Is Leaving Powerbook On All The Time A Good Idea?
I have the new 17" powerbook and I am wondering if it is a good idea to leave it on all the time, especially during travel. I leave my G5 tower on all the time at home, but I can't find anything that says I should turn my PB off during travel. I don't want the HD to get ruined or anything. Does anyone know or had any problems leaving their on while it is in the car or as you carry it around in your bag? Any ideas will help. 
Comments
It DOES continue to drain the battery (albeit ony slightly) when asleep ... and this MAY have an effect on battery life (your battery may need to be replaced after 18 months instead of 24 ?) if you let it cycle this way all the time.
No real reason you should or shouldn't do this though.
I haven't seen it lately but years ago Apple used to recommend that you shut down your laptop when transporting it.
If you have your PB in a bag and it is asleep there is a chance it could waken due to some sort of jostling and if it stayed awake it could overheat due to the insulation of the closed space.
To me this seems like a long shot. If the lid is closed the proximity of the magnet to the lid should put it back to sleep if it does wake up. Also, if it does get too hot I believe there is a system to shut down the PB. For safety you could set your PB to sleep in a short time after no activity.
The biggest risk, in my opinion, is moving the PB while the hard drive is spinning. HDs are safe to move while the heads are parked. They are more susceptible to damage while in operation. In operation the heads are extremely close to a rapidly spinning disk. Any contact would probably be fatal. I heard of one guy who got mad at his windows machine and punched the tower while it was in operation. That shock killed the HD. There was some discussion as to whether the heads are parked when the PB is asleep. I have no idea about this. Maybe someone can comment on this.
In my case, I leave the PB running all the time but I put it to sleep when I carry it from room to room or such. I leave it sleeping when I carry it in my bag. I haven't had a problem with it waking up and staying awake.
I've been through 5 or 6 PBs and haven't had a drive die in one and I carry them around a lot. Up until a few years ago there was an issue where disk drives would get noisy. After a while they'd develop a kind of high pitched whine. I heard this was due to moving them while they were running (as in using it on your lap instead of putting it on a desk or table). Then the drive manufactures switched to liquid bearings and this problem went away.
How do you like the 17" PB? I have a 15 inch version which will be 2 years old this fall. Around that time I am strongly thinking to switch to a 17" PB.
I do not want anything to happen to the hard drive. I am very careful with it since I am moving with it constantly. Because I spent so much for it I want to have it for a long time. At least until they come out with the G5 PB.
As for the PB itself I love it. I read about every possible thread regarding the difference between the 15" and the 17". I went the Apple store more times than I care to remembe just looking at the differences and I am so glad I went with the 17". I use it primarily for graphic design and web design and there is no comparison. One of the main reasons I went with the 17" is because I have the 23" monitor at home and I got used to having a lot on the screen. Especially with Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I probably would have gone with the 15" if I didn't use those two programs on a daily basis. If I only wanted to surf the web or carry it to class I would go with the 15". Believe me it was not an easy decision to make. I weighed all the options and finally came to a decision that worked best for me. My wife got so tired or going to the Apple store every time we were at the mall. Now I can hardly get it away from her when I am at home.
As for turning your machine off I would advise against this. I think it stresses the HD more, and more importantly you have to wait to be able to use your machine.
I would suggest you do buy a good sleeve/bag for your machine.
I cycle with my machine and it gets moved every day so moving while in sleep is not an issue at all. I have even been over the handlebars with my PB on my back with no damage to the internals (external is another matter).
Originally posted by Omega
The HD heads are parked when you close the lid (sleep) so there is no risk here.
As for turning your machine off I would advise against this. I think it stresses the HD more, and more importantly you have to wait to be able to use your machine.
I would suggest you do buy a good sleeve/bag for your machine.
I cycle with my machine and it gets moved every day so moving while in sleep is not an issue at all. I have even been over the handlebars with my PB on my back with no damage to the internals (external is another matter).
Turning on and off the computer does not stress the hard drive anymore than using the hard drive in regular use. A general rule of thumb is:
If you are traveling, and you're not going to be using your laptop for the next 30-60+ minutes, turn it off.
For desktop computers, I would say, if your are going to use your computer sporadically through out the day, you can just leave it on without worry; that is if it is sleeping when you are not using it. You should turn it off at night when you can...its just good habit, and its less stress on the computers power suply, etc.
While sleeping isn't particularly harmful, if you don't have your hard drive spin down while sleeping, it IS harmful, and then there is the case of battery life. Durring tavel...as in transportation, if the laptop is sleeping, you can move it around as much as you like if your thinking in terms of motion related problems, there should be none.
I know that being a recent switcher from windows to mac that I was in the habit of turning my laptop off, but that was because you never knew when you would open up your computer and it be locked up and the hd spinning. Old habits are hard to break.
Originally posted by AWILL
I am assuming it goes to sleep when I close the lid or is there a specific setting that guaratees my PB goes to sleep?
When you close the lid a small magnet in the base near the latch trips a sensor in the lid telling it to sleep. You can always confirm that the PB is sleeping by the pulsing light in the latch release button.
You can also have the PB manually. Click on the Apple icon at top left and select the Sleep command below that.
You can set the PB to sleep after a selected time for either when running on the battery or the AC adapter. Under the Apple icon select System Preferences and then Energy Saver.
I put mine to sleep a dozen times a day. I only shut down or restart to install OS upgrades.
http://www.radtech.us/Products/NotebookScreensavrz.aspx
If you just keep your PB on your desk you don't need this. However, if you put your PB in your bag it will get squeezed and sometimes the keys will contact the screen leaving marks and scratches. A cloth like this will protect it.