Today I want an opinion

[redvette]

Hi Gang

Today I would like an opinion. I have this long on going thing with a buddy of mine.

Here it is he believes it is better to let your computer turned on 7/24/365, and I shut mine off every night. He uses the light bulb idea with his computer idea of leaving it on all the time, if you leave a light bulb turned on 7/24/365 it will last longer then one turned off and on all day long.

My theory is why use something when there is no use of it, meaning when you are not using the computer for the day turn it off. If I am going to be gone for a couple of hours during the day I turn it off too.

Ok so does a computer turned on all day long last longer or not, plus does turning it off expose it to less problems. Reason for saying this he is always having problems with his computer, DVD drives going bad, bugs, viruses, etc.

Thanx....Gunny

[David M]

It's one of those things where there are advantages and disadvantages to doing both. In my opinion there is no right or wrong answer because the advantages and disadvantages cannot be quantified. It's all a qualitative judgement.

Advantages of leaving it on...
Minimal thermal cycling of electrical components.


Advantages of leaving it off....
Less energy use.
Less wear and tear on things that move like fans and hard drives.
You will be there to do something if it ever catches on fire.
You will be there if a malware notification pops up.
Your computer cannot be hacked in to when it is off reducing the total number of hours when it is available be hacked into.

I leave mine off when I am not there unless I am doing a lengthy download or running a lengthy scan.

[redvette]

Hi David

I have to agree with you 100%. My thoughts exactly. And that is his theory about leaving it on, the cycling thing.

But to me there are more as you say advantages to shutting it off. So many things are made to be shut off, and turned back on. Sure I would not do this every 20/30 minutes, that would be dumb. I run 2 computers and if I am not using the one I don't have it turned on. I guess part of this is from being old fashioned, I was always taught if you are leaving a room, turn the lights off, providing there is no one in that room. :-) I can still hear my Dad hollering that at me.

This buddy of mine not only does this with his computer but he never turns the lights off after leaving a room, he has lights burning all day long and still complains about his electric bill. You figure. Thanx for your good opinion.

Thanx....Gunny

[David M]

I don't know if computers are all that affected by thermal cycling, at least not like light bulbs are.

[strollin]

I have 2 computers under my desk at work that have only been turned off a couple of times in the 8 years I've had them. They've never had any type of hardware failure nor any viruses.

I have a couple of machines at home I leave on all the time so that I can use them for fileservers. The display uses more power than anything else, so I make sure the display is turned off or put into power saving mode.

I haven't seen any noticeable difference in reliability or longevity between machines that are turned off regularly and those left on. I'm sure there is a cost associated with leaving a machine powered 24/7 but, with the machine at idle and the display off, it's equivalent to leaving a light bulb on.

[David M]

Agreed...there is no right or wrong answer. It depends on the person, their needs and the computer.

[Deathdiesel]

Also have wondered about this. My gf leaves her home desktop on constantly too, and it just seems so wastefull to me. Im pretty young, and still have the concept of turn things off, if you or noone is in the room. Plainly simple, saves money. Would be really really interesting to see someone do a lengthy study on this. Have 2 computers with the same specs run for x amount of time, one running non stop or only bieng shut off very rarely, and one every day.

[David M]

What would be interesting is to calculate how long the cost of the additional power by running a computer 24/7 would take to buy a new computer. You would have to make a number of assumptions in the estimate.

[glc]

I run this one 24/7, and I run F&H on it. I leave my Win2K box off unless I need it for something. I don't really care about the electric bill.

[rwest]

I think, leaving a unit on goes back to the old tube radio days.

Concept: If the tube is about to go bad(or is weak) it may blow from the power surge of turning the unit on. If you left the radio on, it was more likely to last a bit longer before it failed.

I doubt leaving any of todays electronics on has any effect at all - good or bad. Just maybe adds to the electric bill. My PC is on 24/7 because I'm just impatient, I hate waiting for boot. i don't even let it sleep. Once I touch the mouse she's ready.

[juppy]

I'm of the "turn it off when not using" opinion usually, but lately I don't think it really matters much. I think what matters more is simply the quality of the components. If you use bad/weak/off-brand boards, power supplies, etc, they CAN be killed by both thermal cycling or constant running, either one. If it's weak, it's weak, and it will break sooner than a machine that has stronger components. Just my opinion and I could be wrong. Who knows?

[redvette]

Hi Gang

Hey this is a great opinion pole we have going here.

My buddy tells me this when ever we get into a conversation about what we are talking about here. He says this when does a light bulb go bad, not while it is on, it goes out when you go to turn it on. He is right but I think he is barking up the wrong tree.

I am of this thought, and I think we all can relate to this. We waste too much, and you can include water, electricity, etc. So what is the big deal if we turn off our computers when not in use. No don't get me wrong I am not preaching here, I am serious. What is the big deal turning them off. Are we all that impatient and pressed for time that a few seconds to have the computer boot up makes all that much diff in our daily lives.? I know this is a personal thing, and we all have to pay for our electric we use, I don't know I look at it this way I think these power Co's have way more money than I do, so why add to their bottom line when that money I save by turning these things off, will benefit me more. Even to buy more computer goodies. :-)

Thanx ...Gunny