Sleep vs. Shut Down

[smooth]

Hi Everyone,

I recently switched from a Dell Desktop to a Mac Blackbook. I was somewhat familiar with Macs before switching, but I am pretty unfamiliar with laptops. My only experience is minimally working with an iBook when I'm teaching kids church services. Anywho, I have a real newbie question here:

When is choosing Sleep a better option over just Shut Down. I know if I'm just stepping away for a short period of time I would choose sleep or it will sleep on its own. But if I'm done for the day/night, is it better to just shut it down? Does sleep use significant battery power?

I searched for a similar topic but had no luck. Any help would be a great help, thank you. Great site btw, found LOTS of helpful information....

[Eraserhead]

It usually uses about 5% of the battery overnight, I think over 4-5 hours its probably worth shutting it down.

[CrzyCanuck72]

I think sleep is always the better option (except if you won't be using it for long periods of time, like days), as it lets you pick up right where you left off. Why make life more difficult by having to boot up every day and relaunch all your applications?

[xUKHCx]

There is always deep sleep as well, which is like hibernation in windows. I use this widget (http://deepsleep.free.fr/) to activate it.

[Zuplar]

i've been using shut-down, but am going to start using sleep, because it's much faster to start and leaves things how i left them.

[saltyzoo]

For over a decade now, I've only shut down my laptop when forced too by a software install. As long as you leave it plugged in so the battery doesn't drain, there's no problem in just putting it to sleep.

[GfulDedFan]

The only time that my MacBook is shut down is to calibrate the battery, reset PRAM & SMU or to update hardware (add RAM/change HD). Then there's the software updates that require a re-start. Otherwise it's on or asleep since January.

[KJdanReuben]

I never shut mine down, or restart, unless software update calls for it. Leopard, although, has crashed a few times causing me to shut the computer down way more than usual. I think since I got Leopard on release day, I've shut the computer down or restarted it more than since I bought it. I hate this, but love Leopard. Hopefully 10.5.1 will fix this. I would say sleep is perfect, even if you are away for a few days.

[Jiddick ExRex]

There is always deep sleep as well, which is like hibernation in windows. I use this widget (http://deepsleep.free.fr/) to activate it.

Is there a way to deepsleep without a widget? Oh yeah and also to pick a boot drive? I'd like this with boot camp :)

[xUKHCx]

Is there a way to deepsleep without a widget? Oh yeah and also to pick a boot drive? I'd like this with boot camp :)

1.) yes but it is tedious (http://andrewescobar.com/archive/2005/11/11/how-to-safe-sleep-your-mac/), the widget has the advantage (for my use) of being one time only so it doesn't actually alter the sleep settings.

2.) System Preferences - Startup Disk

[Hawkeye411]

i've been using shut-down, but am going to start using sleep, because it's much faster to start and leaves things how i left them.

That the reason I like to use sleep. When I am working on something and I am going to finish it the next day I simply shut the MacBook lid (after saving the file) and then open it the next day and continue working.

Cheers.
:):apple:

[smooth]

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like it depends on personal preference. I was just worried that sleep may drain the battery faster than I thought. Thanks again for the help!:D

[koobcamuk]

Been sleeping when carried around. Left on most of the time... 13months old

[luffx]

When programs are activated they mark a certain amount of RAM whether it's used or not. Also, they use certain files and call certain resources. When you close the programs, they don't always release everything they called. Restarting is the best way to clear all resources & free memory. Sleep is fine most of the time, but a restart here and there is well worth it.