# Do you unplug your console from the wall when not playing it?



## MetoMeto (Oct 14, 2020)

So we all know consoles consume electricity, thats how they work anyway, so they need to be plugged in,
but *do you unplug it from the wall (or console) when NOT playing it* *or leave it in standby all the time?*

Or do you unplug it here and there or NEVER, till it BURNS!!!.....I'm kidding lol it wont burn   ....or will it?! xD
Well anyway i guess if you leave connect 24 on a Wii it can actually burn it...but that's the thing of past (i hope so)

Ok i sidetracked i bit...
so yeah...do you leave it *pluged or unpluged*?


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## BlueFox gui (Oct 14, 2020)

if i leave it, the energy bill will eat my ass


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## MetoMeto (Oct 14, 2020)

Wow you're joking right?! It consumes that much?
Well i leave it simply cause i don't need it and to let components cool off and rest. But i didn't know it consumes electricity that much!


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## spotanjo3 (Oct 14, 2020)

MetoMeto said:


> So we all know consoles consume electricity, thats how they work anyway, so they need to be plugged in,
> but *do you unplug it from the wall (or console) when NOT playing it* *or leave it in standby all the time?*
> 
> Or do you unplug it here and there or NEVER, till it BURNS!!!.....I'm kidding lol it wont burn   ....or will it?! xD
> ...



Nah. I always leave it plugged in. My electricity bill for every months depends on company but mostly about 7 euro a month. Sometimes 5 euro a month.

And I even leave light on at night time, always. No problem. CHEAP!

I heard about Brazil. Very expensive.  I feel sad for Brazilian people. Government there are horrible and a corrupt! Government there doesn't care about people there. Government is evil 

Tourists should stop going there to give Government a hard time, indeed.


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## Veho (Oct 14, 2020)

Poll has been added. Cast your votes! 


Modern consoles don't turn off by default, they enter a "standby/sleep/faststart" mode that still use some power. Here's a (slightly older) writeup: 

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/03/how-standby-modes-on-game-consoles-suck-up-energy/

tl;dr: 

*PS4*
Default "Rest mode" power draw: *10W*

*Xbox One*
Default "Instant On" power draw: *12.9W*


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## MetoMeto (Oct 14, 2020)

Veho said:


> Poll has been added. Cast your votes!
> 
> 
> Modern consoles don't turn off by default, they enter a "standby/sleep/faststart" mode that still use some power. Here's a (slightly older) writeup:
> ...


*Cool! thanks for that!*

On that note, even WiiU gamepad doesnt turn off, thats why i made a phisical switch for that. I posted pics here but i will make a tutorial how i did that if ayone wants to know.

As for WiiU gamed, its not just about the cost, its that the battery will probably die faster cause its constantly on charger. I dont know for sure but i dont think thats good tbh.


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## MockyLock (Oct 14, 2020)

I use to plug all my electronic stuff into power strip with switch.
Once i'm done with it, just turn the whole stuff OFF.


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## MetoMeto (Oct 14, 2020)

I plan on making a shelf with all my consoles and every console will have individual switch and a master switch.


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## ut2k4master (Oct 14, 2020)

i dont unplug it but i turn it off instead of putting it into standby. no idea how much power that draws still, maybe 0.1w?


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## peteruk (Oct 14, 2020)

Well I'm not very active on the games playing side of things but here's my input for what it's worth....

Nintendo Switch lives docked in sleep mode always and forever except for performing updates or adding new CFW/HB

PS4 is connected to the mains but powered off, I cannot remember the last time I played it - perhaps last year ? Can't remember.  When I had my 5.05 console that was left in rest mode purely for the exploit.

Nvidia Shield I use as my cord cutting TV box so it's either always on OR in sleep mode.

That's it


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## Lostbhoy (Oct 14, 2020)

I leave it plugged in but i do turn off all sockets when i goto bed. Only thing left on at night is refrigerator.


