Leaving a laptop on

[Fifty]

I know lots of people leave their desktops on 24/7 but is it OK to leave a laptop running in a similar manner?? (hooked up to a power source of course)

 

[Comraddict]

As long as you put power scheme to be Portable/Laptop. you don't want it to run on full speed.

 

[Dark Sheer]

I believe the laptop get heat up much faster than a desktop. The table usually gets very warm only after a few hours if you leave a laptop on it. This is different from a desktop as the side casing usually doesn't touch anything (In the case of a mini tower of course ). So I don't think its such a good idea to leave the Laptop on 24/7 unless its in an air-con room.

 

[Comraddict]

The laptops that can downscale their CPU frequency and voltage should not heat up much in low-frequency mode.

 

[Padma]

My wife used to leave her laptop on for days at a time, but yeah, the table got a bit warm, evenwith the cooling pad she uses.

She started shutting it down when not in use because the cats kept walking/sleeping on it, screwing things up.

 

[Maniacal]

She started shutting it down when not in use because the cats kept walking/sleeping on it, screwing things up.

That doesn't surprise me in the least. Cats seem to be able to get heat from anywarm source, like a hottub cover, even when it's only several degrees celsious out. My cat also likes to hangout with the woodstove even when it's really warm. It's a good thing they don't sweat.

 

[taper]

I leave my laptop on pretty much all the time. Fifty, I know you're a folder too, so if you're planning on this, make sure you set the CPU usage to ~30-40% in configuration, and probably set to deadlineless WU. Check that your power scheme doesn't send the notebook into standby or hiberation after time either.

Heat is the problem, so make sure the laptop is on a hard flat surface with room for airflow. Putting on small blocks to leave room underneath won't hurt, and if it's going to be there for more than a few days, take out the battery and run straight off the power cord. This helps preserve battery life. If it's going to be more than a week or so, discharge the battery to around 40% and store it in a cool dry place.

 

[Till]

My laptop has been folding nonstop for exactly a month now. Granted, the room it is in is very cold (13 Degree Celsius or something), but i have never had any problems.

 

[Turner]

I have laptops I use at work I leave on all the time. It does help if you position it in such a way that the fan is not blocked. Laptops do tend to heat up more than desktops. Or at least, I notice it more.

My laptop has been folding nonstop for exactly a month now. Granted, the room it is in is very cold (13 Degree Celsius or something), but i have never had any problems.

I had a laptop do Seti for over 6 months. The room was about 20 celsius/68 F.

 

[IglooDame]

In the next week or so I've got a laptop that I'm going to be leaving powered up 24/7 and dedicating to Pitboss/F@H and maybe some other stuff (the video card is kinda whacked, so it is useless for workstation type uses anymore and is essentially just a really small server). My plan is to give it taller legs and point a small desk type fan at it for better cooling, we'll see how that goes.

 

[Till]

What is pitboss?

 

[Sahkuhnder]

If it does start to overheat doesn't it automatically slow down the processor and if need be start shutting down long before any damage could occur?

My (possibly incorrect) reasoning for leaving mine on 24/7 is that my computers always go obsolete long before I could wear them out. Has anyone every had or heard of a laptop being damaged from actually running too much or too long under normal room-temperature conditions?

 

[IglooDame]

What is pitboss?

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=152361

Essentially a multiplayer server application for Civ4.


@sakhunder: Nope, haven't heard of any problems like that.

 

[History_Buff]

If it does start to overheat doesn't it automatically slow down the processor and if need be start shutting down long before any damage could occur?

My (possibly incorrect) reasoning for leaving mine on 24/7 is that my computers always go obsolete long before I could wear them out. Has anyone every had or heard of a laptop being damaged from actually running too much or too long under normal room-temperature conditions?

I once turned mine on, played for a bit, took a shower, came back, and saw some error message involving RAM and Heat. After it tried to restart itself, it failed to start ever again. Dell had it back to me in 2 days, working as usual, and never found out what happened to it in the end.

That said, they will automatically shut down if they start overheating. I once left mine on accidentally in my back-pack, and when I took it out, it had shut off, and after restarting, gave me a quick message about how I'm an idiot. MY Lappy also won't turn on if it's too hot either.