My mac never even completely sleeps (displays go off, and hard drives spin down, but if it sleeps, ethernet shuts off). It has been like this for a year (as I've only had it that long). As I understand from the guy I bought it from, he left it running all the time, as it was a server.
I used to leave my powerbook 5300ce running (screen off) ALL the time, and used it that way for about 4 years. I think it was only off in shipping, and tear downs.

Off topic: About EVIL memory leaks. mldonkey 2.02 on 10.2.4. I'd gain about 100,000 pageouts in one eight hour night, and I have 1.75GB of RAM!

I've had various versions of PowerBooks since I got my 190cs (2nd hand). Depending on my environment when I had my 190cs, sometimes I left it on 24/7, because it was my only computer and I wanted to stay online 24/7. To do this, though, I made sure I left enough surface for cooling on the bottom of the machine. After my 190cs, I got spoiled :D and bought my Pismo 400MHz. I don't have the same environment that I did when I had my 190cs, but with the heat generation that this computer puts out, I don't think it's best for the system. I've often fallen asleep with the system still "on on", and by morning, it is really hot where it was sitting. I often close the shell and let it pulse sleep and wake it up tomorrow morning. I also excersize the battery by draining it and then charging it at night when I sleep. It's time for a recondition though (2+ years).

My other computers, which are towers, I leave on 24/7. I just turn off the printer and any periphials that I don't use. I.E. Speakers, Scanner, Monitor(s).

It is much less wear and tear on desktop system to leave the hard drive to never spin down, but to use power saving on the monitor. The CPU (in general) sometimes has trouble waking from a sleeping state as the computer gets older. Laptops are more expected to shutdown/restart (which also spins down the drive before the chime) and sleep than desktops are. I would HOPE that the laptops would have a longer MTBF on the hard disk because of this factor.

My 2 Cents.

MTBF = Mean Time Before Failure (life expectancy)

--TJ

To Thundarr...
hi.. you mentioned using Cronnix to change when your Cron Tabs run. Help..How do I use this thing? I downloaded it but cant figure out what to do with it...
Thanks
Jerry:

Re: Leave it all on!
 

I read recently that this is a myth. I'd post a link, but my brain's been turned on and off so many times that I think it's wearing out... :)

myth?
 

nkuvu

You could be right. I'm sure that I read this in the 80's. Energy costs, manufacturing costs, and labor costs (to have someone flip switches) have all changed.

But there is a break even point somewhere even if it is less than an hour.

In my experience those flourescents that have a seven year life warranty seem to need replacing every couple of years or less. But like anything else that is cheap, it costs more for shipping and handling than to buy another outright.

And how about that government recommendation to shut off your engine at stoplights. Goodby battery and starter.

I'd seen this thread a couple years back, when I had gotten my G4 mini. For convenience, I chose to leave it on most of the time. Approximately two years later, the Seagate HD in it was dead. I know this can happen to even the manufacturers which have the best reputations, but two years?

This was the first computer I've ever left on most of the time. While unix was built, I've heard, for mainframes which were left constantly on, I don't believe the G4 mini was built for that. In retrospect, I believe I should have been turning it off at night, so as to avoid heat build up.

When I pulled the dead HD out, I saw scorch marks on the base. There was tremendous dust build up within the case on the fan and most other components. I think that this was a factor in its dying. Perhaps if I had regularly opened the case and blew compressed air through it, it would have lasted longer.

I'm now booting it from an external HD when I need to use it. Primarily, I'm using a macbook pro, which I don't run all night. It's off, recharging during the night. In Terminal, sudo periodic daily weekly or monthly takes care of the maintenance tasks.

I believe that the larger macs, such as the iMac and Mac Pro, which have better ventilation, will be okay to leave constantly on, but I'd hesitate in the future to leave a mini on round the clock.

To sleep or not to sleep
 

Why not just put it to sleep? Not much heat generated when its in sleep mode.

In retrospect, that could have been an alternative. Probably better just to power off, since in sleep mode, it wouldn't have gone through its maintenance tasks. It'd also wake from sleep if the mouse got jostled with traffic through the room.

BTW, great user name!

Mind if I use it for my next band? :)

i leave mine running quite a bit. i put the monitor to sleep, and the computer itself, but its been left running, andit's still fine.

Leopard wakes from sleep to run maintenance tasks
 

I read that leopard does wake from sleep to run maintenance tasks:eek: