Power always on, or power on/off

[chris]

In the interest of getting the longest life span out of something, what 
is the better way of handling power?

Should one leave the power on all the time, or should one turn it on and 
off as needed. This assumes the item in question is going to be used on a 
regular basis (such as daily).

I know there is debate on this topic, so I'm asking it here where people 
may have the best chance of showing long term patterns to survival rates 
on either method. My personal finding has been anything that gets 
regularly power cycled dies sooner then items that are left on all the 
time. That said, I still turn off anything that will be unused for 
extended periods of time (not for increasing the life span, but for 
decreasing my utility bill... ie: I turn off my Playstation when done as 
that may go weeks between use... but I leave my main computer on 
24x7x365, both to increase its life, and to avoid waiting for it to boot.)

Alas, my "it lasts longer when left on" data is based off old hardware 
that has been left on for years at a time. Compared to newer hardware 
that gets cycled daily. So it could be that leaving something on is 
better for it, or it could be that modern electronics just suck.


So what is the opinion of the group? Leave it on, or shut it off?

(and I hope I'm not starting a long flaming thread)

-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>