Computers, especially laptops, really don't draw all that much energy. So it just depends on whether or not you can sleep with the computer on. There's really no difference in putting the computer in sleep or hibernate mode than turning the computer off.
If there IS a difference, I imagine it's very small---like the difference between 'leaving a night-light on all day' & 'turning IT off in the morning' ... oh, there's some 'reset'-functions that happen when you 'shut-down & then boot-up'; but aren't most of those functions taken care of when you 'clean your disk' (i.e. delete various 'temp'-files & clean-out your trash/recycle-bins)?
Its something I have been trying to get into the habit of doing. I am notorious for falling asleep with my computer on with the monitor turned off, like I'll go take a nap after a long bout of Warcraft then wake up in the middle of the day and my comp is still on.
No, I don't because I am torrenting at night. That's the only time the internet is free from being used and so that's the time it's the fastest. I don't do torrents when I am doing homeworks, doing research because it really slows down the speed. With my laptop, I also don't shut it down. I either leave it to sleep or hibernate it. I don't turn it off completely because I would have to end all the programs that are running and that means even those I am yet done working with. Of course, I can just always save them, but it would be a lot more of a hassle to open them all one by one.
Isn't there a shutdown-setting, where you can set your computer to turn off or -hibernate after ## minutes of inactivity?
I have had my computer on for weeks and months at times. I usually only turn my computer off if I am doing a major update, cleaning it out with dust-off, or simply doing a frag.
I used to always shut down my computer all the way but now I almost never do. I waste time booting it all the way up, I've found. Putting it to sleep is what I do now. I've heard though that you could be at risk if you don't shut down all the way and that you use up electricity. There are plenty of pros and cons for both.
I know it 'uses extra time' booting it up after you turn it off (if you know WHY it takes extra time (re-establishing network-connections & possibly 'clearing the various history-files' etc), you don't think of it as "wasting time"). While my computer's booting-up, I have my morning coffee (instant coffee and a kitchen-sink that--thankfully--doesn't get my hot-water PIPING-hot). I.e. I'm not 'AT my computer' when it's booting-up.
Yeah, I agree with what you say mythman, if we just have a slower computer we open it and we go doing other things while it opens, it doesn't take that much time, at the most 5 minutes and it's fully functional, it seems a nonsense though to leave it on all the time, it's consuming energy for no reason.
My computer has an extremely fast boot and shut down time. So I shut it down every night and whenever I leave the house. If I am only leaving the computer for 1 or 2 minutes then I'll leave it on, but at any other time I'll turn it off. It's not a massive power guzzler but it's certainly noticeable.
I only turn my laptop off at night before going to bed. I leave it on at day time even though I don't do anything with it for 1 or 2 hours every now and again. That's because I keep on coming back every few hours to do my work online especially when my baby is napping. I really can't be bothered to keep turning it on and off every time I need it or don't need it.
I do shut mine down every night. But when I'm going out for more than half an hour, I usually start an automatic traffic-exchange program running. (I know that 99.99% of the 'visits' I earn are going to be blown on ... people surfing the exchange the same way I am but I earn it and use it for that 0.01% who are just sitting back down to their computers---kinda like TV-advertisers who buy ads close to the end of the commercial-break). There's EVEN at-least one auto-exchange that runs VIA your computer's inactivity-activated screen-saver!
I hardly turn off my computer fully, I will either leave it on sleep or just close my laptop. The only time I shut down my computer fully is if I have installed a new program that requires a reboot, or if I have windows updates to be done. Other than that, I hardly every turn it off completely because I am impatient and I would rather not wait for my computer to turn on each day.
I think that the computer needs to be shut off at least once or twice per week, but I always turn mine off. I hate to suspend the computer because it makes the computer to accumulate tasks and it becomes a lot slower and even blocks some of the functions, especially the ones related to wireless when this wireless is externally authenticated.
I keep it on 24/7 because I run some software on it to manage my websites. If I would only use it privately I think I would turn it off ;-) I turn it of once a week to reset. The same goes for my router.
Yes, I do turn off my computer, especially when it's not in use. I also don't feel comfortable that it's turned on, especially it's in my bedroom. It just feels freaky and it makes me feel like someone is watching me. I have heard of a case where a person was spied on just because she leaves her computer open all the time and the person was able to watch all of her activities in the bedroom. I really think for the purpose of security and also for the purpose of saving on electricity, I would just turn it off when it's not in use.
Reminds me of the episode of SOUTH PARK where Cartman would be talking to someone on the cell-phone ON OPEN-SPEAKERPHONE, HOLDING THE PHONE OUT LIKE A "STAR TREK"-SENSOR DEVICE, and he'd get ANGRY at Kyle when Kyle overheard & corrected a misstatement by Cartman. The message there: if you want something private, DON'T BRING IT TO PUBLIC! (Which is what 'being connected to the internet' does---makes 'any information you can put on your computer' visible to the public)
I got used to leaving my computer on constantly because I had a very old computer that didn't want to turn back on if I turned it off. My recent computer turns off and on quickly and easily and I STILL leave it on all night, just out of habit because I did it for so long. I have to retrain myself to turn this computer off at night.
I have a laptop so I do turn it off at night. I even turn it off if I leave it unattended for a couple of hours. I don't want it to over heat, so I do turn it off when I am not using it.
I have a habit of not turning off my laptop at night. Most of the I'm on it and it takes forever to boot up sometimes. I just like to open it and pick up where I left off. But when I do close it does go into sleep mode.
