Just bought my first Mac ...

I just bought my 15.4 inch Macbook Pro from Best Buy today. I have only owned Toshiba laptops in the past. I am very impressed with it after only using it for a few hours. I was planning to shut down my Mac after I was done using it. But after reading the manual I realized that it's not the same as PC laptops. My questions are as follows:

1) Is it okay to store my Mac in a zipped carrying case, while it is in sleep mode? I am concerned about ventilation and heat build-up.

2) Are there any benefits to having my Mac plugged in while it is in sleep mode (left on desk) vs being unplugged in sleep mode?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

RR14 said:

I just bought my 15.4 inch Macbook Pro from Best Buy today. I have only owned Toshiba laptops in the past. I am very impressed with it after only using it for a few hours. I was planning to shut down my Mac after I was done using it. But after reading the manual I realized that it's not the same as PC laptops. My questions are as follows:

1) Is it okay to store my Mac in a zipped carrying case, while it is in sleep mode? I am concerned about ventilation and heat build-up.

2) Are there any benefits to having my Mac plugged in while it is in sleep mode (left on desk) vs being unplugged in sleep mode?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

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Question #1: Yes

Question #2: Yes there is an advantage to keeping it plugged in. If you don't use your computer for like a week...the battery will completely discharge, and that's not good for batteries.

- Nick

I will be using my Macbook Pro everyday or 2. When I use it I will be plugging in the 85W MagSafe Power Adaptor everytime. I prefer to store it in the case to keep the dust out. Will the battery be fine in that case?

Nick is completely right, but you may want some explanations with the answers.

Question 1: Sleep is similar to what it does in Windows. I just found it much more efficient and smoother than in Windows. The system will save everything you're doing into RAM and turn off major system components, meaning a small amount of power is still being used. The fans will turn off and heat will slowly subside. So nothing to worry about there.

Question 2: The benefits of having it plugged in are simple, you can be sleep mode indefinitely. Sleep still requires a small amount of power to function, but if the battery is in critical condition, it'll go into "hibernation" which saves all of the information to the hard drive, locks your account, and turns off completely.

Thanks for the explanations. It really helps. I get it now. It doesn't matter where I store it. Also I should not leave it unplugged in sleep mode for too long because it will drain the battery. If I can keep my Mac plugged in, it only helps.

RR14 said:

Thanks for the explanations. It really helps. I get it now. It doesn't matter where I store it. Also I should not leave it unplugged in sleep mode for too long because it will drain the battery. If I can keep my Mac plugged in, it only helps.

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If the battery is charged, you don't have to worry about the battery dying. And it really isn't a big deal if the battery gets completely depleted. In fact, the battery needs to be discharged completely every once-in-a-while to maintain it.

Enjoy your Mac! I'm sure you'll love it..

Dont necessarily jump to conclusions from this, however I just read this post after yours and thought you might want to see it..... http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-notebooks/176891-warning-about-mbp-lcd-spots-heat.html

As with anything, this might only apply to a handful of 'lemon' machines, but you never know....

Kevin6432 said:

If the battery is charged, you don't have to worry about the battery dying. And it really isn't a big deal if the battery gets completely depleted. In fact, the battery needs to be discharged completely every once-in-a-while to maintain it.

Enjoy your Mac! I'm sure you'll love it..

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Exactly. Your battery needs to drain once a month or once every two months, depending on how much you use it.

Follow this guide for battery optimization.