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rsgyde · Feb 13, 2006, 11:31 AM

Ok don't laugh too much but I've never owned a laptop before. Anyway I'm student at a university so I always take my G4 with me. Looking through the short book that came with it I was unable to find out If its better for the Powerbook to be shutdown or put to sleep when I'm lugging it around. Obviously even in sleep mode there is some power consumption but I'm really looking for whats easier on the computer itself.

Sijmen · Feb 13, 2006, 11:55 AM

Booting it up with every class takes its toll on the battery life. I keep it asleep when I hop around at home and at the office. The heads of the HDD are parked so they can't do any damage. That's probably the only thing that can go bad when you toss the PB around.
Also, keeping the optic drive empty is a must.

BTW, when I have something important running that I don't want to turn off, I put the PB to sleep, put it in its bag and head to where ever I need to go(which will be a bumpy ride)

terigox · Feb 13, 2006, 11:57 AM

Well, shutdown of course, everything is turned off, power is not pushed to components. In sleep mode, power is still being pushed to the RAM to keep its contents. I"m not sure with the Macs (My first mac is coming soon

) if power is pushed to anything else while in sleep mode, perhaps someone else can chime in here.

But, I can't say that keeping the small amount of power to the RAM for sleep mode is bad at all, obviously using the ram in general is going to be considered as "use" on the laptop. As far as other components, the harddrive's head is locked into place upon sleep, so you shouldnt have to worry about anything like that.

I'd say by this time, its more of a preference than anything, of course any long term storage or movement, it is recommended to power the system down.

Anyone else want to chime in?

Randman · Feb 13, 2006, 01:48 PM

Sleep for short trips, shutdown for flights.

hickey · Feb 13, 2006, 02:19 PM

Randman is right. Sleep it if you're going to pully it out and use it again soon, turn it off if it'll be a while till you use it again. And by "a while" I mean over an hour or so.

teney7 · Feb 13, 2006, 02:40 PM

yeah, i shut down more than I used to... doesn't the HD spin when the PB is asleep?

cambro · Feb 13, 2006, 02:53 PM

My powerbook will go for weeks of daily use/transport without being shut down or restarted.

There is really no good reason to power down unless you plan on not using it for extend periods of time (few days or more) and cannot leave it plugged in. Instant-on from sleep is great, don't be afraid to use it! (and NO the HD doesn't spin, CDs don't spin, the screen isn't on, and nothing but RAM draws power during sleep).

hickey · Feb 13, 2006, 02:59 PM

you let it sleep even when traveling?

terigox · Feb 13, 2006, 03:05 PM

The only thing you would have to worry about is your battery dying and losing your data if it was off for like 2 weeks

cambro · Feb 13, 2006, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by hickey

you let it sleep even when traveling?

Yes, why not?

I've been travelling in planes, trains, cars, buses, bikes and by foot for years with sleeping Powerbooks. I've done this on virtually a daily basis with a Pismo and two Ti's and I've had zero problems.

I really don't see why you would be concerned about transporting a sleeping Powerbook. The only difference between that and shutting down is that there is some stuff in RAM that is preserved, allowing instant-on state recovery.

rsgyde · Feb 13, 2006, 03:14 PM

okay thanks for the info guys/girls. I really love my PB and just want to baby it so it holds up well.

schalliol · Feb 13, 2006, 03:30 PM

Yeah, I let it sleep unless it's going to be more than 4 hours+ without power before I use it again with no problems. After nearly 3.5 years, the Ti doesn't seem to do as well as it used to for power drain while asleep, but that doesn't include thorough tests.

harrisjamieh · Feb 13, 2006, 03:30 PM

I have an iBook G4 (OK, not a PB, but works exactly the same as the PBs on this topic), and I always sleep it. I let it sleep overnight, and often dont wake it until 10 AM or so. I sleep it when moving from class to class at school, when going to school in the morning, and when catching the bus back home. Basically, whenever I am out and about, and generally 99% of the time I sleep my PB. I cannot remember the last time I shut it down for any other reason apart from a) a total lockup of the system, b) need a restart because of software installation.

Sleep is the way to go!

hickey · Feb 13, 2006, 03:40 PM

I mean I sleep mine every night too, but I rarely take it off my desk, so I just wast too versed in traveling with it in sleep mode. I guess my main concern was the risk of damaging the HD heads while asleep, but since it parks them, they should be aight.

brother337 · Feb 13, 2006, 03:55 PM

Plus, sleeping allows us "uptime junkies" to keep our highs going.

schalliol · Feb 13, 2006, 03:58 PM

Haha, well. I actually ran power under my couch so that I can slide my pb under the edge so that it is no longer viewable, yet powered and ready for action if I'm at home and want to look something up/do work. Most all of my work and communication with others seems to have moved to the Internet, as I can search for information quickly and get things done quickly. My wife thinks I'm addicted to the computer, and this relates to the "uptime junkie" you note, but I plead that I'm not addicted to the computer, but rather I am highly connected to information and communication.

Zyphere · Feb 13, 2006, 05:56 PM

Is it harmful to keep your Pbook (or any laptop for that matter) on overnight without putting it to sleep? Or is putting it to sleep the recommended action?

tooki · Feb 13, 2006, 06:01 PM

It makes NO difference, provided you don't let the battery run out completely.

In the 2+ years that I have had my AlBook, I've probably shut it down (not including troubleshooting or upgrades) under 10 times. It lives either in use or asleep.

tooki

schalliol · Feb 13, 2006, 06:05 PM

I believe I saw that sleep was indeed recommended in the past by Apple as the course of action to take when not using the unit. That said, I've heard that restarting it every once in a while is better for system imporrtance as RAM can get fragmented like hard drives, though I'm not sure if that's just a rumor or a fact.

brother337 · Feb 13, 2006, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by Zyphere

Is it harmful to keep your Pbook (or any laptop for that matter) on overnight without putting it to sleep? Or is putting it to sleep the recommended action?

Well, It's like running a car. The hardest wear and tear on a laptop is during startup and shutdown, because of the moving parts and changes in temperature. Leaving a computer on is like driving on the freeway, as opposed to stop and go traffic.

However, when you leave a computer on, you're still putting miles on it, so who knows what the tradeoff is. I usually never turn my deskops off, especially if they're some sort of print or file server. My laptops, I'll usually put to sleep because they tend not to be as well ventilated as your average desktop. Plus, many laptop hard drive (especially the faster ones) aren't designed to be run 24/7.

That being said, all this means is that you're probably decreasing the life of your laptop from 12 years to 10 years (those are arbitrary numbers), so it's moot for most people.

schalliol · Feb 13, 2006, 07:17 PM

The startup isn't any worse from shut down than sleep, I don't think. If you keep it running 24/7 that's a diffreent story. The hardest part is the hard drive starting up, and I'd guess other components turning on.

dialo · Feb 13, 2006, 07:27 PM

sleep always, unless it's not going to be used for over a week or two.