Ever leave your PC on?

[GrimJack]

I used to leave both my computers (living room laptop and office games machine) on all the time so that BOINC (I run ClimatePrediction, rosetta@home, The Lattice Project, SpinHenge@home, MalariaControl, UFluids, and World Community - it is a lot I know) could run and I could build up some Karma but it was costing a fortune. Now I try to only have one on at a time and shut everything down before I go to bed. I have all the power converters on single surge protectors that I turn off. Those DC converters pump out heat even when the device they are connected to is off.

[vole]

I used to leave both my computers (living room laptop and office games machine) on all the time ...

Not a good idea to leave the laptop on all the time. The heat build-up is more for a laptop. They don't have the big fans and cpu fans and heat sinks of desktops. And heat is one of the big destructive forces in computerland.

When I get cold at night I switch to my laptop and use it on my lap to warm up. Not as good as an electric blanket but has more class.

-Dave

[GrimJack]

Not a good idea to leave the laptop on all the time. The heat build-up is more for a laptop. They don't have the big fans and cpu fans and heat sinks of desktops. And heat is one of the big destructive forces in computerland.

When I get cold at night I switch to my laptop and use it on my lap to warm up. Not as good as an electric blanket but has more class.

-Dave

Yeah! I bought a fan that runs all the time that the laptop is on. Morgan (our new kitty) loves to curl up on the keyboard; I use a wireless kybrd/mouse combo w/flatscreen monitor - suddenly, my screen went wild. When I looked over at my lappy, there she was - purring quietly on the keyboard. When I yelled at her, she jumped up onto the arm of the chair then back onto the lid of the laptop, closing it and shutting it down - gotta love kitties!

[spacecadet610]

Yeah i leave my computer and monitor on all the time. Shutting down and especially starting up probably puts the most wear on the computer. And with the modern energy efficient 'sleep' or 'hibernate' options, you're not really paying much more.

[sandyandry]

Not always, sometimes

[DC Metro Crab]

Laptops go into hibernate. I never turn off my PC or reboot unless absolutely necessary. Monitor is set to auto shut off after 15 mins of inactivity. Friend calculated once how much money it would save per month to shut off the PC at night. End result was that it wasn't worth the inconvenience.

[reptile411]

My server is on 24-7. The security cameras record on an external drive to a desktop computer in another location so that computer is on 24-7 as well. The monitor and speakers on that computer get turned off every night but the server monitor and everything stay on 24-7 however the server monitor goes to sleep after 1 minute of non use. I don't notice any difference at all in my power bill having both systems on 24-7. I am also told they will last longer if I leave them on as turning on and off shocks the internal components to a degree and they don't last as long. The down side is you have to pay close attention to your temps as out of control temps can be the death of the system and even cause a fire and the loss of your house.

[atorrin]

I put mine on standby.