Leave it on or turn it off?

[belvdr]

it's because of power spikes happening inside the computer...the motherboard is still on in sleep (basically, the only thing left on) therefor it doesn't need a jolt of electricity to start up again, as it would with it being completely off.

Call me crazy, but the mechanical items, such as hard drives, would have more of an impact of lifespan due to turning off and on than electrical (solid-state) items. I've never heard of a motherboard being worn out due to power cycles. This is equivalent of saying the RAM will wear out by power cycling the machine.

 

[Whistleway]

So, what is the consensus. I am a new ibook owner and I just shut it down everytime I am done with the puter. So, is it wrong?

 

[EricNau]

Does anybody know if it's possible to change the power button on the mac mini (I assume on other macs as well) from sleep to off? Of course you shouldnt do it manually, it's just something trivial I get annoyed by

On my iMac there is check box in "Energy Saver Preferences" that says "allow power button to sleep."
If you have that un-check it.

 

[wdlove]

So, what is the consensus. I am a new ibook owner and I just shut it down everytime I am done with the puter. So, is it wrong?

Not wrong just personal preference. It's a catch 22. Will cause wear and tear either way. I have a iBook G3 that's 4 years old. It has been on 24/7 for over a year now. Allows for routine maintenance. Doesn't seem to be a problem since it never really feel hot. Mainly sits there folding.

 

[EricNau]

As for an iMac G5, should I keep it idling all night, or put it to sleep.
I want to do what's best for my computer, but not it it is going to kill my electric bill.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I generally leave mine on because I have grown so used to coming and just starting to work that I never turn my windows machine off at my work now! I feel spoiled and impatient while waiting for a windows machine to boot.

I now log off though because there has been a person coming over to see my sister that I am not so fond of. He wouldn't rip us off, but he would take it upon himself to sit down and play poker which I have on my machine.

Also, there is me 20" lcd, shinny powerbook. Computer to my right 17" monitor (not even crt) and nice box but has windows) next one over 17" monitor (not even crt) and nice box, but windows as well. So if I had to choose, I would pick mine.

 

[PCMacUser]

As for an iMac G5, should I keep it idling all night, or put it to sleep.
I want to do what's best for my computer, but not it it is going to kill my electric bill.

I would recommend switching it off at night. If it dies from being switched on, you can sue Apple for fitting it with an on/off button.

 

[Nuc]

...

I have a PB G3 "pismo" I've had it on for almost 5yrs straight. I never shut it down unless I need to install stuff. I will continue to leave my computers on 24/7/365 I put them to sleep when I travel...good stuff!

Nuc

 

[bankshot]

So what do you preach for OSX Maintenance? or nothing at all? Not even regular repairing permissions?

Nothing at all. If something is acting funny, go ahead and repair permissions - it's possible that a bad program accidentally screwed things up. But it's just not necessary to do periodically, and the scheduled maintenance stuff is not necessary at all unless you want to recover a few hundred megs of disk space (usually after not running them for a long time). With drives in the hundreds of gigs now, that's pretty negligible anyway.

OS X does a pretty good job of maintaining itself, just as long as no rogue applications go in and mess things up. If we had a rampant spyware problem (and it's certainly possible in the future, as Macs become more popular), things would be very different.

 

[bankshot]

So, what is the consensus. I am a new ibook owner and I just shut it down everytime I am done with the puter. So, is it wrong?

As wdlove said, there's no right or wrong, just personal preference. However I would recommend that you put it to sleep instead of full shutdown. Then you open it up and pick up right where you left off next time you use it. Leave applications open, web pages up that you were still looking at, etc. Not only do you save yourself the time of waiting for bootup, but you can get straight to work without reopening everything and finding where you left off.

I can't imagine doing it any other way.

 

[strydr]

As for an iMac G5, should I keep it idling all night, or put it to sleep.
I want to do what's best for my computer, but not it it is going to kill my electric bill.

Your iMac will use 8.8.watts idling with the display sleeping. It's worse on your electric bill to leave a night light on..

 

[2nyRiggz]

i leave mines on when im home but since im always out the house then its off most of the time.....damn i miss my second display, i wanna go home


Bless

 

[this is funah]

is there ANY possible way to immediately put the display to sleep because i leave my computer on all night. ...such as a hotkey or a hotcorner??

 

[Greenone]

So turn of or let sleep the PowerBooks?

Sorry but I missed the answer here. Just got my new PB today (yipee!) and want to know which is better for the machine. Thanks for the janitor software link - I'll do that soon!

 

[EricNau]

is there ANY possible way to immediately put the display to sleep because i leave my computer on all night. ...such as a hotkey or a hotcorner??

I've been trying to find a way for Mac desktops for a long time.

 

[Macky-Mac]

Sorry but I missed the answer here. Just got my new PB today (yipee!) and want to know which is better for the machine. Thanks for the janitor software link - I'll do that soon!

haha....there doesnt seem to be an answer

you would think that after all of these years that somebody would have done a definitive study.....but nobody seems to be presenting the results of one here

 

[strydr]

haha....there doesnt seem to be an answer

you would think that after all of these years that somebody would have done a definitive study.....but nobody seems to be presenting the results of one here

Answer-
First check system preferences/ Energy Saver. under Options, make sure you check "Allow power button to Sleep the computer". Now, press the button, it should sleep.

 

[Graeme Pearce]

I run MacJanitor for regular maintenance.

I agree. I've been using MacJanitor since I upgraded to OS X (10.3.9). Fast and efficient.

Gp

 

[Macky-Mac]

Answer-
First check system preferences/ Energy Saver. under Options, make sure you check "Allow power button to Sleep the computer". Now, press the button, it should sleep.

ummm....I don't think the question was "how to?" but rather "which is better?"

 

[Skid]

Hi,

AFAIK in terms of laptops, leaving it plugged in all the time can harm the battery (hence the reason for the trickle charge on them) - I was suggested to, by a collegue (sp?) that if you're going to leave it on (i.e. a PB/iB) then remove the battery.. It'll still run from the mains. Just my 2-Pence worth.

 

[MikeGA]

Can sombody explain. reeaalll slooowww how to manually run scripts I still have panther and am very confused.

Easy

Open the terminal and type:

sudo periodic daily weekly monthly

It will ask you for your admin password, so type it in. What you type won't actually appear on screen so do it carefully!

Hit enter and wait for the prompt to re-appear, that's when it's done!

 

[NicP]

ummm....I don't think the question was "how to?" but rather "which is better?"

i believe that reply was to post #63

 

[Macky-Mac]

i believe that reply was to post #63

well mine was in response to #64 so it didn't seem to be in context to quote my response when responding to #63 then