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How long do you guys leave your MB/MBP on?

Beowulf666

Beowulf666

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 26, 2007
113
0
So just out of curiosity, typically how long do you leave your MB/MBP on, or sleeping, and plugged in to the power adapter while sleeping or while using the notebook. I'm really just curious as to how long people leave their notebooks on. Thanks ^_^.

As for me, probably 4-6 hours a day plugged in, usually about 1/4 of that time sleeping while plugged in.
 
Mine's been on for...21 days, 17 hours, and 7 minutes. Since sometime last year, in fact. I only put it to sleep when moving upstairs.
 
It goes to sleep when I shut the lid and I restart it when an update requires me to and I only shut it down when I leave for a trip (like Cross Country camp for a week).
 
I keep my Powerbook on basically 24/7 and have since I bought it in June or July of 2004. HD crashed nearly a year ago, but it was still under Apple Care and I had all my stuff backed up on a HD. Other than that, no parts have broken from use.
 
Beowulf666 said:
So just out of curiosity, typically how long do you leave your MB/MBP on, or sleeping, and plugged in to the power adapter while sleeping or while using the notebook. I'm really just curious as to how long people leave their notebooks on. Thanks ^_^.

As for me, probably 4-6 hours a day plugged in, usually about 1/4 of that time sleeping while plugged in.
Click to expand...

I haven't turned my iBook off in over 6 months. :D
 
Wow, i thought something would happen if you left it on for too long, but i guess that just shows my lack of computer knowledge lol, thanks guys.
 
Its been said that the constant power on and power off of a computer isn't very good for it. I believe its due to power surges to the hardware.
 
Beowulf666 said:
So just out of curiosity, typically how long do you leave your MB/MBP on, or sleeping, and plugged in to the power adapter while sleeping or while using the notebook. I'm really just curious as to how long people leave their notebooks on. Thanks ^_^.

As for me, probably 4-6 hours a day plugged in, usually about 1/4 of that time sleeping while plugged in.
Click to expand...

Well I have an elderly 1 GIG TiBook which I still use professionally as my only machine for 3D work and rendering which is very slow as it's quite old now, but I leave it on for four or five days at a time, rendering overnight or longer if I have a job on, and it seems to cope. I now turn the screen contrast right down if I'm leaving it on overnight, or for a few days rendering, to reduce burn in.

The longer I leave it on, the slower it gets though so I shut it down overnight or at least restart it between jobs if I can.

It's always got pretty hot though even before I started abusing it like this and lately the fan has started making scary noises from time to time but I'm looking at the IFixit website with a view to replacing the fans if this is the problem. It could just be dust.

I'm waiting to upgrade to a MacBook Pro but I'm holding out in the hope of better graphics cards and drivers so I can run 3D PC programs like 3DS and XSI etc on the Intel chips.

PS. The battery life was about an hour when it was new (Much arguing and several battery replacements from Apple failed to improve on this) and now it's about 10 minutes so it's always plugged in.
 
yeah same as most people here, mine stays on until an update asks me to restart... it sleeps whenever i am not using it
 
only a hours or so while I am using it, sleeps if I plan on using it soon, else I shut it off completely. My mini stays on 24/7 and sleeps when not in use.
 
My question would be, is it safe to transport it while it's running? Obviously it sleeps when it's lid is closed but I'm a student, and I worry about having it in my bag while the hard drive may be spinning.

SLC
 
My iBook is a little over 5 years old, and has been shut down for maybe 24 hours total in that time. I think my uptime record was 45 days, but can't pull that anymore, not enough RAM.

Transporting it while asleep is fine. The danger is mostly the HD read/write head crashing, but it parks in a safe spot when asleep, so is perfectly OK.
 
I turn mine on in the morning and more or less stays on power unless I need otherwise with various sleeping in the day/evening. I then shut it down completely when I go to bed. And repeat above, and so on.

djinn said:
Its been said that the constant power on and power off of a computer isn't very good for it. I believe its due to power surges to the hardware.
Click to expand...
Oh, didn't know that. So am I harming my MBP by doing what I said above then? :confused:
 
::Lisa:: said:
So am I harming my MBP by doing what I said above then? :confused:
Click to expand...

No, I think it's more for the people who turn it on, check their mail for 10 minutes, then shut down, repeating 4 or 5 times a day every day for a few years. That's how I always understood anyway.

I have heard it stresses the system more, like mentioned above from power surging at startup. Kind of like how a light bulb is more likely to blow when coming on than while left on. Something like that.
 
i was told that macs (maybe only imac?!) do a mini disk defragment everytime you shutdown. Thats why theres no option to do that like you have to on a PC. I shutdown my imac every night.
 
Always on, except for when I travel; then it's shut off.

Though it's rebooted every couple of days due to using BootCamp, or software upgrade, or dealing with random quirks.
 
Wow ... I guess I am very much in the minority here because I have always shut my PB/MB down after using it. I also turn off my G5 overnight (although that is mostly because I sleep in the same room and can't stand the pulsating sleep light.

My mom leaves her MBP on/asleep all the time and I find that she has more issues the longer she leaves it on.
 
I never turn mine off, I sleep it occasionally.

Mind you it gets restarted for the odd reason every now and again. But it's never off for any long period of time.
 
SLC Flyfishing said:
My question would be, is it safe to transport it while it's running? Obviously it sleeps when it's lid is closed but I'm a student, and I worry about having it in my bag while the hard drive may be spinning.

SLC
Click to expand...

It's perfectly fine. I let mine sleep while I ride the train, walk to class, etc.

The harddisk doesn't spin while it's asleep so no worries there. :)

Also, I only restart because of software updates/the occasional problem. Otherwise, it's either "on" or sleeping.
 
I leave mine on pretty much nonstop. I have it scheduled to go to sleep at 4:45AM then it wakes up when I decide. So it is pretty much on 24/7.
 
Mine probably spends 5 days a year SHUTDOWN. 100 days a year SLEEP. Rest of the time open and on...

I have tried to become more conscientious about unplugging the MBPro but my battery is kinda shot anyway. 81% at 24 cycles
 
leave mine on overnight, but i shut it down before going to class and coming back. Nothing I need to have open when I move back in and out.
 
I've had this PB 17 since (I think) may 2003, it working for around 16 hours a day and is mostly just put to sleep when not in use. However I do find after a few months, it slow a little and the use of a 'defragging program' seems to clear the system, along with reseting the RAM to speed things back up. I've been using Disk Warrior and had great success, I believe there are others that do a similar job, but I've not used them.
 
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