Keeping Laptop Always On

Hi Everyone

Ive got a Dell Inspiron 9400. I was just wondering the advantages and disadvantages of keeping the laptop running 24/7. anything wrong with doing this? would it be like continuously running a desktop?

cheers
V1SHAL

 

you mean running without stanby/sleep?

well... i guess thats alright.... as long as you don't push the machine 100% most of the time. the general rule is; if it don't get hot, its alright. good ventilation is the key.

hope this is the answer you're looking for.

take care.

 

yeh i meant all the time on without standby/sleep. also will the screen be damaged if its always on.

just wanna hear peoples opinions.

cheers wobble987

 

The backlight has a finite lifespan, I wouldnt leave the screen on nonstop, as you would be wasting a lot of your backlights life for nothing.Why do you need it running 24/7? FAH is one of the few apps I know of where you would want to run 24/7,even then its fine with the screen turned off.

 

Also, I wouldn't leave your battery trickle charging while it's running all the time.

That'll wear it out.

 

so you suggest taking the battery out when on ac power?

 

For extended periods of time yes you should remove it, under ac it will stop charging for a time, then start back, that eats up a charge cycle, and the battery only has so many charge cycles before it becomes useless.

 

Is that true when using a docking station? Should I really take the battery out each time before docking? What a pain.

 

it may be a pain but if you want to preserve the cycle life it has to be done. but i dont think it will make such a huge difference.

 

The difference would be on how long you leave it plugged in, the battery will fully charge, then stop charging and begin discharging,( even if the machine is powered off or in a standby state) after say a 2% to 5% drop it will begin charging again eating up a charge/discharge cycle, most L-ions have around 500 charge/discharge cycles, running 24/7 on ac could eat up several cycles per day, greatly reducing the overall life of your battery.

 

yes that would make sense.

 

there is no need to remove your battery while docked/on AC.

 

the screen has a finite number of lifespan (as iceman says), turn it off using that "turn off display after ## minutes"

you shouldn't worry to much about batery charge/discharge cycle though, the other thing that is bad for the battery is heat. you should know that leaving the battery unused is also bad for the battery. li-ion battery lifespan is also determine by its age. the usual number is that it will still retain 80% of its charge/discharge cycle in 2 or 4 years OR 400 discharge/recharge cycles. it should really be nearly dead in 10 years.

btw, 90%->100% does not count as 1 recharge cycle. it is just 1/10th of 1 recharge cycle. in other words you need 10 - 90% to 100% recharge cycle for it to count as 1 recharge cycle.

my suggestion is don't worry about 'em. how long are you gonna keep the laptop for anyway? 6 years? then you shouldn't worry about its charge/recharge cycle. as leaving the battery compartment empty will result in more dust getting to your notebook, and making it dirty faster which will result in overheating on the longterm.

 

thanks for all the help and suggestions people. this forum is great. not only is the information given valuable but also very fast feedback.

thanks heaps people. big ups

 

go into power options and change it to turn screen off after a while, and if you do want it on, just make sure before you walk away, that you dim it as dark as possible..

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91846