[quote=ryck]The argument for leaving the computer on is the "thermal shock" created by the components continually cooling and then reheating tends to weaken solder joints on the logic board, and the frequent expansion and contraction can eventually cause components to suffer mechanical breaks and thereby shorten the life of the machine.
Pick your side, either side, and you will have plenty of company but no genuinely scientific evidence to back it up.
I hear what you're saying about no scientific evidence but, on this one, I have to say "I'm from Missouri." It just doesn't jibe with my simple-minded reality check which is:
a) I have lots of stuff that generates much more heat, but still lasts an awfully long time without that kind of failure. My old cathode ray TV is a good case in point.
b) To affect a solder joint, I assume the heat inside a device would have to be close to the heat at the end of a soldering iron, but that kind of heat would have to have a serious effect on other things before affecting solder.
ryck
