bad to leave a mbp on for a long period of time?

[frankiechan1]

hi there

is it bad to keep a mbp on for a n extra long time coz my isp throttle torrent at peak periods n the onli time they dont is at night whichi gotta sleep... is it harmful to the mbp if i leave it on n wit it on is that eve4n tho the battery is full i will haff the power pllughged into it...

 

[Jpoon]

I wouldn't think so. Just make sure it turns the display off, and it's fine.

 

[frankiechan1]

so keeping the mbp on will haf no effect on the battery at all?

i heard if u keep it in full cycle the battery will last longer

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

The battery will deteriorate if you don't use it every now and then.

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html

 

[frankiechan1]

what u mean if i dont use it from now n then?? i have to unplug my mbp from the monitor and keyboard n audio system and like my external hd ever'yday for skoo... r u saying i wont b technically " using " the battery when its full n ifits plugged?

 

[NickM]

what u mean if i dont use it from now n then?? i have to unplug my mbp from the monitor and keyboard n audio system and like my external hd ever'yday for skoo... r u saying i wont b technically " using " the battery when its full n ifits plugged?

He means "don't only use it when it's plugged into the power adapter."
It is good to drain the battery and re-charge it from time to time.
Leaving it at 100% and always plugged into the wall is not good, over a long period of time, for the battery.

 

[frankiechan1]

so leaving it on at night plugged for torrent wont b good right?

 

[Kevlar]

so leaving it on at night plugged for torrent wont b good right?

Why wouldn't it? The computer is ment to be used. It might not be as nice for your power bill doing it constantly but other then that no issue. What the other posters here ment was from time to time a battery needs to be discharged in order for it to retain its capacity. So the way you are using it is fine. The long period they ment is like months at a time, not for a hours or for that matter days.

 

[Pika]

so leaving it on at night plugged for torrent wont b good right?

Leaving a Mac Pro all night = Good
Leaving a MacBook Pro all night = OK

 

[NickM]

Leaving a Mac Pro all night = Good
Leaving a MacBook Pro all night = OK

Please explain what you mean by that.

 

[Pika]

Please explain what you mean by that.

By OK... i mean. It's good & bad for the computer.

BAD

- Drain battery life
- Drain hard drive life
- Overheat the logic board

When you download, your laptop don't sleep... Your HD has to keep spinning... and to keep it spinning, it needs to energize the logic board... and for that it needs energy of your battery.

The computer is ment to be used.

But laptops are not designed to be used as desktops.

Laptops are designed to be used for less then 10hours, Desktops can be used for 24/7.

 

[Kevlar]

But laptops are not designed to be used as desktops.

Laptops are designed to be used for less then 10hours, Desktops can be used for 24/7.

Hahahahaha, that is the biggest joke I have ever read. Laptops are no different they just use smaller pieces of hardware.

 

[Pika]

Laptops are no different they just use smaller pieces of hardware.

Small pieces of hardware = Fragile.

 

[Bill Gates]

Small pieces of hardware = Fragile.

Not necessarily, and your claims about it being "BAD" are unfounded.

 

[iMacDragon]

laptops have more restricted cooling, run hotter, this will lead to shorter lifespan if run 24/7 than a desktop.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

what u mean if i dont use it from now n then?? i have to unplug my mbp from the monitor and keyboard n audio system and like my external hd ever'yday for skoo... r u saying i wont b technically " using " the battery when its full n ifits plugged?

From the article linked to above, which I guess you didn't read:

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her MacBook Pro on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge. This keeps the battery juices flowing. If on the other hand, you use a desktop computer at work, and save a notebook for infrequent travel, Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month. Need a reminder? Add an event to your desktop’s iCal.

Read the rest of that article. All you need to know about the batteries in Apple laptops are there...

 

[Kevlar]

Small pieces of hardware = Fragile.

I'm not going to bother explaining how this is totally untrue, anyone who wants to look into microchip production can do it on their own.

laptops have more restricted cooling, run hotter, this will lead to shorter lifespan if run 24/7 than a desktop.

They CAN run hotter, but that is the point of the fans in a laptop, they are ment to keep the computer at operating temperatures. As long as the fans are not being stopped from running when they are required too, there is no problem.

To the OP, use your laptop as much as you like, it will not hurt it. To maintain your battery make sure you discharge the battery at least once a month. Read here for more info about the battery in your laptop http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html .

Edit: As a side note to the OP, my laptop is on 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I make sure the screen goes off when I am not at it. Yes the hard drive life will be slightly decreased due to the number of read/writes, but that will be minimal and the replacement of a HD is cheap. Everything will be fine for a normal life time of the computer.

 

[frankiechan1]

By OK... i mean. It's good & bad for the computer.

BAD

- Drain battery life
- Drain hard drive life
- Overheat the logic board

When you download, your laptop don't sleep... Your HD has to keep spinning... and to keep it spinning, it needs to energize the logic board... and for that it needs energy of your battery.

