Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!pallas!kabra437
From: kabra437@pallas.athenanet.com (Ken Abrams)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Leave the PC on vs. Power it off daily?
Message-ID: <412@pallas.athenanet.com>
Date: 19 Sep 90 20:47:13 GMT
References: <1990Sep17.205845.12803@pdn.paradyne.com>
Reply-To: kabra437@pallas.UUCP (Ken Abrams)
Organization: Athenanet, Inc.,  Springfield, Illinois
Lines: 34

In article <1990Sep17.205845.12803@pdn.paradyne.com> dixon@pdn.paradyne.com (Tom Dixon) writes:
>
>With todays pc hardware, exactly how dangerous is each power cycle?  
Tell me, o' swami, how likely is it that I will be struck by lightening......
I doubt that anyone can tell you EXACTLY how dangerous the power cycle is.

>If you power your office unit off every night, are you in for early 
>hardware failures?  Or is this all propaganda spread by electric power 
>companies?
>I seem to remember that a few years ago, the recommendation was that if 
>a pc was going to be on five days a week, you were wise to leave it on 
>all of the time.
>But today we have newer (and better?) units.  So with current 
>technology, what's the story?
From the tone of your article, I think you have a pretty good idea already
that things have changed some since the original recommendation was 
formulated.  It has survived, in part, from the time when things like
tubes took a thermal shock going from room temp. to several hundred
degrees in a few seconds. That situation doesn't really apply anymore
(at least not to the same degree).

This has been kind of a pet peeve with me for several years and I have 
a lot of very specific opinions on the subject.  Most of those opinions
have been summed up quite nicely by people who are highly respected in the
trade journals lately.  I have seen two articles where both authors concluded
that "on at 8, off at 5" is a good compromise in most average situations.
I wish I could name the mags and authors but I read so MANY things........
If you really want to hear a more detailed opinion, drop me a mail message.

-- 
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Ken Abrams                     uunet!pallas!kabra437
Illinois Bell                  kabra437@athenanet.com
Springfield                    (voice) 217-753-7965