Is it ok to leave laptops on just like desktops... - Page 2

without turning it off.

my i8600 is currently crunching seti 24 hours a day and the fan is always on!!! I have it set so that the fan comes on at 42c and don't turn off unless it drops below 35c. basically the fan runs 24hours a day and I have had no problems with it. plus if the fan dies it is covered under warranty for the next 3 years.

i leave mine on overnight but let it go to standby after a certain ammount of time of inactivity (can't remember how long... yeh i'm lazy) i also use the screen saver/turn off monitor timers... my biggest concern is.... will usage affect the lcd screen at all?

That might be a Dell thing, mine will begin a recharge cycle if the battery dips to 97%. That falls under the definition of "shallow discharge", hence it is a "bad thing".

I don't think I agree with your reasoning, but you have a valid point. Some desktop fans will spin down when the heat is low, others will just blow cold air out the back and waste electricity when heat is low. Laptop fans will only spin down when they're not needed. I run the folding@home client all the time on my laptop and have done so for nearly a solid year, no ill effects yet.

However, the compact casing of any laptop does mean it will have special challenges on removing that heat where a desktop wouldn't have trouble. That said, modern components dissipate heat pretty well, and all the lessons the OEMs are learning about heat dissipation in blade servers is being applied to laptops as well. Most technicians I've trained in the last few years think "socket creep" is a derogatory reference to their spouse or one of their co-workers, and look at me like I'm crazy when I explain what it is and that we used to have a lot of problems with it.

I would say that a laptop that is on 24/7 and actually doing something most of that time will probably die from heat fatigue faster than an equivalent desktop. I also believe the amount of time that would take would be longer than the useful lifetime of the laptop anyway.

Hibernate is the electronic equivalent of shutting down, so it will have the same electronic effects as turning the machine off and back on. Standby is a low-power mode; critical components such as the CPU and memory are set to their absolute lowest power consumption level, others, like hard drives, are switched completely off. This will extend the life of your hard drive but not much else. It is also possible to set the power mode so that it only switches the hard drive off after a set period of inactivity. That would consume more power than standby, but not have any real noticeable effect on the lifespan of other components.

Realistically, if you set two equal machines side-by-side in a controlled environment, turn one off overnight and leave the other running 24x7, they'll both last about the same amount of time. The one that is turned off will probably last a bit longer, but not enough that if leaving it on is more convenient for your lifestyle that you should worry about powering it off.

LCDs are electronic components, so eventually they will break down and die like all other electronic components. I haven't seen anything that makes me think my screen will die before the rest of it, but someone else here may have a better answer for that.

On Or Off???

Leaving any computer on 24/7 is not a good idea. It is especially worse to leave a notebook on all of the time. Notebooks dont have the same efficient cooling that desktops do. It's a waste of electricity and will reduce the life span of your product.
There are those who still cling to the old wives tales that a desktop should always be left on and running. NONSENSE
Turning your computer off and on is not nearly as likely to incurr damage or shorten life as leaving it on all of the time would. ( this doesnt mean you should be turning it off and on like a light switch though)

Notebooks are not designed to be on all of the time.

The components in a computer have an alloted running time before they fail just like any other machine. Would you leave your car running all of the time??
I cant count how many friends have ruined their desktops by leaving them on all of the time and then ofcourse, they were not home for hours when their cooling fans failed and came home to a crispy critter.

My desktop has been running without any significant breaks (meaning more than an hour) for literally years. As long as you're not stupid and you don't plug straight into the wall, nothing's going to happen. On my laptop, I figure as long as I make sure the power scheme keeps the fans running when the temp gets too high (if not all the time), it's fine to leave it on and plugged in. Again, surge protectors = necessity. Other than that, keep it cool and it'll be fine.

I have always left my desktop on and running back since I cant remember. I have always also made sure it has proper coolage.

As for laptops running all the time? I have been using laptops since very early nineties and have always left them on for long periods of time. Is it harmful to the hardware yet to some degree but so does using the computer. Normal wear-n-tear and breakdown of hardware will always happen rather you use it or not.

So why worry about it? This is why you have warranties, use your hardware like you want to and enjoy it while you have it. Babying the machines is one thing, looking at it like it is a fragile piece of crystal is all together diffrent.

I take care of all the things that I own cause I dont have a money tree gorwing in my backyard but I am not going to change the working/playing/living habits to gain extra time on a part or device that can break tomorrow.

Enjoy the laptop and use it like you want it to (within reason, cause I know someone would take this to the etreem). It is meant to be used and is even built a lot more sturdier than they were back in the 90's. I remember my first Dell Inspiron P133mmx with 40megs of ram and what not. It ran almost 24/7 (except for when it was moving around with me) for 4 years before it died a horrible surfing accident going down four flights of stairs.

I have a p3 that has been on for almost four years now! I have another P3 (my wifes) that stays on for weeks without use! Since she got her laptop that is. Now we shut it off or atleast try to remember to. I do shut my laptop down all the time and my p4 machine. I figure they are expensive enough to. My wife does not she has hers running all the time with no problems. Besides my own fears I have never had a problem leaving a computer on 24/7. I normally set power to kill the monitor and hard drives. I also run a folding @home type app. My desktops will go 2 months without even being restarted! I think if a part fails from being on all the time it was going to fail anyways... There should have been a poll on this one!

They're all gonna fail It's a matter of when, not if. But most PC components are kind of like car motors, if they don't blow in the first 500 miles, you'll probably get a good lifespan out of them.

Besides a couple of older hard drives the only thing I have that failed.

Intel:

Abit SE6 Mobo (bad caps I just soldered in some new ones) and the p3 866 that was in it. The p3 might have had help from that mobo with the bad caps but I cannot say for sure.

AMD/VIA

Oh any motherboard with a via chipset has failed within 2 years! I have had 3 fail now and the amd procs as well. But I dont count these I only count my intel stuff that never dies! YES I am bias! I have used it all and Intel just last longer! Another IMO seagate HDD also last the longest!

I have opened up the potential to be flamed... be gentle...

Yeah, I agree with how desktops/laptops will eventually fail... or get replaced by newer hardware =) and by the time it fails, we'd have gotten a good lifespan outta it.

So whatever you do, I don't think it really matters. Just a matter of trying to conserver energy =). Not that I do. I leave my laptop on all the time, 24/7, only to reboot once in a while, and it's been running strong for 3 years now. LCD has only gotten 1 dead pixel. Time to replace the laptop anyways. =)

Also, it might not be a good idea to keep turning your computer on and off because that could stress parts such as your Hard-Drive. At least that's what I've heard.

And also, all the labs in the university I go to leave their computers on 24/7/365. I'm sure they'd know better.