PB 17" as a desktop?

Hey all,
I was wondering if i will be able to leave my pb on 24/7. Cos im constantly dl stuff from the internet and my pc is always on, prolly 14Hours in a row. Can i do this with the pb? And if i put it into sleep mode will my dl stop or continue? Will this have an effect on the battery?
Thank you.

dont let it into sleep mode......just turn off the display.....i never shut down my pb just restart sometimes.....i restart it every 2 day or 3 days..........i use my PB without the battery, i use it with electricity
sorry abaout my english

Is it better to take out the battery when my PB is constantly plugged in? Or it doesnt affect the battery at all?

I use my 12" on my desk about 80% of the time, and I don't bother taking out the battery, so probably not. You may want to do it if your PB will be on 24/7 though. Just be sure to turn off the screen, as it will lengthen the life of the LCD.

Good luck!

ok thanks, ill see how much im gonna use it and then ill decide if to take the battery out or not.

If it's never going to leave the desk, why not a iMac 17" or 20"?

More power, same screen. If you get the wireless keyboard and mouse it's nearly as portable.

Oh, it's cheaper too!

It is gonna leave the desk, all i meant is that when it IS on the desk its gonna be on most of the time, and thats what i was worried about. But i will be taking it basically wherever i go, uni sometimes, holidays, work. An iMac wouldnt be as practical, and the 17" PB is the perfect for me in size and portability.

i have the 17 aswell... and it sits at my desk now 24/7 now since im done school and i havent turned if off in ever, i do as above and just turn the screen off..its better to leave it running in my mind cause then it allows the computer to run its KRONS cycles at 2, 3, 5 am i believe it is.. ( KRONS is when it backs up the log files and relocates them and empties somethings...bunch of stuff it needs to do..but it only does this at night so you dont notice it going on, you can run the krons at anytime from the terminal screen if you want * /etc/daily or /etc/weekly or /etc/monthly after logging into the root )
if you are going to run it as a desktop 90% of the time i suggest charging the battery to full then remove it..keep it in a safe cool place and run the computer with the battery out that way it will prolong the battery life ( ive already had to replace my battery once so it is worth it..130$ for a battery kinda sucks ) but remember if its setup as a desktop for many weeks you should discharge and re-charge the battery atleast once a month so it gets a work out every once in a while
if you put it to sleep its going to kill all your downloads and stop the processor and put the hdd to sleep, so just turn the screen off and you will be good to go

K thanks for the help, though one more question. When i close the PB (im not used to the mac system), does it go to sleep, or what exactly does it do? I heard that you are never suppose to switch off a mac. So if i close it, and leave it plugged in, is it the same thing if i leave it on/open for my battery?

K thanks for the help, though one more question. When i close the PB (im not used to the mac system), does it go to sleep, or what exactly does it do? I heard that you are never suppose to switch off a mac. So if i close it, and leave it plugged in, is it the same thing if i leave it on/open for my battery?

Click to expand...

It goes to sleep, yes. All the info gets transfered to the RAM, and a little power is used to keep the RAM from shutting down, that's all. It takes about 1 second after you close the lid for the PB to go to sleep, it takes maybe 2 seconds when you open the PB to 'wake up'. Best of all, it uses maybe 5% battery per 24 hours.

It's true, you're never supposeed to turn off a Mac. OS X is UNIX-based, and UNIX systems never need a reboot, supposedly, they keep on working just as fast. It's true, I've had my 12" PB since June and I've restarted maybe 4x, because when you do a software update you have to restart. Other than that, if I'm not using it I just close the lid.

If you just close the lid and leave it plugged in, it's probably better for your battery, since when it's plugged in the battery cycles between 95-100%, just to keep the battery functioning (I think). So it takes longer to cycle when it's closed. But as some people mentioned, it's better to charge the battery to about 50% (it says not to fully charge it before taking it out) and then just take it out until you're going to be using your PB as a laptop.

Good luck with your purchase!

K thanks for the help, i cant wait to convert to my PB, this PC already feels like crap and i cant even be bothered to do any work on it.

I am new to the powerbook also and was wondering the same thing... how you would keep the book from going to sleep, wheres the option for that? also how would you shut the screen off with leavin the comp on?? any info would be great

You can't stop the PowerBook from going to sleep when the lid is shut, not unless you have an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. See this Apple help article: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86286

To shut off the screen, though, just adjust the brightness down (F1 by default) until it's at its lowest. Push F1 once more, and the screen will completely shut off. To get it back, press F2.

Hope this helps.

New Wave said:

I am new to the powerbook also and was wondering the same thing... how you would keep the book from going to sleep, wheres the option for that? also how would you shut the screen off with leavin the comp on?? any info would be great

Click to expand...

system preferences> energy saver > sleep then select the "Put the display to sleep when the........" after that select the time.....

if you download something then dont select "put the harddisks to sleep when posible "