Mac Pro +30 ACD concers

[Gloor]

Hi,

I have my MP finally and I would like to ask you few questions, please.

1) Is it worth to turn off the computer when you go away for lets say 30-45 minutes?
2) I've seen some pictures of a computer that cause fire because something inside started to flame. Is there any kind of protection one can use to avoid it?
3) Can that happen when computer is in sleep mode?
4) What is the best background for 30" ACD to protect it for the best image for the longest time? Ie, would dark colors background make the screen's colors last longer?
5) Do any colours have effect on the fading thing?
6) Would you put your screen to sleep very often or would you use screen saver?

I might ask some more but this is enough for the meantime. As you noticed, I am very protective of my MP but that is because I never paid £3000 for a computer before. Max £1000 including screen and seeing that I am a student I want to make sure that the computer will last at least 3 years.

[Tallest Skil]

1) Off as in shut down? No. Let it sleep. Turn the ACD off, since it's separate and you can.
2) Macs don't catch fire, but in Soviet Russia, fire catches on YOU!
3) It's not going to happen with a Mac. The cooling system is too good.
4) Darker would make the backlight last longer, yes. I'm not sure how substantial the gain is, but I'll be running mainly darkish backgrounds on my dual 24 inchers.
5) I don't know. I doubt it.
6) Sleep. Definitely. A screen saver's good for CRTs, as they prevent burn-in. On LCDs, a screen saver only wastes backlight.

You're a college student? I'm getting a Mac Pro for college, too. What's your rig like? I was thinking 3.2 1.32TB/6GB/2 8800 GT with one SuperDrive and a BD-RE DL/HD-DVD-ROM drive for mine. Oh, and my dual 24s.

Yes, when I get this baby, she'll be posted.

[fluidedge]

well if you can buy all that for you thats great! Bit £££ though! Most students have other things to spend money on. Like baked beans and beer!

[Gloor]

Originally Posted by Tallest Skil

1) Off as in shut down? No. Let it sleep. Turn the ACD off, since it's separate and you can.
2) Macs don't catch fire, but in Soviet Russia, fire catches on YOU!
3) It's not going to happen with a Mac. The cooling system is too good.
4) Darker would make the backlight last longer, yes. I'm not sure how substantial the gain is, but I'll be running mainly darkish backgrounds on my dual 24 inchers.
5) I don't know. I doubt it.
6) Sleep. Definitely. A screen saver's good for CRTs, as they prevent burn-in. On LCDs, a screen saver only wastes backlight.

You're a college student? I'm getting a Mac Pro for college, too. What's your rig like? I was thinking 3.2 1.32TB/6GB/2 8800 GT with one SuperDrive and a BD-RE DL/HD-DVD-ROM drive for mine. Oh, and my dual 24s.

Yes, when I get this baby, she'll be posted.

Actually, they do catch on fire. There was a guy and his ( I think G5 or maybe MP 2006) had smoke and little fire from PSU I think. Luckily he was there to stop it.

[termina3]

Originally Posted by Gloor

Actually, they do catch on fire. There was a guy and his ( I think G5 or maybe MP 2006) had smoke and little fire from PSU I think. Luckily he was there to stop it.

G5. This is the Mac Pro.

Improvements have been made (not to mention getting rid of the liquid cooling...)

[tivoli2]

Originally Posted by Tallest Skil

6) Sleep. Definitely. A screen saver's good for CRTs, as they prevent burn-in. On LCDs, a screen saver only wastes backlight.

Putting the LCD to sleep or turning it off is a good way to conserve energy as well... believe it or not, an LCD uses more energy displaying darkest colors than it does displaying the bright ones.

Additionally, I seem to remember hearing (could be complete rubbish) that it isn't good for the backlight to be turning the monitor on & off frequently. But I'm not 100% on that. For what it's worth, I let my monitors sleep during working hours and turn them off before bed.

[Gloor]

Originally Posted by tivoli2

Putting the LCD to sleep or turning it off is a good way to conserve energy as well... believe it or not, an LCD uses more energy displaying darkest colors than it does displaying the bright ones.

Additionally, I seem to remember hearing (could be complete rubbish) that it isn't good for the backlight to be turning the monitor on & off frequently. But I'm not 100% on that. For what it's worth, I let my monitors sleep during working hours and turn them off before bed.

Isn't sleeping option for the screen essentially the same as turning the screen off?

[tivoli2]

Originally Posted by Gloor

Isn't sleeping option for the screen essentially the same as turning the screen off?

