Does anybody out there have the definitive answer to this one?

I’m wondering, is it better to:

a) leave your computer turned on and plugged in 24/7, or

b) turn it off and unplug.

I’m referring particularly to overnight, when you aren’t planning on using it for several hours and bad weather’s on the way.

The very night I posted my last blog, complete with photos of Spring foliage, we had a really wicked storm. Flashes of lightning, rain, and smacking thunderclaps — the whole ball of wax.

The weather forecasters had already predicted storms, so I turned off my computer and unplugged it, confident it would be safe from any jolt of electricity surging through the lines and wiping out my hard drive.

After all, something happened to my last computer’s motherboard, and I sure don’t want to go through that again!

Then I talked to one of my writer-friends, who said her computer-guru advised her to leave her machine on ALL the time.

Turning it on and off wears out the components, he said.

Huh?

How long will a computer last if you don’t wear out its components?

I might be wrong, but it seems to me that everything you buy these days comes with “planned obsolescence.”

Cell phone — 2 years, same as your contract.

Laptop — 3 years, maybe.

Car — 5 years, or the amount of time it takes you to pay off your note.

Even light bulbs.

My mom’s house, for example, was built 40-odd years ago, and the workers put in new light bulbs, some of which have never been changed! Try to say that about today’s light bulbs!

So who knows the answer to my question about computers — turn off and unplug, or leave on and plugged at all times?