Re: [Phys-l] computers

[Joseph Bellina <jbellina@saintmarys.edu>]

I suspect the comment about shutting down when in the packing case is  
to make absolutely sure that the hard drive is not running when the  
computer is accelerated since that can kill it.  These machines are  
forever doing stuff in the background, so you don't know when the  
hard drive is running.  Hence it is best to shut it down if you are  
going to move it much.  The new Mac portables have an acceleration  
sensor to attempt to protect against this.

cheers,

joe


Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556

On Aug 8, 2007, at 12:31 AM, Ken Fox wrote:

> This (battery use) is the same advice I have been given by my  
> neighborhood
> Mac man, especially the first few cycles. John's advice may be more
> up-to-date, but I have followed the advice. He also said shut down,  
> or at
> least sleep, when not using for a long time (overnight). Be sure to  
> shut
> down a laptop before packing it in a case.
>
> I worry about the useless use of energy by leaving computers on all  
> the
> time. I am willing to power on when arriving in the morning and  
> waiting
> while I am settling in for the day.
>
> Ken Fox
>
> On 8/7/07, Anthony Lapinski <Anthony_Lapinski@pds.org> wrote:
> > Interesting!
> >
> > My tech guy also said it is best to charge the battery to 100%,  
> > unplug,
> > use the computer, and let the battery drain to nearly 0%, then  
> > recharge
> > again. He said this will extend the battery lifetime, rather than  
> > to just
> > keep the plug in all the time, or to not let the battery  
> > completely drain
> > before recharging.
> >
> > Thoughts?
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