At 10:22 PM -0400 10/12/2009, Richard Gerome wrote: >I always shut mine down when I'm not using it
You mean overnight or repeatedly, each day? Overnight - ok. Repeatedly - bad. That full power-up is the worst wear'n'tear you can hit a machine with - especially an older one. >for these reasons: Save on electric bill, I think the computer will >last longer including the battery If the machine is unpowered (unplugged) the battery is used to maintain the PMU and clock, which would of course shorten its life. As for saving on the electric bill... heh. Assumin the display is off/sleeping... I doubt any Mac uses significant power while sleeping. They always use a "trickle" of a few watts (when plugged in), to keep the PMU, buses, USB, and keyboard running. In sleep mode, add just a few more watts. The Mac Pro, eg, trickles about 4.5 watts and sleeps about 7.8 watts. About screensavers... If you're leaving your Mac for a few mins, screensavers are fine. But for longer periods, they're not so smart. They keep the display going, using max power. And depending on the complexity of the screensaver, they can even use a lot of cpu and other resources, including generate enough heat to require the fans... >and if you leave it on and online there is less chance for hackers >to get into the computer with spyware or phish and get any of your >info you may have saved on your computer, even though Apples are a >lot less prone to viruses they can still get your info out of them... Leaving it online creates *less chance"? um.... The ONLY way your Mac can become infected with something is for you to ACTIVELY fetch the malware onto your machine then MANUALLY execute it and MANUALLY give it your admin password. Of course, that requires that there be "something" out in the wild that can actually infect your Mac. Right now, those types of malware only exist in Bill Gate's dreams. >How many e-mails do you get from spammers that you have no idea how >they got your e-mail address??? The ability of a spammer to purchase a mailing list, or use a dictionary attack, has nothing to do with things your Mac might be doing while you're afk. - Dan. -- - Psychoceramic Emeritus; South Jersey, USA, Earth. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
