?

5/5/2007 3:15:15 AM

To save your screen for onlookers.

5/5/2007 4:19:34 AM

in case you leave your desk and forget to lock your computer

5/5/2007 8:25:56 AM

you have to let the fish come out into the light sometimes. Otherwise, they'll die in the dark.

5/5/2007 8:51:40 AM

best usage these days is for security purposes, and that's about it. unless you've got a pretty old CRT, there's not as much of a reason anymore.

5/5/2007 9:16:57 AM

prevent burn in?

5/5/2007 12:29:02 PM

prevent burn in

5/5/2007 12:43:32 PM

^i don't think LCD's can get burn-in

they get something called "image persistence" but it's not supposed to be permanent

screensavers are meant for crt monitors

5/5/2007 1:07:31 PM

^ding ding ding

and to answer the ?..no, not really

5/5/2007 1:23:11 PM

i power off the monitor instead of using the screen saver, so my screen saver is set to 30 min. w/ lock on return, and monitor turn off is 30 min. as well

5/5/2007 2:27:20 PM

Security and aesthetic purposes -- both are valid concerns

5/5/2007 2:37:24 PM

what about leaving your computer on and never turning it off

had someone tell me they were told its better to leave it on for a while than turning it off

i told them u gotta reboot every now and then at least

5/6/2007 9:57:59 PM

^ Depends, you should never really need to reboot but sometimes drivers get trashed in ways that are only fixed on reboot. Also some updates require rebooting anyways. I say shut your computer off when you're not using it just to save on power. A decently powerful desktop will cost you a good bit of cash each month.

5/6/2007 10:04:42 PM

yeah but person told me that the person that told them pretty much specifically said(gonna put in quotes because its not EXACTLY what i said, more of away to make what they said consise):

"turning off your computer is not as good for the computer than leaving it on for long periods"

5/6/2007 10:10:01 PM

Yeah true, but that matters more if you plan to keep your computer well into it being obsolete. If you don't, save on power.

5/6/2007 10:14:59 PM

sure, you can help beat cancer by running this screensaver

http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html
message_topic.aspx?topic=118820
http://www.genejockeys.net/Fold&Gene@Home/

5/6/2007 10:24:15 PM

And in the process of beating cancer, you'll melt the icecaps! It's win-win. Those icecaps have dominated our poles for far too long.

5/6/2007 10:26:06 PM

both interesting points...thanks

5/7/2007 12:34:54 AM

5/7/2007 12:50:46 AM

^ So much better than SETI@home.

5/7/2007 7:29:19 AM

I thought screensavers were so no one could see what you were up to on your computer if you left it unattended.

5/7/2007 8:32:57 AM

No, they were created to literally save the screen from burn-in and/or overuse. CRT's used to suck back in the day.

5/7/2007 9:41:54 AM

thus the term 'screensaver'

Quote :

"what about leaving your computer on and never turning it off had someone tell me they were told its better to leave it on for a while than turning it off"

booting up can wear out stuff (b/c it has to spin up) I don't turn mine off unless i'm going to be gone for a while.... restarting is ok.

[Edited on May 7, 2007 at 9:46 AM. Reason : s]

5/7/2007 9:44:29 AM

If you have a 3 year warranty and a high-end desktop, you will be better off shutting it off when you're not using it for something. Idling, many high-end computers will cost you about 15 a month in electricity if left on all the time. By shutting it off when not in-use you can save about 8-10 bucks a month, assuming you use your computer less than 8 hours a day. Over a 3 year period thats 288-360 bucks. Since most people who buy actual performance machines replace them within 3 years and that's the length of the warranty on many machines... you come out ahead. Heck even if you normally wouldn't buy a 3 year warranty, the cost of upgrading to a 3 year warranty is less than the power savings for shutting your machine off when not in use.

5/7/2007 9:58:17 AM

^agree

5/7/2007 10:13:55 AM

my shit's in use 24/7 is the problem

5/7/2007 10:16:03 AM

Yeah man, not much you can do about that except make sure you've got an efficient power supply and aren't using a pentium 4. Also, depending on the type, monitors can use a heck of a lot of power too. Putting it to sleep when your not at the computer could save you a few bucks a month. If it's a CRT, note that it's particularly important to let it go to sleep rather than shut it off, as the power it uses when asleep is barely going to register and it actually prolongs the life of the monitor not to keep turning it on and off.

[Edited on May 7, 2007 at 10:24 AM. Reason : ]

5/7/2007 10:21:31 AM

^what he said... don't underestimate a high-efficiency PSU, i have a enermax liberty and i love it

I use the combination of conservative power settings (monitored by localcooling) and s3 standby to maintain full functionality of my computer while maximizing power savings

LocalCooling
http://www.localcooling.com/

How to Utilize S3 Standby and Still Have ‘Always On’ Access to Your Computer or Networked Drives
http://www.exoid.com/?page_id=47

[Edited on May 8, 2007 at 11:18 AM. Reason : ef]

5/8/2007 11:15:32 AM

nice....i'm glad i made this thread

lots of interesting input in it

thanks all- please dont feel the need to stop just by me saying this

[Edited on May 8, 2007 at 9:07 PM. Reason : 84348]

5/8/2007 9:06:45 PM