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## Alexander1970 (Oct 14, 2020)

Hello.

Sometimes Yes,sometimes No.

It depends on,which Console I play/use.
But the Cables/Power Adapters are all plugged into a Power Surge Bar with an Switch.

The only Console which is permanently plugged in at the Moment is the Wii U.

XBox,PlayStation 2 and PSX needs only an "Eight" Cable.
(Hehehe....I wonder when the first asks...)

Dreamcast has an Power Adapter because of the Pico PSU.

Wii and Wii U have their Power Adapters.

The Charging Adapters (PSP/DSi/3DS/Wii Motion Controller/Wii U Gamepad/GameBoy Advance/DS Lite) are stored in a Box and plugged in when needed.

Thank you.


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## MetoMeto (Oct 14, 2020)

alexander1970 said:


> Dreamcast has an Power Adapter because of the Pico PSU.


oh i wanted to install taht one! Are they expensive and can i make one my self?

Also can you guy them still?


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## Alexander1970 (Oct 14, 2020)

Thank you.



MetoMeto said:


> oh i wanted to install taht one! Are they expensive and can i make one my self?
> 
> Also can you guy them still?



If you tell us your_* Wii U Gamepad Switch Modification Secret *_in a Guide then I will tell you.





Spoiler: .......



The Pico/Dream PSU was from Aliexpress and yes you can still buy it:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001282468258.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.76004c4doxrVQn
(This is the One that I have purchased.)



Thank you.


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## MetoMeto (Oct 14, 2020)

alexander1970 said:


> Thank you.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah sure lol ill post it, its prety basic and simple. Just some otherday, and also i need to take it out again etc.

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Thanks for thelink by the way!

Also what do you think of this? it looks to cheap to be legit...


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## FAST6191 (Oct 14, 2020)

I live in a civilised country that has switches on the sockets. Only reason to unplug something is to move it (I do have many of my games on a little cart) or because lightning is happening and I would rather not have to repair static damage.

There is also the little tiny lights problem
https://xkcd.com/313/

While I have tape, resistor and permanent markers on many things it is easier to skip it entirely.


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## Hayato213 (Oct 14, 2020)

I only leave hybrid unit like the switch plugged in when not in use, home console like the PS4/Xbox One, I just shut off when not in use.


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## Tom Bombadildo (Oct 14, 2020)

I would never bother unplugging any console from the wall when it's turned off, best case I save a whole .01% on my power bill in a year and quite frankly that's nothing to me, so it's not worth the effort.

Now if I really wanted to save money on my power bill I'd be turning my PCs and my rack server off at night when I'm not using them, they're what really suck up power for me. I have at least 2 desktops running 24/7 which probably costs me like $75-$100 a month to run all the time (including when in use and while idle), and my rack server adds ~$20 to my bill every month as well (though that's not too bad considering it's basically running the equivalent of 3 desktops right now). If I actually turned them off at night, I could probably shave a good $30-$50 off my bill every month no problem, which is substantially higher than unplugging every console in my house would be.


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## Hayato213 (Oct 14, 2020)

Tom Bombadildo said:


> I would never bother unplugging any console from the wall when it's turned off, best case I save a whole .01% on my power bill in a year and quite frankly that's nothing to me, so it's not worth the effort.
> 
> Now if I really wanted to save money on my power bill I'd be turning my PCs and my rack server off at night when I'm not using them, they're what really suck up power for me. I have at least 2 desktops running 24/7 which probably costs me like $75-$100 a month to run all the time (including when in use and while idle), and my rack server adds ~$20 to my bill every month as well (though that's not too bad considering it's basically running the equivalent of 3 desktops right now). If I actually turned them off at night, I could probably shave a good $30-$50 off my bill every month no problem, which is substantially higher than unplugging every console in my house would be.



Well 50 dollars is still 50 dollars, that is $600 dollars a year.


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## Alexander1970 (Oct 14, 2020)

Thank you.



