Shut Down or Just Sleep

Hey I just got my Macbook Pro about a month ago and I've always left it on all the time and just put it to sleep, but one of my friends says its better to shut it down all the way when I'm not using it.

So Shut it down or just let it sleep?

Macbooks are designed to be turned on and left on for very long periods of time. Putting the computer to sleep and keeping it in a room temp-cool place would not hurt it a bit. The less power you put through the hardware the better obviously but realistically, the hardware would become out dated and you would replace it long before the parts just "wore out"

If you plan on using it everyday , i would just close the lid and let her sleep. If you are going on a long trip i would power it down when not in use at home or in the car.

Putting it to sleep is fine with some exceptions:

1. Don't carry your MBP around in a back pack, carry bag, and so forth while it's asleep. It's also not a good idea to drive around with it while it's in sleep mode. Reason = Back packs and carry bags get jostled around, the machine can easily come out of sleep and put the hard drive at risk if it's suddenly moved. Auto having to stop suddenly and your MBP slides forward onto the floor of the car or into the dash.

2. If you live in an area prone to severe weather - thunderstorms. (Like here in Texas)

Regards.

I haven't turned my mbp off since I got it last week. However, like chscag said I did unplug the power cable while we had some nice summer thunderstorms pop up just to be safe.

my MBP is running non stop without even turning it to sleep for about 3months! no problems!