Carrying your Powerbook

[lmedland]

Hi,

I know most people just put there Powerbook to sleep when they carry it around as do I but now I am having reservations.

I carry my Powerbook in a well supported laptop backpack to and from University from my home! So I carry it around campus and I am pretty careful as not to drop it etc.

I also put my Powerbook to sleep while I carry it around but my friend always performs a shutdown before he carry’s his. He said to me that the hard drive isn't parked properly when sleeping and could cause all kinds of faults to the hard drive.

Is this true or should I slap him?

Many thanks,

Luke

 

[patrick0brien]

-lmedland

Hmm. Perhaps this was true in older PowerBooks like the Wallstreet of Lombard. But I can telly you that my 12" AlBook parks just fine.

You should slap him - 'cause it's fun!

 

[jbomber]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-lmedland

Hmm. Perhaps this was true in older PowerBooks like the Wallstreet of Lombard. But I can telly you that my 12" AlBook parks just fine.

You should slap him - 'cause it's fun!

Strange, I always used to shut down my Tibook. just figured it was best for the machine....

 

[lmedland]

Big slap coming his way.

Interested on other opinions though.

 

[Rower_CPU]

Once you put your machine into sleep mode, the hard drive stops spinning and is completely secure. I've never heard the term "parked" in reference to a hard drive state.

If putting TiBooks in sleep mode for travel is good enough for Apple reps/system engineers, it's good enough for me.

 

[evil]

leaving the laptop on while moving it in a case makes me nervuos as well.

could there be aNy oveheating issues?
i always shut mine down as well.
its worth it to keep me sane i guess.

 

[Rower_CPU]

There are no overheating issues in sleep mode because the only power being used is a battery trickle to keep the RAM state. Everything else is off.

 

[patrick0brien]

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Once you put your machine into sleep mode, the hard drive stops spinning and is completely secure. I've never heard the term "parked" in reference to a hard drive state.

-Rower_CPU

"Parked" is a term given to a hard drive that not only has spun down, but the armiture is "parked" in its off position. That usually means the R/W heads are away from the platter surface and against the wall of the case.

It is analogous to a car's windshield wipers not in use - they're essentially off the glass.

 

[TheWitePony]

New Powerbook

I just purchased a powerbook last week and I have been putting it to sleep while its inactive or when i need to move it somewhere and I have had no problems so far. I love how fast it comes back awake, my girlfriend's Thinkpad takes forever to wake up it seems...

Also, it seems that it takes a bit of juice to shutdown and startup, sometimes almost 10% of the battery. I don't know if this is the same on all the models but its something to keep in mind if you need the battery life.

 

[al256]

Re: Carrying your Powerbook

Originally posted by lmedland
Hi,

I know most people just put there Powerbook to sleep when they carry it around as do I but now I am having reservations.

I carry my Powerbook in a well supported laptop backpack to and from University from my home! So I carry it around campus and I am pretty careful as not to drop it etc.

I also put my Powerbook to sleep while I carry it around but my friend always performs a shutdown before he carrys his. He said to me that the hard drive isn't parked properly when sleeping and could cause all kinds of faults to the hard drive.

Is this true or should I slap him?

Many thanks,

Luke

LOL, I always put my tibook (400) to sleep when I carry it. I've dropped the thing, I've put in a backpack and hit people with it! and my tibook just keeps on going. I've had an LCD crack (on a pismo) and the HD still works. Now it may sound like I'm abusive but... I don't think so. I hope this puts your mind to ease. With all the stuff I do, your HD should be fine.

 

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-Rower_CPU

"Parked" is a term given to a hard drive that not only has spun down, but the armiture is "parked" in its off position. That usually means the R/W heads are away from the platter surface and against the wall of the case.

It is analogous to a car's windshield wipers not in use - they're essentially off the glass.

Ah, thanks for the info. Learn something new everyday.

 

[DreaminDirector]

Hey al256,

You've hit people with you TiBook and it has kept kicking? Damn, I gotta stop babying my TiBook and start swinging with it!

Well, at least I know they're alot more durable than they look.

 

[al256]

Originally posted by DreaminDirector
Hey al256,

You've hit people with you TiBook and it has kept kicking? Damn, I gotta stop babying my TiBook and start swinging with it!

Well, at least I know they're alot more durable than they look.

Well, in all fairness it was in two cases and a backpack; but, yeah I've knocked people three to five feet with my backpack (which has my tibook in it).

 

[Schiffi]

I shutdown my TiBook at night. If I go somewhere I keep it on. It's nifty to be able to pause a DVD, put it to sleep, and open it later to finish the movie.

Also Just being able to open your pBook at an airport instead of having to boot it up is fun.

 

[pianojoe]

Originally posted by patrick0brien
-Rower_CPU

"Parked" is a term given to a hard drive that not only has spun down, but the armiture is "parked" in its off position. That usually means the R/W heads are away from the platter surface and against the wall of the case.

It is analogous to a car's windshield wipers not in use - they're essentially off the glass.

Nice analogy. If you have a car accident, the wipers will get pressed hard against the windscreen and even scratch it, but not anywhere in your line of sight, so the scratches won't disturb you.

Same goes for the parking position: If you kick your HD while "parked", the heads will still hit and maybe hurt the platter... Fortunately, there's no data written on the parking lane.

 

[jbomber]

Originally posted by Schiffi

Also Just being able to open your pBook at an airport instead of having to boot it up is fun.

Good point. i hate that.