Can I leave the Apple TV plugged in all the time?

I'm reading several of you suggesting plugging your AppleTV into a power strip or some other such device that you can switch off to cut power to the AppleTV in lieu of leaving it in standby. However, there is something either everyone is overlooking, or is choosing to ignore...
The AppleTV is a computer. It's a low-end computer with a barebones OS to be sure, but it is a computer nevertheless. Would you turn off your Mac or PC by pulling the plug or turning off the power strip while it was running, and not going through the proper shutdown procedure? I hope you wouldn't because that is a sure recipe for eventual data corruption and OS glitches.
Yes my AppleTV stays a bit warm even in standby, but so do my DVD player, receiver, and cable box. Personally, I don't want to risk damaging my AppleTV by shutting it down improperly over and over again.
Just a thought.

First of all, nobody besides Apple knows exactly what the CPU in the Apple TV is. The best guesses -- & they are only guesses because the CPU is unmarked -- are that it is based on the Pentium M Ultra Low Voltage architecture (IOW, Dothan), but it may well be a custom version built for Apple. Assuming a strong family resemblance, it should have many of the same dynamic power saving features as the laptop version, but we really can't assume it is practical for the OS to put it into a "deep" sleep mode unless we know the details of both the overall hardware & software implementation, which we don't.

For instance, the Apple TV uses a number of parts not found in notebooks (like the HDMI chip) & runs a number of processes they don't (like Watchdog).

Regarding your items 1 & 2, it appears the device does allow them to spin down or sleep, depending on sync state. See Apple TV: About standby mode for details.

According to the User's Manual you may put your Apple TV in standby mode by holding the (play/pause) button for 6 seconds. However, I am unable to turn off my Apple TV, despite following these instructions.

Just press and hold the play/pause button for about 5
seconds and it will power off.

My Apple TV appears to be off but actually remains on standby, not off, after the above maneuver. The Apple TV case remains warm, and with my ear on it, I hear a hum.

How can I truly power off without unplugging it? Apple TV is fabulous in connecting me and my family with our computer media, but is it "Green?"

Just press and hold the play/pause button for about

5

seconds and it will power off.

My Apple TV appears to be off but actually remains on
standby, not off, after the above maneuver. The
Apple TV case remains warm, and with my ear on it, I
hear a hum.

How can I truly power off without unplugging it?
Apple TV is fabulous in connecting me and my family
with our computer media, but is it "Green?"

It seems no one actually answered your question. please let me know how if you learned how to turn off unit, as opposed to just putting into standby.

I don't think anyone answered the original question. I believe the question was can the apple TV be left on continuously without harm to it.
I have been wondering the same thing because if its ok i'd rather not have to put in on standby mode every night.
If i'm not concerned about electricity usage and just concerned about the life of the unit, is it ok?

I don't think anyone answered the original question.
I believe the question was can the apple TV be left
on continuously without harm to it.

As the Apple TV does not have a power switch, one may infer that it may be left on without harm to the unit..

Thanks for the reply, but question i had was whether you can shut off the atv. it appears from the lack of an answer that the best you can do is put it in standby. problem is that my atv even in standby always feels hot to the touch and i was hoping there was a way to turn it off short of disconnecting power cord.

I don't think anyone answered the original

question.

I believe the question was can the apple TV be

left

on continuously without harm to it.

As the Apple TV does not have a power switch, one may
infer that it may be left on without harm to the
unit..

Even in standby mode Apple TV remains quite warm to the touch, almost hot. It absolutely must be drawing a considerable amount of power in standby mode. I'm surprised Apple didn't design this thing to be more green (what with Al Gore on the board), and I'm very disappointed. After running it for about 15 days, I decided I better unplug it when not in use. So far, that doesn't seem to have had any undesireable effects. iTunes complains about Apple TV of course, but once it's turned on again, all is normal, and I don't even have to enter the security code again. So unplugging the unit seems to be the best alternative at this point.

I can't wait to see what effect 15 days of being on constantly will do to my electric bill.

I was worried about leaving the ATV "on" (standby mode) all the time, but it occurs to me it must be on in order to receive updates from my PC. When I load iTunes and add a video or playlist for syncing (everything else is streamed) it will start to sync with ATV immediately even though ATV isn't actually turned on. If you could really turn it off, then the device can't sync as needed -- essentially "in the background".

Still, I'm going to plug the ATV into a wireless outlet device I got from Radio Shack. It has a mini remote on/off switch (non-infrared -- it uses a radio signal), and I plan to use it to periodically "reboot" the ATV, or to turn it off entireley when I'm away for a few days. The heat dissipation does bother me a bit, so that will be my solution.

The only problem with unplugging it is the sudden loss of power to the hard drive. It is like pulling the power cord on your computer while it is on. If Apple TV could be completely turned off, it would be nice. Just unplugging it however can damage the hard drive over time. I think they get hot because of the small enclosure and having no fans. I don't worry about mine. 1 year warranty and I might get the Pro Care.

I can't wait to see what effect 15 days of being on
constantly will do to my electric bill.

From its specs, the Apple TV will use no more than 48 watts, so at worst it will have about the same effect on your bill as leaving a 50 watt light bulb on continuously. If you want to calculate the cost, figure about 1.1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) per day times the number of days in the billing period times the kWh rate your electric company charges. (The actual cost will be lower, assuming it doesn't draw full rated power continuously -- this is a worst case scenario.)

For my area, it works out to a bit less than $5 a month, or close to $60 per year.

As of right now, there's no way to turn off the Apple TV from the remote. Standby mode, just puts the OS to sleep, while still being able to Sync your iTunes library.

If you want to turn it off, you have to actually pull out the power plug for now, until Apple comes out with a suitable solution.

That being said, the Apple TV should be just slightly warm after being in Standby mode for a while. Mine does run hot while in use, but not that egg frying hot that some people are experiencing.

I just make sure to put it in Standby mode if I'm done using it. After awhile, my Apple TV is barely warm, if not cool to the touch while in Standby Mode.

AL

I'm
surprised Apple didn't design this thing to be more
green (what with Al Gore on the board), and I'm very
disappointed.

Eureka !! You've inadvertantly stumbled upon the real cause of Global Warming !! You need to contact Al asap !

Thanks for the reply, but question i had was whether
you can shut off the atv. it appears from the lack of
an answer that the best you can do is put it in
standby. problem is that my atv even in standby
always feels hot to the touch and i was hoping there
was a way to turn it off short of disconnecting power
cord.

I don't think anyone answered the original

question.

I believe the question was can the apple TV be

left

on continuously without harm to it.

As the Apple TV does not have a power switch, one

may

infer that it may be left on without harm to the
unit..

I Think we all know the answer to this question,in my opinion,it is to hot to leave on,and not good to turn it off,therefore,we need a simple cheap way to cool it without heat sinks and foil that may interfere with the wireless operation,maybe an entertainment center fan that would keep all units cool with the apple tv at the top of the heap with a quiet fan above it mounted with standoffs on ceiling of compartment above equipment,something like a larger computer fan.Any idea`s? My netdisk box doesn`t get that hot but gets hot enough to kill 2 hard drives a year.