Whats better sleep or shutdown?

[Madelin]

I was wondering what was best for my 17" iMac. Overnight i do not use it, its turned on throughout the daytime. I was wondering whether the hardware would last longer if if i shutdown the mac overnight or put it to sleep instead.

What are the benefits of both?

Thanks!

[symphonix]

I'd say sleep. The only time I really shut it down is if it will be off for more than a day (eg over the weekends) or if it needs to be moved or unplugged. Sleep uses very little power, and its clear that it is designed to sleep as needed - you might notice that the blinking sleep light is actually dimmer at night-time than in day-time. The power consumed by sleeping for a whole day is probably less than that used in booting up the system.

[Madelin]

Thanks for the great response. Ill follow your advice.

Thanks!!

[Natobasso]

Like symphonix I usually do the sleep option. I only restart when I have a system issue that needs to be fixed or after repairing permissions, or installing new system updates or software.

[Rhisiart]

I can't remember the last time I shut down my G4 (it performs very well).

[Gambuchi]

Here are tons of opinions regarding "Sleep v Shutdown".

[Madelin]

After leaving my iMac on for 5 days (sleep at night) when on the CPU usage didnt drop below 40%. I thought that that couldnt have been healthy. After a restart it went back to normal.