Is Your Computer On All The Time?

[dglenn9000]

You don't have to keep it on all the time

If you are worried about energy consumption or for whatever reason don't want your mac on all the time. Simply use the built in shutdown/startup scheduler. Durning the week everyone in my house in in bed by 12am. So it shuts down automatically at 12:30 am then wakes up 8am.

I started doing this because my computer would wake up randomly throughout the night, then the monitor would come on unnecessarily even thought wake up to network traffic was turned off.

 

[slothrob]

Then why does it explicitly state in the Apple calibration article to let your battery drain all the way, or "go to sleep" as it puts it, for 5-6 hours before letting it charge all the way up?

That is to calibrate the battery meter so that the % or time remaining is correct, not to improve battery longevity.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

That is to calibrate the battery meter so that the % or time remaining is correct, not to improve battery longevity.

But regardless, why would Apple tell us to do something that's bad for our battery?

 

[GGJstudios]

Then why does it explicitly state in the Apple calibration article to let your battery drain all the way, or "go to sleep" as it puts it, for 5-6 hours before letting it charge all the way up?

Read the Battery FAQ. That process of calibration applies to older Mac notebooks with removable batteries. Read the link I posted. It clearly states:

Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure outlined in this article.

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Read the Battery FAQ. That process of calibration applies to older Mac notebooks with removable batteries. Read the link I posted. It clearly states:

I saw that. But I have an older MacBook

 

[GGJstudios]

I saw that. But I have an older MacBook

Which model?

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Which model?

late 2007 white MacBook3,1 with removable battery

 

[slothrob]

But regardless, why would Apple tell us to do something that's bad for our battery?

To calibrate the battery meter. The damage that you do by running it down once a month or so is probably minimal, it just isn't optimal battery care.

 

[GGJstudios]

late 2007 white MacBook3,1 with removable battery

Then it's fine to calibrate your battery every month or two. As stated in the Battery FAQ:

Calibration does not affect your battery health, improve battery performance, or extend battery life. It does make battery condition reporting more accurate, so when your battery reports 97% health, it's more accurate.

 

[big samm]

Yup MacBook pro is always on... In case I need to stream or print something.

 

[hafr]

Read the Battery FAQ. That process of calibration applies to older Mac notebooks with removable batteries. Read the link I posted. It clearly states:

If battery A needs to be calibrated when using the computer the first time and then once a month (or however often), and battery B comes pre-calibrated, it sounds strange that battery B doesn't need to be calibrated as often as battery A. Only the need for initial calibration should be affected. What am I missing?

 

[khollister]

MacPro on 24x7, mostly due to not sleeping reliably due to eSATA and PCIe SAS revices

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

If battery A needs to be calibrated when using the computer the first time and then once a month (or however often), and battery B comes pre-calibrated, it sounds strange that battery B doesn't need to be calibrated as often as battery A. Only the need for initial calibration should be affected. What am I missing?

Yeah... I was wondering about that too. I just assumed that Apple also developed a way to maintain calibration with the unibody and just didn't explicitly say it.

I mean we don't need to calibrate our iPhones or iPads right?

 

[OmegaRed1723]

Headless Mac mini has been running 24/7 for almost 2 years. The only time it's been off was when we lost power for a week in October. It has been absolutely rock solid.

 

[tommot82]

Just got the new Apple TV but I'm not quite sure I get "Home Sharing"

For you guys ripping your own movies to play on the Apple TV, are your computers on all the time? To my understanding, to play movies from your iTunes library through "Home Sharing," your Mac must have iTunes actively running. And it doesn't seem like you can stream or connect a hard drive to the Apple TV...so is there no way to access non-cloud content on the Apple TV without your Mac turned on?

i set mine to wake on lan

 

[GGJstudios]

If battery A needs to be calibrated when using the computer the first time and then once a month (or however often), and battery B comes pre-calibrated, it sounds strange that battery B doesn't need to be calibrated as often as battery A. Only the need for initial calibration should be affected. What am I missing?

That was my thought, that calibration isn't a one-time event. However, Apple's statement suggests that there is a change in the built-in batteries themselves that improves accuracy of reporting, eliminating the need for calibration. As stated in the Battery FAQ:

If you suspect your battery readings are inaccurate, calibration won't harm your battery and will make your readings more accurate.

 

[Acejam2k]

No, my computer isn't on all the time. I have a late 2011 MBP.

I have a Synology NAS with all of my BluRay/DVD rips. I'd love to pick up an Apple TV - but in order to watch movies from my personal collection, they'd have to be in my iTunes library, and my machine would have to be on, with iTunes open. This is completely pointless. I'm not remuxing/converting all of my MKV files into MP4's, regardless of how long it would take. Furthermore, my iTunes library is located on my NAS itself, so the iTunes app is only acting as a proxy/gateway.

Late last year I setup a mini-ITX HTPC running Windows 7 and XBMC. I turn it on when I need to, and it's absolutely amazing. I can stream any type of file from my NAS across the network from MKV to TS.

