Should I put it to SLEEP or SHUT DOWN?

Question

Should I put it to SLEEP or SHUT DOWN?

Greeting everyone. I recently purchased my first Macbook, my first laptop ever. I've pretty much grown up using a desktop pc. I turn it on when I get home, put it on sleep mode when I leave it to watch tv or what not. If I'm done with it for the day, I turn it off.

Now before everone jumps on me for probably doing the wrong thing please note that I come from a "Turn it off when you're not using it kind of family". Can someone give me some pointers in using my new mac? For example, someone told me that I can actually leave my macbook in sleep mode the entire day even when traveling to and from school/work. Is this safe for my macbook? I apologize if this is such an elementary question.

Macbook 2.0 GHz, Mac OS X(10.5.6), Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Dec 16, 2008 10:06 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

sabulatodd

Level 1

45 points

Jan 8, 2009 1:16 AM in response to iridestandups

I have found that my machines respond better when I just close the lid (sleep). It is important to understand that the laptop caches everything in memory to the hard drive before it goes to sleep, so you want to make sure you allow the extra time for that to happen (wait until the sleep light starts pulsating) before you move the laptop if you can. Otherwise you're moving the machine while the hard drive is still spinning. I know that the newer laptops typically have a Sudden Motion Sensor that will automatically park the heads under certain conditions, but why tempt fate? Depending on how many applications you have running, and how much RAM you have installed, going into sleep mode can take longer than you might expect. Whether you adapt a sleep or shut down operating preference (I prefer sleep- only shutting down every once in a while for OS installs, restarts due to problems, etc.), it is much more important to follow Apple's guidelines for calibrating the battery. Not only does following these instructions allow the computer to more accurately report the battery charge level, it also runs the lithium ion battery through a complete cycle - something that is needed every once in a while to keep it operating in tip-top shape. The instructions for the procedure are found here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/9036.html

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Answer 2

Dec 29, 2008 3:13 PM in response to deltatux

Macs work a little differently in regards to Sleep mode and Standby.

The Apple recommended procedure is to leave it in sleep mode most of the time and restart the computer or shut it down over night once a month.

If you use it more then a normal user, once every two weeks even every week is recommended.

If you won't be using your computer for more then 48 hours you should shut it down.

Hope this helps,

- Harris

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Answer 3

MBJZ

Level 1

8 points

Jan 7, 2009 5:02 PM in response to iridestandups

Normally I always shut my MacBook down if I don't use it as I find it really fast and easy to turn it on and shut it down (compared op my old PC). With my old PC the battery time was very short and when I put it to sleep and wake it up again I fear that it would've turned off (which it did sometimes). For me it is sort of habit to turn it off to save power and turning it off is really easy !!! (ctrl option+commandeject)

Josh

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Answer 4

deltatux

Level 2

491 points

Dec 16, 2008 10:30 PM in response to iridestandups

iridestandups wrote:
Greeting everyone. I recently purchased my first Macbook, my first laptop ever. I've pretty much grown up using a desktop pc. I turn it on when I get home, put it on sleep mode when I leave it to watch tv or what not. If I'm done with it for the day, I turn it off.

Now before everone jumps on me for probably doing the wrong thing please note that I come from a "Turn it off when you're not using it kind of family". Can someone give me some pointers in using my new mac? For example, someone told me that I can actually leave my macbook in sleep mode the entire day even when traveling to and from school/work. Is this safe for my macbook? I apologize if this is such an elementary question.

If I don't need my Macbook, I just turn off the system completely because if you leave it on sleep, it will still drain the battery. If you constantly charge and discharge the battery, it will cause wear and tear on it. However, it is perfectly safe to sleep a Macbook for the whole day as long as you don't drop it or drench it (for obvious reasons).

However, for the stated reasons above, I don't sleep my laptop unless I need it after I move from place to place ... like switching classes.

deltatux

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