Could be, actually. I do think that there are internal differences between standby (or sleeping) and actually switching the power off, though. That might not make a difference to the whole switching on/off of the lamps, however, as they're still being switched on & off. Hmmmm... yep. I don't know. Hopefully I'm not just spreading old wife's tale dreck with that whole thought.

Well, regardless, I've been running LCDs that way for 6+ years now that way and things haven't fallen apart on me yet, if that counts for anything! (crossing fingers)

[Mr.PS]

Never switch your computer off, unless you're going on vacation. There is simply no point in doing so. It's better to have ti running, just like diesel semi trucks are left idling even when they're not driven.

There is really no way to preserve the backlight on a LCD, you either have it on, or off. If it's on, it's degrading.

Sleep your Mac Pro if you're not going to be using it for an extensive amount of time.

[Celeron]

Any electronic device can catch fire. Its a fact of life. Just because Apple made it doesn't mean it can defy the laws of physics. Yes, your Mac Pro can catch fire whether its on or asleep. Is it likely? No. Is it possible? You bet.

Sleeping the Mac Pro uses a small amount of electricity. Some say the 5w or so isn't that much. Multiple that by a million people sleeping their Mac Pros and that's quite a bit of energy. Turn if off when you're not using it.

[Digital Skunk]

Actually, when you put your machine to sleep, the ACD doesn't shut off. The light still shines, and when you wake your tower up the screen display comes back from black.

When you turn it off however, you won't be able to see anything at all, even though your machine is running.

[Mr.PS]

Originally Posted by Digital Skunk

Actually, when you put your machine to sleep, the ACD doesn't shut off. The light still shines, and when you wake your tower up the screen display comes back from black.

When you turn it off however, you won't be able to see anything at all, even though your machine is running.

sleeping it turns the cathodes off, turning it off with the power button just shuts it off completely. No led, nothing.

[termina3]

[quote=Celeron;5023318Sleeping the Mac Pro uses a small amount of electricity. Some say the 5w or so isn't that much. Multiple that by a million people sleeping their Mac Pros and that's quite a bit of energy. Turn if off when you're not using it.[/QUOTE]

While I too advocate turning off your computer, macs run maintenance scripts overnight so unless you're willing to manually run them through terminal (or a maint. program), leave it on sleep.

And btw I get between 10 and 15 watts.

[bilbo--baggins]

Originally Posted by termina3

While I too advocate turning off your computer, macs run maintenance scripts overnight so unless you're willing to manually run them through terminal (or a maint. program), leave it on sleep.

And btw I get between 10 and 15 watts.

I got into the habit of leaving mine on all the time (I switch off the display though) because of overnight scripts and backups, but I've read recently that OS X will run maintenance scripts at it's earliest convenience if you're computer was off or asleep when it was scheduled to run. Still, with things like the Apple TV needing iTunes to remain open, my Mac stays on all the time because I never know when I'm going to want to use it, or access it via the Apple TV.

[Celeron]

There's no reason to leave your Mac on so the "maintenance" scripts run. If they were that important Apple would have made them run at another time. I occasionally run them manually, from Terminal, and I've never noticed it make any difference.

Turning your Mac off when you aren't using it for an extended period of time is a good way to save energy.

[Digital Skunk]

Originally Posted by Mr.PS

sleeping it turns the cathodes off, turning it off with the power button just shuts it off completely. No led, nothing.

Yes.... that's what I said.

[JoeG4]

1. Darker backgrounds do not make a backlight last longer
2. Brightness of screen doesn't really effect backlight life much either, the amount of time the backlight light is on does regardless.
3. Set the screen sleep at a reasonable time - if it's going on and off TOO much, you'll cause more wear and tear on the inverter.
4. Even with lots of usage, that LCD will last a really long time, I'm positive as I've had tons now.

5. A plugged in, but off mac still uses electricity - about 3 watts, a sleeping mac uses about 5-7 watts. If you REALLY want to save electricity you have to unplug the machine (or turn off the surge protector) every time.

6. Nothing happens while in sleep mode, no maintenance scripts are run, nothing. It's as good as off.

7. The maintenance scripts will run whenever necessary, and will only run when the machine is on, and running.

8. Only 2 models of the G5 had water cooling.

9. There's 2 ways that fires can happen - defective parts, and overheating. So long as you regularly check everything and make sure the machine is clean in an open space, you should be safe, but keep a smoke detector in the room with your computers, you should be doing this ANYWAY.