If AppleTV could do this, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. I've even thought about picking one up and jailbrekaing it, but for now I'm sticking with the HTPC.

 

[thinkinblue613]

The MBP 13 is on most the time.

The only time I turn it off is when I am leaving the house for a more than 1 hour and unplug the charger to save battery life.

 

[ssgrif]

nope my computer is never on. however my NAS is, which is where I stream my content from, over to apple tv2.

 

[Acejam2k]

nope my computer is never on. however my NAS is, which is where I stream my content from, over to apple tv2.

But you're jailbroken, right? XBMC?

 

[scottpat78]

ATV streaming options

Here's a question for you (not sure if I should start a new thread or not, but it is kinda related to this).

I have an ATV3 plus numerous iOS devices in the house. For one reason or another I haven't got a Mac...yet (late to the party, but catching up)!

My company does a tax efficient home computng scheme every June, and these include Macs, so I am going for it this time, my question is as follows......

I have all of my iTunes media on a Windows laptop right now; I subscribe to iTunes Match so all music content (songs, videos) are in the cloud and I can stream direct to my ATV. It's a pain leaving the laptop on if I want to stream other content though and I don't keep all of my TV shows & movies on our iOS devices due to capacity constraints, so what I am wondering is, in your opinion, do I:

A. Buy a Mac (iMac or MacBook) with a time capsule, use time capsule to store all of my iTunes media and leave only the time capsule on all of the time. The Mac would live in my home office.
B. Buy a Mac Mini and hook this straight up to my HDTV in the lounge and keep all content on there, with the Mac Mini on all of the time.

Any advice / suggestions would be gratefully received, thanks.

Scott.

 

[dzigg]

Late last year I setup a mini-ITX HTPC running Windows 7 and XBMC. I turn it on when I need to, and it's absolutely amazing. I can stream any type of file from my NAS across the network from MKV to TS.

If AppleTV could do this, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. I've even thought about picking one up and jailbrekaing it, but for now I'm sticking with the HTPC.

Buy a 2nd Gen AppleTV, jailbreak it and install XBMC on it ?

 

[slothrob]

It's a pain leaving the laptop on if I want to stream other content though...

A. Buy a Mac (iMac or MacBook) with a time capsule, use time capsule to store all of my iTunes media and leave only the time capsule on all of the time. The Mac would live in my home office.
B. Buy a Mac Mini and hook this straight up to my HDTV in the lounge and keep all content on there, with the Mac Mini on all of the time.

"A" won't work.
"B" would work, but what advantage do you see over the laptop?

What makes leaving the laptop on a pain? Doesn't it save you the step of shutting it down? One advantage of Windows laptops as iTunes servers is that they are usually designed to keep running when they are closed. There is also a control panel that will allow you to time-out the hard drive and monitor, but keep the system running. Alternately, you can try wake-on-LAN and see if it works for you and your router.

 

[scottpat78]

"A" won't work.
"B" would work, but what advantage do you see over the laptop?

What makes leaving the laptop on a pain? Doesn't it save you the step of shutting it down? One advantage of Windows laptops as iTunes servers is that they are usually designed to keep running when they are closed. There is also a control panel that will allow you to time-out the hard drive and monitor, but keep the system running. Alternately, you can try wake-on-LAN and see if it works for you and your router.

Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it.

Why wont A work? I'm suprised by this.
B - the MacBook or iMac would be switched on in my home office, the power aupply to my desk is via a surge protector and if I leave this on, it also means leaving my work equipment on - laptop, monitor and printer. So leaving a personal device on would mean a large consumption of power.

I'm thinking I dont need a MacBook really due to having iPhones & iPads in the house, so looking more at iMac with Time Capsule as a media hub or Mac Mini situated beside the TV in the lounge.

Of course I could get an iMac or MacBook and leave it plugged in elsewhere, but then I use my personal laptop a lot during the day also - I'm typing on it now, so would like to leave it in the office.

For me if Time Capsule wont work, then Mac Mini looks to be the best option - I can situate it in the lounge and keep it running all of the time. I must admit I preferred the option of a Mac in my office though with a Time Capsule for a remote media hub. Kinda gutted that wont work - can anyone provide info on this please? The Apple site suggests it should as a network drive?

Scott.

 

[slothrob]

A. Buy a Mac (iMac or MacBook) with a time capsule, use time capsule to store all of my iTunes media and leave only the time capsule on all of the time. The Mac would live in my home office.

This is the part that won't work. The Time Capsule can act as a network drive, but won't serve to the aTV unless you have a computer on running iTunes.

I can't say I understand your logic for not just using the laptop you already have, but if it makes sense to you and a Mini isn't difficult for you financially, then that is a good solution.

If you plug the Mini into your surge protector at your desk, it will have the same problem of shutting off that a notebook would have, without the battery. You could still use the laptop while it was serving iTunes content, I do, but the Windows version of iTUnes is a bit of a resource hog and you will notice it slow down if it has a slow processor or is short on RAM.