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Is it OK to leave my MB on for a month?

D

dangerdeez

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 3, 2008
1
0
Here's my situation: I'm going away for a month, without my computer. However, I want to leave my computer up and running so I can upload torrents (I'm obsessing about my ratio on a private tracker :D). So here's my question - is it ok to leave my MacBook on for a month, plugged in to the wall, with the screen off, and only Transmission running? I'll be on a wireless connection, if that matters. I imagine that the biggest danger is that of overheating, as macbooks get extremely hot (especially because I live in Atlanta and it's the summer :)), but I don't really know.

I have a MacBook, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB HD, running Tiger, about a year old (the version prior to the current ones).

Please let me know if you have any other questions - I'd really appreciate your help!

Thanks
 
i cant say i left mine on over night and it was pretty flippin hot but the fan control thing was screwed areound with and the fans going constantly made it hot im not sure and it was in the winter in canada but the weather doesnt make a difference since we dont im saying DON'T live in igloos. in otherwords i dont see it a great idea, will it be in a cold place? good air flow? im saying yes and no at the same time. 70% yes maybe someone else will comment
 
I used to leave my other laptops run for days or weeks. It is also good to restart every now and then so the memory (Ram) will reset as it will cluster up with opening and closing programs all the time. But yeah it's OK to run it for a long time. If you have programs running in the background when not in use, at least leave the MB open up to dissapate the heat. Keeping the screen down will trap in the heat.
 
it would most likely be ok, just be sure to remove your battery as I cant imagine a month plugged in would be good for it at all. other than that, just keep it in a place that will be out of the sun for the day, and elevate it on all four corners so it has room to breath underneath, should be fine!
 
AS lxuser said, discharge the battery to 50% and then remove it before running the MB.

When plugged into the wall without a battery, processor speed is capped at 1ghz, which should be plenty to run Transmission. It should also reduce heat to an extent.
 
lxuser said:
it would most likely be ok, just be sure to remove your battery as I cant imagine a month plugged in would be good for it at all. other than that, just keep it in a place that will be out of the sun for the day, and elevate it on all four corners so it has room to breath underneath, should be fine!
Click to expand...

Agree. Make sure you remove the battery!
 
Why remove the battery ?

MacBooks are quite happy sitting closed for days on end with the charger connected. With a PowerBook - yes - remove the battery but why with a MacBook ?

Apple advice is to use the battery once a month or so if used
in clam-shell mode with the charger connected all the time.

I agree with earlier posters about raising the MacBook up an inch or so to help with airflow but I would leave the battery in. Let it drain down before you go, leave it charging/connected to the power-supply while you are away and drain again when you get back.
 
It should be fine. Keep it well ventilated and tweak your power management to make sure that it runs as cool as it can. ie, turn off the display.
 
All the advice about removing the battery and running off the AC adapter is bad. Removing the battery will downclock your CPU thus slowing your mac down. It's best to leave the battery in but to fully discharge your battery at least once a month. The idea said about running it down to 50% is only good if you are going to store a battery for a long period of time. Don't run your MB without a battery. ;)
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
All the advice about removing the battery and running off the AC adapter is bad. Removing the battery will downclock your CPU thus slowing your mac down. It's best to leave the battery in but to fully discharge your battery at least once a month. The idea said about running it down to 50% is only good if you are going to store a battery for a long period of time. Don't run your MB without a battery. ;)
Click to expand...

Because Transmission is SO VERY TAXING to the CPU.
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
All the advice about removing the battery and running off the AC adapter is bad. Removing the battery will downclock your CPU thus slowing your mac down. It's best to leave the battery in but to fully discharge your battery at least once a month. The idea said about running it down to 50% is only good if you are going to store a battery for a long period of time. Don't run your MB without a battery. ;)
Click to expand...

But in this case, it will help prevent the MB from overheating. 1GHz is sufficient to do the job and will not produce the heat of a 2.2GHz clocked CPU. But in the case of a power outage.....
 
balk said:
But in this case, it will help prevent the MB from overheating. 1GHz is sufficient to do the job and will not produce the heat of a 2.2GHz clocked CPU. But in the case of a power outage.....
Click to expand...

Nonsense. The machine has all sorts of thermal controls built in. Just use the thing and get on with life.
 
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