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DSL Steve

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 12, 2005
142
39
Is it OK to transport a PowerBook in a case (Timbuk 2) while its sleeping (when the lid is closed and the sleep light is blinking)?
 
DSL Steve said:
Is it OK to transport a PowerBook in a case (Timbuk 2) while its sleeping (when the lid is closed and the sleep light is blinking)?

Let me guess: you're worried that about it because in the manual it says not to transfer your machine while it's on?

Yes, my step-dad is a freak about not moving the PowerBook while it's on, at all (he's also a hypocrite when it comes to not leaving the PowerBook on an uneven surface, but don't tell anyone).

It's perfectly alright to move your PowerBook while it's sleeping. I believe that the hard drive locks into place during sleep so that it can't be damaged.
-Chasen
 
I've been transporting my g4 Tibook around on sleep mode almost daily for the last two and a half years and its still chugging along no problems (I'm currently knocking furiously on wood).
 
Sure is. I transport my sleeping iBook in my backpack all over school. I think when the laptop's sleeping the hard drive has stopped spinning and the read/write arm locks. (Much like the motion sensor feature.)

Is the hard drive what you're worried about? Or are you worried about it running out of battery life? Overheating?
 
DSL Steve said:
Being an Engineer (EE), this was my main concern.

The machine is essentially frozen while sleeping, with only a trickle current maintaining the current state of RAM. After the machine cools down from full operating temperature, it equilibrates to room temp while sleeping. No need to worry about heat buildup while sleeping and stashed in a case somewhere. I concur with all the other posters in this thread...I've been carting around my 12" PowerBook in an STM neoprene sleeve, inside an STM laptop backpack in the sleeping state for a shade over 2 years now, and never had a problem.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...the almost bulletproof reliability of the sleeping function in PowerBooks/iBooks is one of the most attractive features.
 
The only thing to worry about, and this applies whether you sleep the laptop or turn it off, is whether the laptop is very hot when you put it into your bag. Most bags have lots of protection which also provide great insulation. If your powerbook has it's fan on like crazy to cool itself down then putting it in an insulated bag can lead to core components staying too hot for too long.

On a related note, this is a problem with overclocking. If your CPU is running at 60C with the fan pushing massive amounts of air then when you turn the computer off the chip will still rise in temperature as there is no fan to keep it cool. It usually isn't enough to damage anything but sometimes it can be.
 
I have an old white ibook g3, and I killed my battery because of not switching it off in the evening going home from the university. I suggest everybody to switch it off if the pause before using it again lasts more than half an hour.

After 1 year of silly use my battery lasted 15 minutes. Now after 5 years battery lasts 3-4 minutes.

I know that battery preferences and performance are better now than 5 years ago, but switching it (when it is not connected to the electricity)off will keep your battery "younger".

Andrea

still don't know if a macbook pro is worth 2150 euro or wait a macbook normal.
 
What?!@?

dambro1978 said:
I have an old white ibook g3, and I killed my battery because of not switching it off in the evening going home from the university. I suggest everybody to switch it off if the pause before using it again lasts more than half an hour.

After 1 year of silly use my battery lasted 15 minutes. Now after 5 years battery lasts 3-4 minutes.

I know that battery preferences and performance are better now than 5 years ago, but switching it (when it is not connected to the electricity)off will keep your battery "younger".

Uh, what? I don't think I have ever had my iBook G3 or any of the three powerbooks OFF for more than a half an hour in their lifetimes and have NEVER had a battery problem like that.

I have always abided by--and been told--that the rule about sleeping and turning off your laptop was 48 hours. If you are not going to using it for two days or more, turn it off, if not, just let it sleep.
 
appleretailguy said:
Uh, what? I don't think I have ever had my iBook G3 or any of the three powerbooks OFF for more than a half an hour in their lifetimes and have NEVER had a battery problem like that.

I have always abided by--and been told--that the rule about sleeping and turning off your laptop was 48 hours. If you are not going to using it for two days or more, turn it off, if not, just let it sleep.


good rule! my iBook stays asleep constantly, in fact I just used it last night for the first time in probably 9 days and it was fine when I just unplugged it and ran. great reliability and stability I have found using sleep mode
 
One caveat here if you are one of those 'Book owners who prefers a mouse to the trackpad.

Make sure that you unplug it before you put the Book in your bag (or if it's Bluetooth) that you turn it off or turn off the setting in OS X that allows Bluetooth devices to wake from sleep. Otherwise, you might inadvertently wake up your 'Book.
 
Applespider said:
Make sure that you unplug it before you put the Book in your bag (or if it's Bluetooth) that you turn it off or turn off the setting in OS X that allows Bluetooth devices to wake from sleep. Otherwise, you might inadvertently wake up your 'Book.
I still keep on forgetting to unplug the mouse before I close the lid.
 
I never do it because I had a hard drive in it that had a factory error which failed to lock the heads during sleep, so I ended up having to replace the hard drive. Now I have the "better safe than sorry" approach. But yeah, by most accounts, there is no harm in doing it, though I imagine it might be more succeptible to static?
 
ChrisBrightwell said:
This is exactly what sleep mode is designed for.

Actually, I think sleep mode was designed to conserve power. But yeah, it's fine 99.9% of the time to transport laptops while asleep, especially newer models.
 
To confirm the numerous previous posts, I've been taking my AlBook 15 back and forth from school each day for over two years now with no problems. In that time various padding schemes have been used from a carefully packed backpack to a custom fitted Incase case. Aside from the PC card button popping out occasionally, nothing interesting has ever happened. :D
 
I put my Powerbook in an STM sleeve while its asleep and throw that in my backpack and its fine. Been doing that for quite some time.


Also put my old iBook through an airport xray machine while sleeping and had no problems.
 
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