sleep mode or shutdown?

[snizzle]

which one is better to conserve power or just better in general?

 

[TheKub]

Turning it off will conserve more power but sleep will allow the machine to "power up" faster.

 

[Juked07]

Is either better for preserving system stability over the years?

 

[snizzle]

sorry i did not state this at first but i am referring to notebooks. so how much power is actually being used when in sleep mode. in other words is the power consumption so small that it is really irrelevant?

 

[TheKub]

Originally posted by: Juked07
Is either better for preserving system stability over the years?

I don't think so. Besides you using it and over time bit-rot will effect stability long before you "wear out" the hardware. I used to leave my machines on 24/7 but now I pay my electric bill and have become somewhat more environmentally conscious so now I put it all to sleep (I'm still somewhat impatient) except for a laptop that does BT.

Originally posted by: snizzle
sorry i did not state this at first but i am referring to notebooks. so how much power is actually being used when in sleep mode. in other words is the power consumption so small that it is really irrelevant?

Each laptop is going to be slightly different but I'd imagine that its pretty insignificant. If you are really paranoid spend the $20 on a Kill-a-watt and see what your machine draws in sleep mode.

 

[0roo0roo]

oh notebooks? sleep is ok if on mains. maybe a couple watts max...if that. it'll drain ur battery slowly and shorten its life..wear is wear.
hibernation is good as off. on a small laptop the difference between sleep and on might be around 20-40+ watts. laptops generally use very little power to begin with.
on desktops, it depends if it fully supports sleep, many dont. their fans will stay on and it'll drop into a very shallow sleep state that is only a couple watts less than fully on which is rather pathetic. if it goes totally silent then its in true standby...course with a kill-a-watt type meter its easy to verify.
hibernation is what iuse if i know i'm going to leave it off for a while.

 

[JackMDS]

Get your self Kill-A-Watt

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16882715001

Try all modes and see how much each configuration consumes.

Take your Utility invoice and find out how much you pay for kWh and computer.

When all done it would easy to make a decision according to your system and the way it used.