Leaving a laptop on?

[Dog--]

Yea, I just got a new laptop and I'm still a total laptop noob, and I have one quick question:

I download alot of big files which means I normally leave my PC on overnight/all the time, is it bad to leave a laptop on for a long time? Can I still download and stuff in sleep mode, and even in sleep mode is it safe to leave on for 10+ hours at a time?

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Sleep mode / Standby / Hibernate = you won't be able to do anything

You can leave a laptop on for a long period of time, as long as it has good cooling around it and is plugged into the mains power. Although generally laptops aren't meant for continual use like that, sure they can handle it but I wouldn't make long stretches a frequent occurrence. You want the laptop to last after all.

On my laptop I can set power schemes whereby I can turn the graphics card off / optical drive power off / HDD power / Wireless LAN / reduced CPU power / LCD brightness. I have one for downloads where I turn off 'hibernate' and limit power to most things.