Thinkpads Forum

Im going to college in the fall, and after reading tons about Thinkpads, i decided i wanted to get one instead of bring my desktop. now im on the computer most of the time. i will usually leave bittorrent on while i sleep ,and my computer is on most of the time.

i know that cooler is alot better on the T61, but is it "safe" to leave it running for a long time? lets say, 48 hours straight. my school has wifi throughout the entire campus, so i know im going to be carrying my thinkpad everywhere.

As far as I'm concerned you can leave your ThinkPad running as look as you like, HOWEVER, I would make sure the unit is kept in a cool well ventilated location.

Keep in mind that if you are not using Your ThinkPad, it can be placed in a Stand-BY mode which will certainly keep the unit from prematurely wearing out.

Just my 2 cents worth.................

Best of Luck !

I work at two different sites and only turn my computer off when I'm traveling between the two sites. So in general my notebooks get turned on for 70+ hours straight. Heat is not a problem even in my country.

my records:
T42, it had not been turnrf off for 7 months with 24 hours on. Result: got LCD and invertor replaced. Right now, my parents are using it in excellent condition.
T60, I am using it right now. 8 months straight, nerver been turned off. result: got Fan replaced 2 days ago. Right now, it is 24 hours on for 2 days already.

I believe I am an abuser.....

Another data point, but probably not too useful since it's an old system...

My soon-to-be 16 year old daughter leaves her 600X on 24/7 as much as she can. Overnight the display is turned off but otherwise it's up and running Windows XP all of the time. I had to turn it off tonight as we experienced a power blackout for about 30 minutes so I put her system into hibernation. My guess would be that it's been on for a couple of weeks straight. The display is a little bit dimmer than what I remember it being when I gave it to her and the palmrest is worn out on both sides from her constant use, but otherwise it's been running fine. No complaints of lock-ups, blue screens or any other abnormal (well, normal for Windows...) operation.

I keep my TP running 24/7 unless i have to go abroad or so when i have to turn it off on the plain. Or after installing annoying software that requires a reboot. Mind you i havent got a t6x yet but i have a t42p (which soon to be replaced by t61p) and this machine is now 3 years old. The only trouble i ever found was that sometimes when i used the laptop in bed it gets really really hot and the fan dies. So far i had to have the fan be replaced two times due to this within 3 years. But since i put something beneath the thinkpad i havent had any problems whatsoever.

Regards Ancient.

thanks for the quick reply guys. now im confident that leaving my thinkpad on for long periods of time is safe.

however, i do have another thread up about which display to get.

You can leave it running 24/7 as long as it is in a reasonable environment. Avoid direct sunlight and turn it off when you put it in your backpack

Bittorrent is going to exercise the hard disk, I would not want to run that continuously for years on a laptop hard disk. But then, there are only so many linux distributions that one needs to download

If you plan to leave the laptop on 24/7, I highly recommend getting it to stand by when it's not in use, and plugging it into a uninterruptible power supply or at least a good surge protector.

when im not outside, it'll be plugged into my dorm room outlet.
is it a good idea to take the battery out at this time?

i know its what i used to do for my dell inspiron. i would only charge my battery if it was really low.

It's fine to leave your Thinkpad 24/7

All the Thinkpads I've used are strained 24/7, my T42p have been running 13 days non-stop, with hot conditions (I don't have AC on my dorm) with no problems. Heck even my now-sold T30 withstanded this conditions considering the processor heat is an issue.

Be sure to plug in in a surge protector just in case. I leave the battery in there and every month or so I drain it and fully recharge when it's cool

i have been turning on my Thinkpad for 24/7 week.
so far it is working fine.

My R61 is on all the time and has been for months. It does not hurt anything.

ronan_zj wrote:my records:
T42, it had not been turnrf off for 7 months with 24 hours on. Result: got LCD and invertor replaced. Right now, my parents are using it in excellent condition.
T60, I am using it right now. 8 months straight, nerver been turned off. result: got Fan replaced 2 days ago. Right now, it is 24 hours on for 2 days already.

I believe I am an abuser.....

What is the point of having a laptop turned on 24/7?

With it being turned on always, I presume it never leaves the house. Unless you have it turned on when it's in a sleeve, case or whatever.

--

My T60 runs through most of the day. It's on about half an hour in the morning, again for a couple of hours during the day and then on propably most of the night. Depending on what day of the week it is, school or work. Project or not.

For editing, conversion and other misc I have an old Northwood pentium tower that runs 24/7.

Torque wrote:
What is the point of having a laptop turned on 24/7?

With it being turned on always, I presume it never leaves the house. Unless you have it turned on when it's in a sleeve, case or whatever.

--

My T60 runs through most of the day. It's on about half an hour in the morning, again for a couple of hours during the day and then on propably most of the night. Depending on what day of the week it is, school or work. Project or not.

For editing, conversion and other misc I have an old Northwood pentium tower that runs 24/7.

I agree. Unless you are using some sort of program or application that takes hours or days to finish running calculations or experiments, or you are running a public server, or some other such activity, what is the point of having your computer running 24/7? If your are not using it for something, you are only wasting electricity. What's the big deal about putting it on standby or hibernation when not in use? Just my two cents.

Volker wrote:You can leave it running 24/7 as long as it is in a reasonable environment. Avoid direct sunlight and turn it off when you put it in your backpack

If I were to put it in my backpack for like a 30 min to 45 min (at most) trip, turning it off would be best even then? I'd have to run to class and slipping it in when it's already on would be best for me.

Magic Wonder425 wrote:If I were to put it in my backpack for like a 30 min to 45 min (at most) trip, turning it off would be best even then?

Definitely. Operating hard disks are far more susceptible to shock and vibration (by a factor 3-5x). On top of that, the limited ventilation will lead to heat build-up.

ronan_zj wrote: T42, it had not been turnrf off for 7 months with 24 hours on. Result: got LCD and invertor replaced.

The backlight CCFL lifetime should be about 1-3 years if you run it continuously. You do close the lid / switch off backlight when you are not there, right? Also note that during its lifetime the backlight will dim considerably as it gets older, so its in your own interest to keep the screen off when you don't look at it.

Alright, thanks man.

Torque wrote:For editing, conversion and other misc I have an old Northwood pentium tower that runs 24/7.

rmendoza wrote:I agree. Unless you are using some sort of program or application that takes hours or days to finish running calculations or experiments, or you are running a public server, or some other such activity, what is the point of having your computer running 24/7? If your are not using it for something, you are only wasting electricity. What's the big deal about putting it on standby or hibernation when not in use? Just my two cents.

First, I will bet that a ThinkPad (which throttles back the CPU and will automatically shut down the disk and the display) will use far less electricity than a tower PC. Without wireless on, you could be running all night at around 10W. Meanwhile, desktop systems come with 250W+ power supplies ...

As to the reason, if you have a home server, will you always go turn it on when you need it? Or would you prefer to have it always accessible?