Your computer: leave on or turn off?

Say, when you're not using your computer, do you leave it on all the time or turn it off until you need it again? I was reading elsewhere that turning the computer off and on constantly might shorten the lifespan and actually use more power than just leaving it on. I've always turned mine off, but now I wonder if it might better to not do that.

I turn mine off at night, but leave it on during the day, even if I'm doing other things. Sometimes when I know I won't be using it, I'll just leave it turned off.

Funny that this was mentioned, though. My brother said that it was worse to leave it on all the time.

I usually turn it off if I am not using it.

I usually turn my computer off when I'm not using it. Occasionally I may leave it on for an extended period when downloading something (takes forever on dial-up).

Quote:

I was reading elsewhere that turning the computer off and on constantly might shorten the lifespan and actually use more power than just leaving it on.

The power consumption is going to depend on the time frame involved. Leaving it on for an extra hour might use less power, but over an extended period I would expect that to be different.

The lifespan thing probably comes from disk access. That's going to depend on some different things, but it usually won't matter that much in the long run, IMO.

I leave it on 24/7. I hate turning it off. It takes to long on mine

I don't think it has much to do with power consumption, but when you turn it off it has to use the extra power that it needs to start back up again. Its supposed to last for quite a long time, but it depends on how often you turn it off. Repeatedly off and on isn't necessarily a great thing to do, but neither is leaving it on constantly, both are so abusive to your computer. As long as its only, like a daily routine, once on, once off, it will most likely last you until you want a new computer.

We always leave ours on, mainly because it is so aggravating to have to get up and turn on 2-3 computers. XD

Yeah, that's one thing that always annoys me about my computer. It seems like it takes forever to finally start up. I know my old virus scanner was delaying it, but even after uninstalling that, the computer still drags it's feet.

I usually turn my computer off at night, but much like Thoul, I will leave it on for days at a time if I'm downloading stuff, it really oesn't matter.

The power consumption of your PC will depend how you have the power settings set in your options. If you have the HD and monitor to turn off after a period of being idle, the computer will not use much power at all. If you make it so everything stays on, it will use a good bit of power. It doesn't matter to me either way, since my electric bill is not usually too bad.

I actually noticed a bigger spike in power usage when I had my 24 port Baytech switch on my network, than when I leave my PC on for days at a time. I don't use my switch any more, but I don't have as many computers as I used to either.

If I ain't using it, it is off. It stays off a lot.

I leave it on during the majority of the day, as I often go back and forth on it when I am working on projects. I have to be careful though, the cats sometimes get on the laptop and can accidentally shut it off. :/