Looking after my Powerbook

[catie07]

Hi

I was just wondering if i could get some advice on shutting down/putting to sleep my 17" powerbook.

I've had it for about 2 years, the majority of the time it is on my desk connected to power and i just put it to sleep when i'm not using it. i do a full re-start every 1-2 weeks. Once or twice a month i'll use the battery power only, it lasts about 2 1/2 - 3 hours.

Anyway, should i be restarting everyday? disconnecting power? etc etc i'm not sure as i've always thought it's not good to re-start everyday. I'm not having any major problems but as my machine is getting older i thought i should be looking at looking after it properly.

cheers

 

[xwonderboy85x]

From what I've heard, Macs (unlike their PC counterparts) are not exactly made to be shut down regularly. Apparently Macs perform automated routine maintenance tasks during sleep times that they are unable to do while shut down. I believe if you plan to go three or more days without using your computer you should shut it down, and I usually try to restart my 12" G4 PowerBook at least once a month, but this probably isn't even necessary.

As far as letting it run on battery, what you're doing seems fine to me. I also try to do it a couple of times a month because I've heard your battery life can suffer if you only run your laptop from AC power. The tip I've heard is that as much as you can, let the battery run all the way down before recharging it, but this could be left-over advice from the era of battery memory. If your battery is lasting 2.5-3 hours after two years, you're in good shape... I've had my computer for about 2.5 years and had to replace the battery a few months back, but I think it was because I took the battery out for a few days (I thought I had one of the recalled units... turns out I was one serial number digit off) and after that it would only hold a 30 min. charge.