Is it better to sleep or turn off your iMac

[Block]

I know for laptops it's better to just keep them asleep, but I'm not quite sure about desktops/laptop hybrids like the iMac.

Thanks.

[macboy62]

I know for laptops it's better to just keep them asleep, but I'm not quite sure about desktops/laptop hybrids like the iMac.

Thanks.

I'd say; both.
All Mac's, I'm told do a little clean up operation when they pass midnight and are on, letting them sleep gets them to do it when they next awake.

So if i was using it again soon or the next day I would let it sleep.
If I was away and not using it for some time, I would save the electricity and switch the power off.

[macsander]

And is it 'worse' to keep it on overnight to ea complete some downloads than put it to sleep or turn it off?

[tersono]

I know for laptops it's better to just keep them asleep, but I'm not quite sure about desktops/laptop hybrids like the iMac.

Thanks.

For what it's worth, the iMacs & towers we use at work are on continuously - no sleep, no nothing. We just reboot 'em every now and then. No problems =]

It's a good idea to sleep laptops IMHO as they're not as well ventilated, but desktop machines should be fine to leave on continuously. My experience generally is you have more problems with sleep than when just leaving them on (occasionally a machine doesn't want to wake up)

[Trajectory]

I let my iMac sleep, I don't turn it off at night.

[blackscooby]

iMac sleeps at night. Mac Mini on 24*7

[chomby1991]

I just restart every month or so when everything gets laggy and then let it sleep over nights

[Thomas Davie]

Bought my iMac on June 6th this year. I just turn the screen off at night or when I go to work (shift-ctrl-eject).

I've had XP desktops that were left on for over a year.

If ventilation and temperature is not a problem, I would say let it stay on with the screen turned off.

Tom

[macsander]

And is it 'worse' to keep it on overnight to ea complete some downloads than put it to sleep or turn it off?

Can someone please answer this one, does it harm/damage or shorten the lifespan of the Imac in anyway to keep the Imac on, only screen turned of at night?

[erummel]

Can someone please answer this one, does it harm/damage or shorten the lifespan of the Imac in anyway to keep the Imac on, only screen turned of at night?

It damages it more to turn it off and in daily. The hardest thing for a circuit is to go from cold to hot. That's where the wear occurs. Leave it on and let it go to sleep.

[Thomas Davie]

Can someone please answer this one, does it harm/damage or shorten the lifespan of the Imac in anyway to keep the Imac on, only screen turned of at night?


See my post above.

In addition, we've had one computer in the lab where I work turned on since 2000 save for a power failer in the building. My girlfriend's laptop has been left on since June 13 with nmo ill effects.

No, no ill effects.

Tom

[TEG]

I leave my PowerBook on all night download files for work. During the day it runs to download or convert TiVo files. So it is working 24/7, and had a dead case fan.

TEG

[bigjnyc]

I usually just put mine to sleep all the time. every 15-20 days i'll turn it off for a few hours.

[harry454]

I just turn off my screen on my iMac

[KRS]

I don't usually keep my iMac or Computer on, Turn it on when I go on the computer and turn it off when I'm done =D

[Trouble1]

I don't usually keep my iMac or Computer on, Turn it on when I go on the computer and turn it off when I'm done =D

Me too.

Never made sense to me to leave something on when not in use.

[nidserz]

overnight if im not downloading i put my imac to sleep
if im downloading/need to be online i just put my screen to sleep...

only shut off imac or restart when its laggy or feel like i need to...

[Cassie]

I only leave my iBook on if I'm downloading something. Otherwise, it gets turned off at night.

During the day however, it sleeps. Say, if I was using it and decided to go do something else for a while, I'd just close the lid and let it sleep.

[hempcamp]

My iMac crunches World Community Grid projects 24/7 (at 60% CPU time) unless I'm leaving for a few days. Never sleeps... the screen just goes off after 5 minutes idle time.

No worries, no problems.

--Chris

[MacSA]

Think of your electricity bill !!

[TheIntruder]

I don't think it has a palpable effect on the life span of the machine. I've got a Sawtooth G4 and a 7500 that were both power-cycled at least once almost daily, and they still function fine. If I pulled my SE out of storage, I have little doubt it would power on.

