Overusing my MacBook?

[spriter]

I'm currently in the process of ripping all my DVDs to H.264 on an external drive for Front Row. At the moment, my MacBook is encoding for around 14 hours a day (4-5 movies) and I have around 200 more to go, meaning my it will be doing this for nearly 2 months. Is running it for 14 hours at full tilt for many consecutive days in anyway 'bad' for it? :confused:

BTW I usually sleep/shut down overnight.

[Danksi]

I'm currently in the process of ripping all my DVDs to H.264 on an external drive for Front Row. At the moment, my MacBook is encoding for around 14 hours a day (4-5 movies) and I have around 200 more to go, meaning my it will be doing this for nearly 2 months. Is running it for 14 hours at full tilt for many consecutive days in anyway 'bad' for it? :confused:

BTW I usually sleep/shut down overnight.

I would say you're just getting your money's worth! :)

[Felldownthewell]

Of course it will have more stress applied to it than a "regular" user, and it may cause a component to burn out faster, but it shouldn't be a problem. I would suggest letting it run at night too, that way you can get it done quicker.

[JBot]

if you have applecare it shouldnt matter.
the only thing i could think would happen is the harddrive may burn out, or the disk laser could go off, but really i couldnt see that happen.
Also, make sure you drain the battery average of 1-2 times a month, dont keep it plugged in the entire time, or you will lose battery life.

[spriter]

:eek: 24/7 encoding?

Now let mee see how many days that would save me...

[joshwest]

i'd say take the battery out... put it on a icurve and let her fly.

[spriter]

if you have applecare it shouldnt matter.
the only thing i could think would happen is the harddrive may burn out, or the disk laser could go off, but really i couldnt see that happen.
Also, make sure you drain the battery average of 1-2 times a month, dont keep it plugged in the entire time, or you will lose battery life.

I was conscious of the hard drive thing which is why I'm ripping DVDs to the external and reading/encoding/writing back to it. The internal HD is as unused as I can get whilst I'm doing this as is the Superdrive.

I didn't think of the battery though, thanks for that. I will be sure to keep it in shape.

[JBot]

i'd say take the battery out... put it on a icurve and let her fly.
I wouldnt advise taking it out, because if theres any shortage in the power, you would lose whatever you were loading.

[batman123]

200+ DVD's :eek: What size is the external HD?

[spriter]

200+ DVD's :eek: What size is the external HD?

At the moment it's a 250GB but I'm going to pick up a 400GB external in the next week or so. Movies are averaging around 1.4GB (H.264@1500kbps, 192kbps audio, 2-pass) so I'll even have room left if it works out at around 310GB in all :)

The 2-pass that's doubling my time but it's worth it.

[Mord]

better to have something fail during warrenty.

[MattyMac]

better to have something fail during warrenty.
scary but very true!

[Scarlet Fever]

if you take the battery out, the MacBooks take themselves down to 1GHz per core. Leave the battery in, and let her fly :D

As long as you keep it well ventilated, you should have no problems.

[Felldownthewell]

if you take the battery out, the MacBooks take themselves down to 1GHz per core.

Does this not apply to the MBP? Mine is running with its battery out and it shows both cores operating...

[stefan15]

As long as you keep it well ventilated, you should have no problems.

Yes, put it in your fridge's vegetable crisper. Good to go.

[drummerbooker14]

i have done alot of that with my G5 imac and it hssn't had a problem since

[MIDI_EVIL]

Why would you want to make an encoded copy of every dvd you own, plus fork out more cash for a fairly large external to store them on?

I'm sorry i think it's pointless? Why do you need them on an external?

I don't even see the point for backup purposes, as theres no way you'll spend the value of the external HD's you are using, on replacing scratched DVDs. They are dirt cheap these days.

Rich.

[apunkrockmonk]

Perhaps he is doing it for iPod purposes.

I know for me archiving all my dvds (much like all my music is archived) is convienient (no need to swap discs around) and when I go to school in the fall I have my whole collection with me.

Although I rip them with MTR and leave them uncompressed.

That is a lottttt of HD space.

[munkees]

Running you system hard is not going to kill it, it does more damage shuting down and starting up then running. Have to watch how hot the HD gets I have burnt drives out before in iBook and PowerBook. Make sure that all the vents are cleared. I put big coins under the feet to raise the computer up a bit more, this allows air to pass batter.

[pianodude123]

how do you convert DVDs to h.264?

What exactly is the benefit of using h.264 as opposed to MP4?

[citi]

do yourself a favor and buy an external 2.0 dvd writer. That's what I did when I first bought my powerbook and didn't want to upgrade the 2X internal DVD. They only cost like 100$ now. You could take all the stress off of your internal drive. and they are faster than the internal drive which means ripping faster. Mine is a 16x dvd burner. I doubt I'll ever even use my MBP drive. (unless I am away from home) No sense in making it that much hotter in there.!

[purelithium]

it does more damage shuting down and starting up then running.

That is the most rediculous statement I've seen in a while.

While that's true for Cars and other mechanical equipment, I know for a fact that there's no difference between starting a computer up and running it full usage of both cores.

Unless you have some amazing new study, I'd stop making statements on topics that you really don't understand.

[mac pro]

how do you convert DVDs to h.264?

What exactly is the benefit of using h.264 as opposed to MP4?

Yes

I would like to know this same exact question...

How...?

[xfiftyfour]

the H.264 format is to be able to play videos on your iPod. as to how: i know Roxio Popcorn 2 does it for ya, and i'm sure there are others, but i don't know any off the top of my head.

[Chundles]

Yes

I would like to know this same exact question...

How...?

There's some misunderstanding here. All the videos are .mp4 regardless of how they are encoded. You use Handbrake to rip a DVD to mp4 format using H.264 as the encoder.

You can also use Handbrake to rip to .avi etc but by using .mp4 you have the advantage of being able to add them to iTunes, tagging them with programs like Lostify if they are TV shows and being able to use them in Front Row right away.

[spriter]

I'm doing it because I prefer to have access to all my movies at the click of a Front Row remote. Much easier than finding a DVD and changing it around. It also means I can store all my DVDs away in a box, out of the way - keeping them safe and not taking up space except in the loft.

Much the same way that I, and a few others (:)) have all CDs ripped to iTunes or an iPod, available at the click of a button and stored safely out of the way. I've no desire to rip and make backups of every DVD I have. I just want easier access.

As Chundles mentions I am using Handbrake and why MP4 H.264/AVC? Because it gives the best quality for the settings I'm using - to my eyes at least. :)

[gnasher729]

Yes

I would like to know this same exact question...

How...?

Googe for "Handbrake". And the advantage of H.264 is the much smaller size. Like a two hour DVD compressed to one GB in decent quality.

[superted666]

starting up and shutting down is more stress on a computer.
More Specifically hard disks - typical failure occours at this time as the tempreture change of the disk when switched off and then on can have detremental effects.