But laptops are not designed to be used as desktops.

Laptops are designed to be used for less then 10hours, Desktops can be used for 24/7.

thats what ive been thinking.... but less than 10 hrs?! naw i just leave it on whenever i have to use it n shut it down if i don't use it.... so im guessing leaving it on at night wud b bad huh coz of the harddrive n crap... not to mention dont keeeeeeeep a full cycle for the battery

oh! just wonderinfg will the mbp still b on if u remove the battery while its plugged? coz right now the battery is full and i kinda wanna keep a full cycle of it n unplug it from the power

 

[DYER]

This is rediculous.
My old toshiba was on for 20 hours a day for 2 years and never developed any problems and you are trying to tell me my £2000 MBP cannot do the same???
I guess if it does have a problem apple care will replace it but I do not expect it to go wrong just because I use the damn thing?

 

[dlewis23]

By OK... i mean. It's good & bad for the computer.

BAD

- Drain battery life
- Drain hard drive life
- Overheat the logic board

When you download, your laptop don't sleep... Your HD has to keep spinning... and to keep it spinning, it needs to energize the logic board... and for that it needs energy of your battery.

But laptops are not designed to be used as desktops.

Laptops are designed to be used for less then 10hours, Desktops can be used for 24/7.

According to your logic it wouldn't be good to use the iMac for more then 10 hours then, because that has pretty much all laptop parts inside it.

I use my macbook pro as a desktop most of the time. I take it with me to the office once or twice a week when I go in, and I bring it right home and its used as a desktop till the next week. No problems what so ever. The macbook is a very well engineered notebook and could be on for days on end with no problems. And if you keep the 9400m, the fans keep it very cool compared to other notebooks.

 

[bossxii]

10 hours.... oh how these forums are pure entertainment lol. I'm amazed some of these people actually can turn on their computers to post.

 

[OneBlueFire]

*Exasperated*

The things you need to know:

1. MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and iMacs all use MOBILE TECHNOLOGY. What you see inside your MBP or MB are the same components on the iMac, just a tad smaller.

2. Apple laptops were built to never be shut down. That's one of the reasons why the Power Button on the new Unibodies are next to invisible.

3. The most wear and tear to the Hard Drive (and every other peripheral inside your Mac) comes from booting up, just as a car's engine experiences more wear and tear during engine start. Remember, during boot, everything is suddenly energized. From a cool and immobile state, everything begins warming up rapidly and starts spinning at outrageous speeds. Your logic board starts to expand and so do the discs within your hard drive due to the change in temperature. Constantly shutting down and booting up can actually cause MORE damage to technology due to the immediate temperature change. Another thing you have to remember is that launching the OS makes the Hard Drive spin at top speed since it needs to access all the data needed to launch the OS.

4. Keeping computers "on" keeps them at a stable temperature therefore reducing the expanding and contracting that happens to plastic and metal during temperature changes. If you're going to get into Reads and Writes of a Hard Drive while it's idle, I'll tell you that the total number of spins it'll make in a few nights won't even come close to the total number of spins it'll make during just 1 start-up.

5. Keeping a computer "on" keeps all important files in RAM therefore reducing strain to your HD.

6. Keeping Macs on enables the OS to run its Maintenance scripts that keep it in tip-top shape. Remember, there're DAILY, WEEKLY, and MONTHLY scripts.


Seriously, all the laptops in my signature have never been shut down (except when those Apple Software Updates are released) since I purchased them. The MacBook is now 3 years old. Count the number of updates released for Leopard since November of 2006 till now, and you'll get the number of times that MacBook has been restarted. Don't even get me started on my 4 iMacs...

My advice, keep 'em "on" and warm... You'll have faster access to your applications and files. No more waiting for boot-up.

 

[pyroo]

By OK... i mean. It's good & bad for the computer.

BAD

- Drain battery life
- Drain hard drive life
- Overheat the logic board

When you download, your laptop don't sleep... Your HD has to keep spinning... and to keep it spinning, it needs to energize the logic board... and for that it needs energy of your battery.

But laptops are not designed to be used as desktops.

Laptops are designed to be used for less then 10hours, Desktops can be used for 24/7.

I had a 12" powerbook, I usually leave it on for over 24 hours at least 3 times a week, it's been almost 4 years and its running just as good when I first got it, therefore, laptops meant to be used for less than 10 hours is preposterous, plus, leave it on at a certain time and the laptop will undergo "cleaning"???? it will run some scripts that will keep your laptop running fast!! lol...

 

[ayeying]

I had a laptop I used for over a year that I left on my desk 24/7 with Folding@home running in the background. Thats 100% cpu for a complete year (excluding a few restarts for updates). Besides the battery going bad, the system still ran strong.