Sleep or Hibernate for a laptop

Question

1. I was wondering whether it is better to put a laptop into sleep or hibernation in Windows 7, and suspend or hibernate in Ubuntu:

   • when carrying the laptop in a backpack and walking or slow-running to another place in around 15
     minutes,
   • Or just when the lid is closed.

   My concerns are if the heat generated and accumulated and bumping from transmit will do harm to the laptop, and I can miss other important factors.

2. Is sleep in Windows 7 same as suspend in Ubuntu?

Thanks and regards!

Answer 1

I prefer hibernate for the simple reason that the power to the machine is completely turned off. This means no heat build-up, no damage to possible moving parts, and so on.

I believe Suspend on Ubuntu is the equivalent of Sleep on Windows.

Answer 2

IIRC in Windows terms Sleep means that the machine is powered down except for the RAM and maybe some other parts like LEDs etc. From this state the machine can resume its actions almost instantly.

When the machine is hibernating, the contents of the RAM are stored to disk and the machine is completely powered down.

Suspend is equivalent to the "Windows Sleep". Hibernation is (almost) the same as on Windows. Some more info about linux Sleep/Hibernation: http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-computing/articles/9738.aspx