MetoMeto said:


> Yeah sure lol ill post it, its prety basic and simple. Just some otherday, and also i need to take it out again etc.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...



It is ok,the difference to other,more expensive Version,is the Firmware.Most comes with v5.5,"newer" Clones comes with v5.15b
like this.
For me,I use two v5.15 GDemus and have not experienced a Game wich does not work properly.


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## MetoMeto (Oct 14, 2020)

I notice everyone talking about power bills  but i never noticed any difference in it with consoles on or off. Also i noticed the talk about wall outlet or a switch...it doesn't actually matter, the point is that it doesn't get the electricity, as for how it does that, that's up to you.

My main "concern" with consoles being ON al the time is about the console it self and so it lasts longer since the components are not constantly uder power, low or high. For me its kinda like routine and normal thing to take it out of a wall.
But i don't do that with my TV..i don't care that much for the TV lol.

TBH here, the real reason besides the protecting them so they last longer, i dont like console doing stuff secretly when off. When i turn something off i like it to be OFF not kinda OFF like stand by is. I mean only benefit is that it will turn on faster, or have few clicks less... I seriously dont mind making an extra effort (if you can call that an effort) to plug it in and wait a bit.
By the way, in manuals they do recommend that to unplug when not in use, so i guess it became a habit from when i was younger.

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alexander1970 said:


> Thank you.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i like the heat sink  so are they stable in operation i guess, heat sinks are good thing as i know.
for e the main thing to get GDemu is not for games and loading times, i can live with that and disk swaps, but the horrible noise that sega makes. But tbh i kinda like it, its nostalgic, but also what if disk dies...

So how does that work? You just replace the hardware and thats it???


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## Alexander1970 (Oct 14, 2020)

MetoMeto said:


> I notice everyone talking about power bills  but i never noticed any *difference in it with consoles on or off.* Also i noticed the talk about wall outlet or a switch...it doesn't actually matter, the point is that it doesn't get the electricity, as for how it does that, that's up to you.
> 
> *My main "concern" with consoles being ON al the time is about the console* it self and so it lasts longer since the components are not constantly uder power, low or high. For me its kinda like routine and normal thing to take it out of a wall.
> But i don't do that with my TV..i don't care that much for the TV lol.
> ...



I would NEVER let an Xbox (1.Modell) plugged in.
...amongst other Things,because of the "Capacitor" Issue...





MetoMeto said:


> i like the heat sink  so are they stable in operation i guess, heat sinks are good thing as i know.
> for e the main thing to get GDemu is not for games and loading times, i can live with that and disk swaps, but the horrible noise that sega makes. But tbh i kinda like it, its nostalgic, but also what if disk dies...
> 
> So how does that work? You just replace the hardware and thats it???



It could look like this:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/dreamcast-gdemu-from-aliexpress-amazon.533300/page-8#post-9211649

It is an SD Card Extension Module:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000849411780.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.24dc4c4dpZDyvh

Thank you.


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## MetoMeto (Oct 14, 2020)

I did a VGA internal mod on my DC. The pic is pretty sweet!


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## Deleted User (Oct 15, 2020)

azoreseuropa said:


> Nah. I always leave it plugged in. My electricity bill for every months depends on company but mostly about 7 euro a month. Sometimes 5 euro a month.
> 
> And I even leave light on at night time, always. No problem. CHEAP!
> 
> ...


Euros? I thought you lived in U.S.?

Anyway, it's all plugged in. Most of it is left in standby. I'd only unplug stuff which may be a hazard, and in that case, I'd take a look at it and fix it.


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## Deleted User (Oct 15, 2020)

i used to turn off the power strip my computer was in whenever i didnt have a download running overnight, but now i have an alarm clock in that same power strip so it needs to be on whenever i need the alarm or clock (most of the time)

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MetoMeto said:


> I did a VGA internal mod on my DC. The pic is pretty sweet!


could you please show pictures? seems interesting


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## slaphappygamer (Oct 15, 2020)

It should be yes, but the truth is that I keep my ps2, wii, xbox360, the video switcher, and switch all plugged in.


