Leaving a PowerBook On???

[FRRYY]

This Powerbook is my first laptop, not to mention my first Mac.

I'm just wondering, how bad is it to leave it on constantly??

I usually leave it on and put it to sleep when I don't need it (about a 5-6hrs on sleep).

Am I damaging my PB by doing this?
any harm to the battery?


thanks

 

[mad jew]

Welcome to Macs.

Sleeping it is fine. Just make sure its ventilation outlets aren't covered during intensive work and calibrate the battery once every month or so and you'll be set. FWIW, calibrating the battery means running it completely flat and then fully charging it again afterwards.

 

[Will_reed]

I rarely turn my powerbook off. And I dont put it to sleep much either and mines doin good.

 

[atomcoeur]

not to worry, macs are meant to stay on all the time - I've had my pbook Ti for 3 years and the only times i have ever shut down was when I took it on planes or when it crashed (which was rare anw) - obviously if it's not doing anything it's good for it to take a rest and sleep but no need to shut down.

As for the battery - if you have the pb on the power supply all the time just take out the battery (saves it from overheating also).

 

[tekmoe]

whenever i am not using mine, i put them to sleep. my gf tends to leave the lid open and keep it turned on all the time. i usually tell her not to do that but it doesn't seem to hurt the powerbook so it's probably ok.

 

[munkle]

I hardly ever turn my PB off and it's been trooping along for a couple of years now. Just use it and enjoy it

 

[Sic]

mine's on all the time. if it's sat on my desk, i normally make a point of sleeping it every couple of days

 

[kretzy]

I never turn off my PB and only put it to sleep when it's in transit. This hasn't caused any problems at all, so don't worry, you won't be doing any harm to your new PB. Just enjoy it!

 

[crdean1]

I have a similar question. I have heard of Apple computers needing to "run scripts" although I don't know what that means. I leave my powerbook on sleep every night, can it still run scripts when needed or do I need to schedule it to do so in iCal when it is up and running.

Also, how often.

RD

 

[iGary]

I have a similar question. I have heard of Apple computers needing to "run scripts" although I don't know what that means. I leave my powerbook on sleep every night, can it still run scripts when needed or do I need to schedule it to do so in iCal when it is up and running.

Also, how often.

RD

You can run the following scripts manually in Terminal:

sudo periodic daily
sudo periodic monthly
sudo periodic weekly
sudo update_prebinding -root / -force

Or get Onyx.

As far as the battery goes - run it dead once a month, and then charge it to stir up the electrons. Don't leave it plugged in for months at a time without doing this.

 

[FRRYY]

sweet. thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback.


BTW, I also didn't know calibrating the battery had to be done monthly. I just thought it had to be done once when u first got it.


In any case, I'll make sure to calibrate it once a month.

 

[mad jew]

It needs to be done every now and then, especially if you mainly leave the thing plugged into the wall. Once a month is idea but to be honest, it's a pretty loose rule of thumb.

The idea behind it is to prevent overcharging the battery which is bad for it - calibration reminds the computer just how much 100% charge is.

 

[inlimbo]

You can run the following scripts manually in Terminal:

sudo periodic daily
sudo periodic monthly
sudo periodic weekly
sudo update_prebinding -root / -force

Or get Onyx.

As far as the battery goes - run it dead once a month, and then charge it to stir up the electrons. Don't leave it plugged in for months at a time without doing this.

Or just get anacron - then you don't have to remeber to run them.