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#13
11-26-2006, 07:47 PM
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Re: Turn it off each night or leave it on?
[ QUOTE ]
I assume this is desktop computers, how long is it safe to run laptops? Doesnt these get very warm? [/ QUOTE ] Depends on it's cooling system. Some can run at 100% CPU load 24/7 and just get warm, others can run @ 50% duty cycle and fry eggs. (only a *slight* exaggeration) 
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#15
11-26-2006, 09:35 PM
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Re: Turn it off each night or leave it on?
Sorry, I did forget the article link. Here it is... Save $100
Also, someone mentioned a laptop....I've already mentioned that I'm a "turn it off" kind of guy and that is doubly so for laptops. A customer of mine had a laptop that she rarely turned off and she started having unexplained crashes. Very soon she could not recover from one of the crashes and I later figured out that her power supply fan had gone out. Basically the CPU was over heating until it crashed. It eventually burned up and her laptop was not worth fixing.
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#16
11-26-2006, 10:27 PM
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Re: Turn it off each night or leave it on?
[ QUOTE ]
Electronic components get their most "wear and tear" on the initial surge of electricity. Light bulbs burn out far more often in that single bright flash when you first flip the switch than when left on 24/7. I leave my computers on 24/7 and have had upwards of 25 computers running in the house before (down to 5 now). One of my boxes has 248 days uptime...been on since I moved here (obv not a windows machine lol). That being said, *mechanical* devices have more wear when left running. That's basically include fans and hard drives. Fans are cheap...they're a non issue. Hard drives, on the other hand, hmmmmmm tough call since they are both mechanical and electronic...AND a common item to fail. Some would argue they'd last longer if powered off when not in use. I tend to think spinning them up and down and giving the initial power-on surge every day is worse than leaving them run all the time (assuming they have ample cooling) but I have no hard evidence to back that up. I wouldn't get into a serious debate with anyone that claimed it's better for them to be powered off when not in use...I'd just agree to disagree. Cliff's notes: I leave mine on. edit: Powering off/on also puts more of a strain on the power supply because the current required to spin up a hard drive is substantially higher than keeping the drive platters spinning (as well as the initial electronic surge and temp changes). [/ QUOTE ] good pts made here. Surging is something that's much more of a threat and this only occurs when turning ur computer back on. Most desktops can run for a good long time and with enough ram, i would not turn off ur comp at all. I leave my laptop on all the time and reboot maybe once every few weeks. I do this also with desktops, for a couple of years too, only bother to restart when it seems sluggish. So far, I've never had any problems with hardware heating... again, surges are a much greater risk than overheating and more costly too...
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#17
11-27-2006, 12:10 AM
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Re: Turn it off each night or leave it on?
[ QUOTE ]
I assume this is desktop computers, how long is it safe to run laptops? Doesnt these get very warm? [/ QUOTE ] I always turn my laptops off (or put in hibernation). My Dell laptop ran really hot so I'd turn it off to keep it cool, and my other laptop gets turned off mostly because I take it with me places and so its not really set up in any one place.
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#18
11-27-2006, 01:01 AM
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Re: Turn it off each night or leave it on?
One more note on lappys....I used to drive 18 wheelers over the road (cross-country) and had a laptop w/ GPS for my map and trip sheets....I left it on 24/7 with all the vibrations in the truck. Only problem I had was going through Vale, CO on I-70 at an elevation of over 10,000' above sea level (thin air) and hitting bumps on the road.....had a head crash on my hd. Since then, I powered off when I hit elevations over 10k ft over sea level. It really depends on your laptop tho...some don't cool worth a flip, others are fine. Mine (This was like 2000 or 1999) was a K6-380 generic POS. The hinges broke before any other problems (except for the head crash on a bumpy road at elevations over 10,000 ft above sea level).
I inadvertently "stress-tested" a lot of hardware while on the road (had a 5 computer network rack mounted in place of the passenger seat). Outcome: Phillips CRT's are awesome (dropped my 19" from 6 feet multiple times), high-end HP printers are absolute brutes (Took 400,000 miles of rough roads and periodic 4 foot falls before they died), and generic laptops survive just fine except at high altitude lol. Oh...there were times the a/c cut out and I was cruising across CA/NV deserts as well...120°+ inside the truck...I also have preferences on large (1Kw+) power inverter brands [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]...Whistler held up to high heat well (although the wire connection ends tended to melt and may require modification to keep working). Cobra 2Kw/4Kw (continuous/peak) inverters ummmmmmm would either blow under warranty or work forever. Be sure to fuse each end (battery and inverter) if you go using something big. 00 gauge wire shorts aren't healthy. Tri/Quad battery setups help as well. I digress.
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#19
11-27-2006, 02:12 PM
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Re: Turn it off each night or leave it on?
[ QUOTE ]
One more note on lappys....I used to drive 18 wheelers over the road (cross-country) and had a laptop w/ GPS for my map and trip sheets....I left it on 24/7 with all the vibrations in the truck. Only problem I had was going through Vale, CO on I-70 at an elevation of over 10,000' above sea level (thin air) and hitting bumps on the road.....had a head crash on my hd. Since then, I powered off when I hit elevations over 10k ft over sea level. It really depends on your laptop tho...some don't cool worth a flip, others are fine. Mine (This was like 2000 or 1999) was a K6-380 generic POS. The hinges broke before any other problems (except for the head crash on a bumpy road at elevations over 10,000 ft above sea level). I inadvertently "stress-tested" a lot of hardware while on the road (had a 5 computer network rack mounted in place of the passenger seat). Outcome: Phillips CRT's are awesome (dropped my 19" from 6 feet multiple times), high-end HP printers are absolute brutes (Took 400,000 miles of rough roads and periodic 4 foot falls before they died), and generic laptops survive just fine except at high altitude lol. Oh...there were times the a/c cut out and I was cruising across CA/NV deserts as well...120°+ inside the truck...I also have preferences on large (1Kw+) power inverter brands [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]...Whistler held up to high heat well (although the wire connection ends tended to melt and may require modification to keep working). Cobra 2Kw/4Kw (continuous/peak) inverters ummmmmmm would either blow under warranty or work forever. Be sure to fuse each end (battery and inverter) if you go using something big. 00 gauge wire shorts aren't healthy. Tri/Quad battery setups help as well. I digress. [/ QUOTE ] very interesting read. cool.
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