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## godreborn (Oct 15, 2020)

virtually everything in my room is connected to a surge protector with toggle switches.  however, the only ones I ever remember to flip off are: the nvidia shield (go to apps to shut down first), and the minis/classics (nes, snes, genesis, turbo grafx, neo geo, psx, and retron 3 hd).  here's that toggle switch (my room is a mess with so much crap):


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## CMDreamer (Oct 15, 2020)

I don't just unplug them, I repack them on their boxes. I like to keep things tidy and clean, and having them all over the place is just not for me.


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## spotanjo3 (Oct 15, 2020)

Boesy said:


> Euros? I thought you lived in U.S.?
> 
> Anyway, it's all plugged in. Most of it is left in standby. I'd only unplug stuff which may be a hazard, and in that case, I'd take a look at it and fix it.



No, did you see my flag icon ?


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## The Real Jdbye (Oct 15, 2020)

MetoMeto said:


> *Cool! thanks for that!*
> 
> On that note, even WiiU gamepad doesnt turn off, thats why i made a phisical switch for that. I posted pics here but i will make a tutorial how i did that if ayone wants to know.
> 
> As for WiiU gamed, its not just about the cost, its that the battery will probably die faster cause its constantly on charger. I dont know for sure but i dont think thats good tbh.


Yes please. I always hated how the Wii U gamepad was always dead when I needed it, because it self discharges in like a week.


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## MetoMeto (Oct 15, 2020)

godreborn said:


> virtually everything in my room is connected to a surge protector with toggle switches.  however, the only ones I ever remember to flip off are: the nvidia shield (go to apps to shut down first), and the minis/classics (nes, snes, genesis, turbo grafx, neo geo, psx, and retron 3 hd).  here's that toggle switch (my room is a mess with so much crap):
> 
> View attachment 229288


is a shield worth getting?

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Azerus_Kun said:


> i used to turn off the power strip my computer was in whenever i didnt have a download running overnight, but now i have an alarm clock in that same power strip so it needs to be on whenever i need the alarm or clock (most of the time)
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...


Sure, i will do it today!


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## Crazynoob458 (Oct 15, 2020)

HAH i get energy from the sun
we acualy gain money by selling unused electricity


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## MetoMeto (Oct 15, 2020)

Azerus_Kun said:


> could you please show pictures? seems interesting



The console


Spoiler



That switch there is just to change input from "AV out" to "VGA" and vice versa,
and that far left hole is just an audio jack, since VGA don't transmit sound.
(left most screw is bigger cause i couldnt find smaller...its so annoying lol)





It was pain in the a** to fitt everything just perfectly and this was it in mm! xD

















Ill post gameplay screen later today, i had these pics in spoiler already on my PC.

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Crazynoob458 said:


> HAH i get energy from the sun
> we acualy gain money by selling unused electricity


Solar panels huh?


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## Sathya (Oct 15, 2020)

THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!!!
why??

Indonesia is one of the most cheap electricity price /kwh.

so its not reasonable if i unplug my console from the wall because the electric bills.

but why i do that???

my daddy told me since i was child to always unplugging the connectors from wall for longer life of electronics stuff.

and..... why this is important??

because now i bought a used wii (just for play mkwii online. im the huge fans) and the picture of the component is little bit unclear or...... yeah is hard for me to say in english. but i think you all know if the GPU is fried up so the video output is not clear.

this happens to my wii because the previous owner is let th wii console stay turn on (wiiconnect24orangelight) so the gpu is hot when not in use. 

So............


"Save your GPU and money by unplugging your console from wall"

~Sathya 2020~


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## Deleted User (Oct 15, 2020)

FAST6191 said:


> I live in a civilised country that has switches on the sockets. Only reason to unplug something is to move it (I do have many of my games on a little cart) or because lightning is happening and I would rather not have to repair static damage.
> 
> There is also the little tiny lights problem
> https://xkcd.com/313/
> ...


The U.K. plugs are among the safest ones in the world, plus they make use of fuses (unli


azoreseuropa said:


> No, did you see my flag icon ?


That's kind of irrelevant as people can choose any country. I'm surprised you switched U.S. for Portugal, but that's your decision.


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## spotanjo3 (Oct 15, 2020)

Boesy said:


> That's kind of irrelevant as people can choose any country. I'm surprised you switched U.S. for Portugal, but that's your decision.



No no no.. Don't be confused. I changed it again due to delay trip then finally, I moved back to Portugal last March before Coronavirus shut down on march 19. And I changed it to Portugal once morel


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## Taleweaver (Oct 15, 2020)

I used to have this long-ass power outlet that hooked up my television, computer, PC monitor, 2 consoles and perhaps some other stuff (basically everything but the modem, really) that was all neatly hidden away so the impossible spaghetti cable soup was reduced to a single visible power button that would turn everything on and off (meaning: whenever I went to bed, I had EVERYTHING disconnected with just one switch).

...and then my girlfriend moved in. She didn't like that she had to plug it in whenever she wanted to watch television, so she insisted I left it always on (because of course it couldn't be operated with the tv-remote). The creative genius inside me died a little that day.


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## mrgone (Oct 15, 2020)

each console has a remote accessible wall plug(some ikea tradfri, some esp8266) which i can control via mqtt and thus my cell and my tablet


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## godreborn (Oct 15, 2020)

MetoMeto said:


> is a shield worth getting?



definitely.  even more so if you don't have a smart tv, which I don't.


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## Deleted User (Oct 15, 2020)

azoreseuropa said:


> No no no.. Don't be confused. I changed it again due to delay trip then finally, I moved back to Portugal last March before Coronavirus shut down on march 19. And I changed it to Portugal once morel


Bruh, that's weird. Portugal is an old man's country.

The boomers I've met are pretty cool for the most part, some are drunk all day, but they get their shit done, either way. Whereas, on the web the boomers and millennials get shit on like they're the worst thing ever.

I just wish Portugal still had our own currency than the monopoly-ish money and other European countries use.


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## Deleted User (Oct 15, 2020)

Preferably unplugged if it won't be used for some time, feels like the right thing to do.

Only thing I hate about the Wii U is that the GamePad runs out of battery after a week or two because it's always in stand-by mode.
Since I see some people complaining about this here, I might as well help. It's possible to leave the GamePad in a true OFF state by disconnecting the battery, wait a moment and then reconnect it.
It's easy to know if the GamePad is really turned off, if the battery isn't empty and it doesn't power on when you press the TV button, it means it worked!
Just press the power button when you want to play on the Wii U again. It takes about 10 seconds for the GamePad to boot whereas it turns on almost instantly with stand-by mode.

This way the battery will not be left in a discharged state the next time you use your Wii U after a long time. I hope it will help.


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## Deleted User (Oct 15, 2020)

MetoMeto said:


> The console
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


nice, i wouldnt have the patiene to make it look that good kek


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## Vovajka (Oct 16, 2020)

I do not, there is no point since I use it daily.


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## spotanjo3 (Oct 16, 2020)

Boesy said:


> Bruh, that's weird. Portugal is an old man's country.
> 
> The boomers I've met are pretty cool for the most part, some are drunk all day, but they get their shit done, either way. Whereas, on the web the boomers and millennials get shit on like they're the worst thing ever.
> 
> I just wish Portugal still had our own currency than the monopoly-ish money and other European countries use.



Yeah, I could say the same for UK. Some people I know at UK are very cool people as well.

Why do you prefer our country to be your own currency instead of Euro ? I know that we had your currency but they changed it to Euro.


