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sleep mode or shut down?

A

atgmac144

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 22, 2008
12
0
I am a big fan of shutting down my macbook when i will be away from it for an extended amount of time (like 5 hours or so). this way, it doesn't take power from my battery. A few days ago, i was over my friends house and he said he almost never shuts his macbook down. Instead he just puts it to sleep all the time.
Now i have down some research on this, and i have heard that if you put your computer to sleep it will run faster than if you just start it up cold. Does anyone have advice?? thanks:apple:
 
atgmac144 said:
I am a big fan of shutting down my macbook when i will be away from it for an extended amount of time (like 5 hours or so). this way, it doesn't take power from my battery. A few days ago, i was over my friends house and he said he almost never shuts his macbook down. Instead he just puts it to sleep all the time.
Now i have down some research on this, and i have heard that if you put your computer to sleep it will run faster than if you just start it up cold. Does anyone have advice?? thanks:apple:
Click to expand...

As for whether or not it runs faster, I can't speak to that, but it is certainly easier to sleep it, just close the lid. Personally, I almost never shut down any of my computers, never have really.
 
I just close the lid of my MacBook or sleep my brother's iMac. I rarely sleep my minitower. That gets turned off unless it's busy.
 
I sleep my MacBook. I don't think I've shut it down since I bought it for anything other than installing RAM. Certainly if I were to be away from the machine for more than a couple days I'd shut it down to preserve the battery, though I have yet to be away from it for more than a few hours at a time. Though now that I think about it, I'd probably just sleep the machine and leave it plugged in to the AC instead.
 
i know this sounds like a noob question but i dont have my macbook yet but just simply shutting the lid puts it to sleep? so i can just shut the lid and move from class to class?
is there anyway to shut the lid and not put it to sleep (overnight when downloading etc...)?
thanks and i personally never turn my PC off either i put it in hibernate...not that it matters on here LOL

*counting the days till i go Mac and never go back -- 13 days!*
 
nidserz said:
i know this sounds like a noob question but i dont have my macbook yet but just simply shutting the lid puts it to sleep? so i can just shut the lid and move from class to class?
is there anyway to shut the lid and not put it to sleep (overnight when downloading etc...)?
thanks and i personally never turn my PC off either i put it in hibernate...not that it matters on here LOL

*counting the days till i go Mac and never go back -- 13 days!*
Click to expand...

when you sleep a MacBook only the RAM is powered and some other component the SMC i think which waits for an input to wake the components and the screen and resume the contents of the RAM. so all other components are powered off so its safe to just sleep it and lug it around class.

as for closing the lid without sleeping you can use an app like InsomniaX or you could just leave it open and set the display to sleep and the computer and the hard disk(s) to never sleep in Energy Saver preferences. why do you need to close the display? saves you from downloading another app.

i too have this sleep issue. i have my MBP connected to my Cinema Display as per my sig and i mostly have it connected in clamshell mode. sometimes when i sleep it overnight using the keyboard shortcut "command-option-eject" and wake it in the morning the Cinema Display does not repsond and either does the MBP's screen even though its awake and the components are powered. it seems to happen after a long sleep i.e. overnight. hopefully there will be a software update to fix this as i dont think the firmware update would have fixed this as it did not show up in my software update and wasnt meant for my core duo.
 
richthomas said:
when you close the lid and sleep the MacBook only the RAM is powered and some other component the SMC i think which waits for an input to resume the contents of the RAM. so all other components are powered off so its safe to just sleep it and lug it around class.

as for closing the lid without sleeping you can use an app like InsomniaX or you could just leave it open and set the display to sleep and the computer and the hard disk(s) to never sleep in Energy Saver preferences. why do you need to close the display? saves you from downloading another app.
Click to expand...

thanks, yeah i guess i can just dim the screen all the way down
thanks for the help! i will be rotating the use of my macbook...i have to take it to classes and then the rest of the day its plugged in or on my bed and overnight i keep it plugged in...anyways ill update you guys once i get my macbook! (will need help learning to hook it up to a external display in sleep mode...time to get researching!!!)
 
nidserz said:
thanks, yeah i guess i can just dim the screen all the way down …
Click to expand...

just set it to turn off after a minute in Energy Saver preferences as it can get annoying turning the screen brightness down and up all the time using the F keys. you can set this for the power adapter settings and then have different settings while on battery. its much better just having the screen turn on after an input i find. also setting it to turn off with prolong the life of the display as turning the screen brightness down doesnt actually turn off the display. you can also set a screen corner to sleep the display in Exposé and Spaces preferences.

nidserz said:
… (will need help learning to hook it up to a external display in sleep mode...time to get researching!!!)
Click to expand...

check out this thread i just posted to https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=5296034
 
The only difference that I have noticed depends on how long you plan on leaving your notebook in sleep-mode if disconnected from a power adapter. 3 weeks ago I was going on a ski-trip with the youth group from my church, I was a little rushed getting home from school and wasn't able to drop my computer off at my house. I left it hidden in a case in my backpack in the trunk of my car at the church in sleep mode, the battery was at about 50-60% when I left my car in the lot, and when I went to wake it back up 3 days later, the battery was at 5%, not a big deal, since how long are you going to leave a computer in sleep mode for over 72 hours. And my battery's health is at 100%, so it is not a problem with the battery (or a problem at all for that matter), but my point is that I have left my computer shut down for more time than that in the past, and the batter didn't drop at all (maybe 1% or 2%), so the computer does not consume all that much power from the battery while in sleep mode, but defiantly more than when shut down.
 
JML42691 said:
…so it is not a problem with the battery (or a problem at all for that matter), but my point is that I have left my computer shut down for more time than that in the past, and the batter didn't drop at all (maybe 1% or 2%), so the computer does not consume all that much power from the battery while in sleep mode, but defiantly more than when shut down.
Click to expand...

no battery power is used while shutdown. the 1-2% you noticed was probably a combination of shutting down and booting up.

normal sleep powers the RAM and uses a little battery power but safe sleep uses the least battery power as it saves RAM to the hard disk and then powers off the RAM. normal sleep saves RAM to the hard disk just in case the battery completely runs out then it starts up in hibernation mode.

i set my MBP to not save RAM to the hard disk as i dont care for the "just in case" feature and it gives you ultra fast sleep and resume times. to set hibernation as the default sleep mode or stop saving RAM to the hard disk take a look here.
 
JML42691 said:
The only difference that I have noticed depends on how long you plan on leaving your notebook in sleep-mode if disconnected from a power adapter. 3 weeks ago I was going on a ski-trip with the youth group from my church, I was a little rushed getting home from school and wasn't able to drop my computer off at my house. I left it hidden in a case in my backpack in the trunk of my car at the church in sleep mode, the battery was at about 50-60% when I left my car in the lot, and when I went to wake it back up 3 days later, the battery was at 5%, not a big deal, since how long are you going to leave a computer in sleep mode for over 72 hours. And my battery's health is at 100%, so it is not a problem with the battery (or a problem at all for that matter), but my point is that I have left my computer shut down for more time than that in the past, and the batter didn't drop at all (maybe 1% or 2%), so the computer does not consume all that much power from the battery while in sleep mode, but defiantly more than when shut down.
Click to expand...

Also, if it was in a confined space where the heat could start to build up, or in this case the cold, it would affect the battery.

In a high heat situation, the fans would come on, eating battery life. And cold kills batteries dead so...
 
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