[djmpower]

I was curious if Apple intended for the iMac G4 to only be put to sleep and to never really be turned off at night? It would appear that was considering where they put the power button on the back of the base.

At night do most of you simply put the iMac to sleep, even if it wont be used for a few days, or do you actually shut down the system when it wont be used for a few days?

Thanks,
dj

[bstieritz]

Originally posted by djmpower:
I was curious if Apple intended for the iMac G4 to only be put to sleep and to never really be turned off at night? It would appear that was considering where they put the power button on the back of the base.

At night do most of you simply put the iMac to sleep, even if it wont be used for a few days, or do you actually shut down the system when it wont be used for a few days?

Thanks,
dj

Hey djmpower,

as far as I know apple doesn't recommend using the "shut down" feature on your computer any more than you need to, unless you are planning, say, a few week vacation or during a bad electrical storm. The "sleep" feature on your imac is a great thing because it simply stops your hard-drive from spinning until you wake it the next time . . . instead of doing a complete system shutdown which (and there are many conflicting opinions on this topic) is bad for the hard drive due to harmful electrical shocks and the wear and tear it puts the hard-drive through everytime it does this.

I use the "sleep" or "restart" feature pretty much all the time or anytime I am done with the machine for the night or have just installed or upgraded software. Once again, I would use "shutdown" if there was some sort of bad electrical storm coming your way that could produce harmful power levels. You also want to "shutdown" your computer anytime you want to move your computer. Picking up and moving the computer while the hard drive is spinning is not good for the computer, either. Actually, any type of vibration is bad for a hard drive . . . like being next to an entry door near a lot of foot traffic, doors closing, people bumping the machine, etc.

Basically, the least amount of abuse you can put your hard disk through, the longer it will faithfully serve you. Take this for what it's worth . . . most people usually brush info like this aside because it may cost them a few extra moments of their precious time but my theory is better safe than sorry.

PS: in my opinion, apple wasn't really thinking "hmm, maybe we should encourage people to use the sleep feature on their computer by putting it in a hard-to-reach area on the computer." Honestly, I think the reason was aesthetics . . . it just looked better without a power button sticking out the front of the computer. (my humble opinion)


brian

[bstieritz]

[Paul Stephen C.]

Hi Djmpower,

I agree with what bstieritz says. I was worried about leaving the iMac on continuously at first, and I suppose one remaining slight concern was the possibility of hackers. If you're on braodband ADSL, your router should block that possibility. Otherwise get a firewall (Norton is cheap and effective, I understand).

The on/off button is slightly awkward to access, but so is the headphone socket, audio in socket etc. I've stuck a small vanity mirror on the wall behind the iMac to see what I'm plugging in!

The iMac runs quietly and cool, so leave it on unless you're going away for a while. From what I've read, the HD gets much less wear that way, and your flat screen pixels don't suffer any additional wear either.

Paul

[bstieritz]

Originally posted by Paul Stephen C.:
Hi Djmpower,

I agree with what bstieritz says. I was worried about leaving the iMac on continuously at first, and I suppose one remaining slight concern was the possibility of hackers. If you're on braodband ADSL, your router should block that possibility. Otherwise get a firewall (Norton is cheap and effective, I understand).

The on/off button is slightly awkward to access, but so is the headphone socket, audio in socket etc. I've stuck a small vanity mirror on the wall behind the iMac to see what I'm plugging in!

The iMac runs quietly and cool, so leave it on unless you're going away for a while. From what I've read, the HD gets much less wear that way, and your flat screen pixels don't suffer any additional wear either.

Paul

good call about the LCD, Paul. LCD screens are beautiful but they don't last forever and if left on for long periods of time they can be susceptable to burn-outs and dead pixels.

What's the key to them lasting longer?? Go into your system preferences and power options and turn that baby off any chance you get. I have my laptop screen set to go black after about 5 minutes of dead-time, however, you may find this number extreme. These settings can be easily adjusted or turned off if, say, you're watching a dvd or something.

cheers,
brian

[mbryda]

It doesn't matter. The hard drive is turned off when the computer is sleeping, just like it is when the comptuer is turned off. For the most part, so is the motherboard - it goes into an ultra low-power state (like a laptop) where most of the circuitry is turned off.

As for the LCD - the pixels don't really wear out, but the BACKLIGHT does. That's usually the first thing to go on them. It will gradually dim over time until it shuts off completely.

[drcarl]

I leave my Mac on 24-7. Display sleeps after 10 min and iMac sleeps after 45 min. The best aspect about not shutting down is that you don't have to start up!

About the LCD: When the backlight goes ka-put, can it be replaced?

A little bit of history: Back in the old days of the Apple ][ computers, the power switch was in the back. A lot of people started drooling when Apple began making machines that started up by pressing a key on the keyboard.

[bstieritz]

Originally posted by drcarl:

About the LCD: When the backlight goes ka-put, can it be replaced?

A little bit of history: Back in the old days of the Apple ][ computers, the power switch was in the back. A lot of people started drooling when Apple began making machines that started up by pressing a key on the keyboard.

drcarl,

Something tells me apple wouldn't just replace a backlight on the LCD . . . probably just replace the entire screen. But, that's just a guess.

Interesting about the powerbutton on the keyboard, too. I love little tidbits of info. like that

cheers,
brian

[drcarl]

Originally posted by bstieritz:
drcarl,

Something tells me apple wouldn't just replace a backlight on the LCD . . . probably just replace the entire screen. But, that's just a guess.

cheers,
brian

Ya, I was thinking the same thing. I'd like to know more about the iMac backlight. Is there more than one? What kind of light source is it (e.g. incandecent bulb, LED)? Will the new FP displays being developed now last longer or will they, like most new products, have programmed obsolesence?

[SpinCycle]

Is there a way to make a applescript or use some app that will turn the LCD off immediately. For instance, I like to leave my computer running so people can get to my web page on it and files. But I would like do something so that the LCD is turned off immediately instead of waiting the 20 minutes I have it set to now, or going in and changing it all the time.. The iMac is in my bedroom that is why. I remember on my Powerbook 15" I could just reduce the brightness down to nothing and it would shut off the backlight. on the iMac it will only go down so low.

[Frumpy]

But then my question becomes.....so how much does a screen saver really help? Are these LCD's like projection TV's, where if you leave an image up for too long it'll burn into the screen? Just curious.

[tooki]

All computer flat-panel displays to date are backlit with cold-cathode fluorescent tubes.

The whole "power-up being damaging to the HD" is a bunch of hooey. Yes, hard drives have a limited number of spin-up/spin-down cycles before they die. But it's in the hundreds of thousands, and it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether it's spinning up from sleep, or spinning up from being powered down.

tooki