ASUS a6j Sleep question

Quick question about my new ASUS a6j. In the manual it states that I should always shut it down before travelling as this will cause the HD heads to retract and not scratch the HD surface. What's the difference between a complete shut down and putting it to sleep, which seems to do the same thing to the HD (to save maximum power in sleep mode). The manual is rather light on what the 'suspend/save to RAM' mode actually does. It would be kind of a drag if you have to completely shut it off every time you wanted to move around.

Any thoughts would be most welcome.

 

I own A6Jc.
I think suspend to RAM, which turns off hard disc and saves everything into RAM, is meant for moving it around... At least, that's what I use it for...

 

BUMP! This forum is so busy most messages seem to get quickly lost in the shuffle!

 

Try putting it into Hibernation.

Pretty much it stops everything and turns everything off, but before turning it off, it caches everything you were doing onto the HD so when you boot it up again, it will start over at where you last left off.

 

I was installing Windows in my car on the way back from the store (bumpy ride in a sporty car), so leaving your computer on while moving it from one desk to another won't kill it ;-)

But to answer your actual question, Suspend to RAM saves your comp's current state to RAM and then turns off pretty much everything except for RAM (HD included). The notebook still has power running through it, although a tiny amount. Hibernation saves your current state to the HD and turns off completely, as coriolis said. So if you're paranoid and want to keep the notebook safe while moving for short periods of time, standby is your best bet - only takes a few seconds to go into and out of it. Hibernation is more for when you want to go to school or a friend's house, but don't want to close your programs.