It will affect your utility bill to a small degree. You can calculate that based on your local rates and the power consumption of the machine.

[Fonzijr1964]

Aside from the screen it is best to leave it on or in sleep mode

You see, the computer is overpowered every time it is turned on so it sorta shocks it. This can make the parts brittle over time. sleeping is less damaging than a full reboot.

[macsander]

Aside from the screen it is best to leave it on or in sleep mode

You see, the computer is overpowered every time it is turned on so it sorta shocks it. This can make the parts brittle over time. sleeping is less damaging than a full reboot.

This is great info with some technical background, question however, doesn't the computer slow down if you don't reboot it, because when you reboot the processes are 'cleaned'.

And is there a difference between letting it on or put it to sleep, performance/technical (not power consuming) wise?

[Fonzijr1964]

This is great info with some technical background, question however, doesn't the computer slow down if you don't reboot it, because when you reboot the processes are 'cleaned'.

And is there a difference between letting it on or put it to sleep, performance/technical (not power consuming) wise?

Well supposedly after every 12 hours of sleep macs "clean up" a bit but yes after a few weeks (or days depending on what you have saved) it will slow up

But i have had my iMac on/sleeping since I got it aside from T-Storms, Vacation, and updates that require reboots
leaving it on all the time can also damage the components so just set it to sleep after 1/2 hour or so and manually sleep it from the Apple menu when u know u wont use it like if u are going to do something outside or work and stuff like that

[Yizi]

I just turn off my screen on my iMac

How do you do that?

[Thrash911]

How do you do that?
SHIFT + CTRL + EJECT .. Actually mentioned earlier in this very thread.

[AL2TEACH]

I put or let it sleep but I will restart it about once a week, if I don't turn it off, to clear out the page outs and other stuff that builds up.

[xtwentyseven]

I put mine to sleep through the day and shut down at night. For those wondering about power consumption, I have the April '08 20" iMac plugged into a power meter. It tells how many watts the computer is generating. When it's asleep, the reading goes to zero. So sleeping won't run up your electric bill. Also, reducing the brightness on the screen will reduce consumption by about 20 watts moving from the highest setting to about 2 notches.

[headhammer]

for the most part, it won't do any damage to just continually put the computer to sleep. it's what i do too.

it's a good idea to turn it off for a few hours (i turn mine off overnight every now and then) every month or so to give some of the components a break. i'm not sure exactly why, but one of the techs at my work suggested this, citing that it would extend the lifespan of the computer. (i work for an apple reseller in australia)

also, although it may not show up on power meters, your mac uses approximately 1w every hour when asleep.
not very much, but if you turn it off every night instead of sleeping it, you'll save about $300 over the course of the year in power bills! (at least in australia, you'll have to do your own calculations)

[xtwentyseven]

I don't know what kind of energy prices you pay over there, but I pay $0.12 per kilowatt/hour. That translates to:
1 watt x 24 hrs a day x 365 days a year ÷ 1000 x $0.12 = $1.05

Thats if it were in sleep mode all day for a year, unless my math is wrong.

[08mxkfx]

If i put my screen to sleep will my downloads keep downloading or do they stop? And any idea how to put my screen to sleep with a windows type keyboard? I have control and shift but not eject button.

[bobertoq]

How do you do that?I don't know for sure, but my guess would be he uses a blank screen saver, and sets a corner hots pot to turn the screen saver on.

[08mxkfx]

I just figured out how to sleep my screen. I just set up sleep screen display as a hot corner in expose.

[nep61]

Think of your electricity bill !!

Agreed !!! With the computer, the external drives, the monitors, external DVD burner on.... those kilowatt hours add up. I shut everything each night.

Plus, a friend of mine and my cousin have both left their iMacs on since day one, with minimal restarts, and they both had hard drive failures 2+ years later... (Luckily, they both had Apple Care)

Unless you're downloading files or converting them, I see no advantage to keeping them on ALL the time, imo... I mean, most Macs take less than a minute to start up, right?