of Your Monitor with Monitor ES

I'm keen on saving the earth long as it takes almost no effort on my part. But tell me I can extend the life of my expensive monitor -- and save a bit on my electric bill to boot, and you've definitely got my attention. MonitorES is a simple, free utility that shuts off your monitor whenever you lock your PC.

That's not all it will do, either. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and choose Lock this computer, and MonitorES will not just immediately turn off your display, but it'll optionally set your Google Talk status to Away and pause media players like Winamp and Windows Media Player for you as well.

Those extras are just icing on the cake, really -- I love the way I no longer have to manually hit the power button on my monitor when I step away from my PC for an hour... that just happens automatically.

Even so, I'm still dubious about the environmental or financial benefits. Even according to a study cited on the MonitorES Web site, this program can only save some incremental fraction of $4 per month, and that assumes an energy hogging CRT, not a more energy efficient LCD display. But it's free and easy to use -- so I'm using it, because I assume the greater value from a utility like this is the extra life it gives your display by not burning it when it it's not needed. [via The How-To Geek]