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## MetoMeto (Oct 16, 2020)

Azerus_Kun said:


> nice, i wouldnt have the patiene to make it look that good kek


Thanks! 
Well it WAS pain in the ass but believe me, sense of achivement is better than that bubble on xbox! I really enjoyed every step on the way.
I kinda wanted to meka it look as less as moded as i can. This is actually my first moded console.

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azoreseuropa said:


> Yeah, I could say the same for UK. Some people I know at UK are very cool people as well.
> 
> Why do you prefer our country to be your own currency instead of Euro ? I know that we had your currency but they changed it to Euro.


I guess every country should be free from fucking euro and be its own in every term.


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## DolpinCube (Oct 16, 2020)

I just my 3ds plugged in while im playing because my battery is crap. And it lasts for 30 minutes when its not in sleep mode D:


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## spotanjo3 (Oct 16, 2020)

MetoMeto said:


> I guess every country should be free from fucking euro and be its own in every term.



To be honest.. Previous we had an Escudo and I never liked it. Euro is much easier. It is like America number symbol like Pound too. Maybe I don't mind the Pound but don want to come back to Escudo. Too weird currency.


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## Nippo (Oct 16, 2020)

I have two power strips with most of my consoles connected to them. Makes it really easy for me because all I need to do is switch off the power strip instead of unplugging everything.


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## Deleted member 397813 (Oct 16, 2020)

depends on the console. XBOX 360 and N64 remain unplugged when off, PS4, Wii U, and Switch remain plugged because of their sleep mode features.


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## MetoMeto (Oct 16, 2020)

azoreseuropa said:


> To be honest.. Previous we had an Escudo and I never liked it. Euro is much easier. It is like America number symbol like Pound too. Maybe I don't mind the Pound but don want to come back to Escudo. Too weird currency.


oh you mean the symbol....yeah it looks nice.


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## Deleted User (Oct 16, 2020)

azoreseuropa said:


> To be honest.. Previous we had an Escudo and I never liked it. Euro is much easier. It is like America number symbol like Pound too. Maybe I don't mind the Pound but don want to come back to Escudo. Too weird currency.


i read a bit on the escudo and thought it would have something like odd divisions, but from what i understood it was just escudos and escudo cents, what makes it weird to you?


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## Hayato213 (Oct 16, 2020)

MetoMeto said:


> is a shield worth getting?
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...



If you get the 500GB model and decide to upgrade it to an SSD then it is quite worth it.


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## Jayro (Oct 16, 2020)

Lostbhoy said:


> I leave it plugged in but i do turn off all sockets when i goto bed. Only thing left on at night is refrigerator.


I wish all american sockets were switched like the UK's. Ours are "always on" and we have to use the power switches on the devices themselves instead.


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## Deleted User (Oct 16, 2020)

Jayro said:


> I wish all american sockets were switched like the UK's. Ours are "always on" and we have to use the power switches on the devices themselves instead.


cant you buy switched outlets and install them yourselves? here the most common outlet is unswitched european, but some have switched european


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## Julie_Pilgrim (Nov 10, 2020)

I keep em plugged in, cause I only own two home consoles(well, one cause switch is technically a handheld) but if and/or when I get more, I probably won’t


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## pat_guy7 (Nov 18, 2020)

MetoMeto said:


> So we all know consoles consume electricity, thats how they work anyway, so they need to be plugged in,
> but *do you unplug it from the wall (or console) when NOT playing it* *or leave it in standby all the time?*
> 
> Or do you unplug it here and there or NEVER, till it BURNS!!!.....I'm kidding lol it wont burn   ....or will it?! xD
> ...



The only console that I've left unplugged for a long time is my PlayStation 2. Nowadays it's just sitting on a shelf in my basement never being used. I did leave my Xbox 360 unplugged for a while, but that's so I can make renovations for my bedroom. Besides that, I just leave my consoles plugged in.


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