SmartSleep 3.6.2

In this day and age it is important not to be wasteful. For computer users, this means you should not leave your computer running while you go to sleep, or go out for a cup of coffee – you could leave it running, if you’re downloading something off the internet and the download is not complete, for example. But if your computer isn’t performing some task, then shut it down. By not wasting energy you are eco-friendly and wallet-friendly (energy costs money, don’t you know).

SmartSleep is a software application that you can download and use free of charge on your Windows-powered computer. With SmartSleep you can easily automate and schedule shutdown operations and other tasks. For example you could instruct SmartSleep to shutdown your computer 20 minutes from now, or you could instruct it to shut down your computer at a specific hour (something like 5PM for example). If you have a stubborn computer that sometimes refuses to shutdown, you needn’t sweat it. SmartSleep comes with force shutdown, a feature that guarantees your PC will comply and will shut down.

Please note that SmartSleep supports other functions apart from shutdown; it supports reboot, hibernate, log off, and so on.

Speaking of other functions that SmartSleep provides, here are some examples. Let’s say that you let the music play in the background and tuck into bed for a good night’s sleep. SmartSleep, while waiting to shut down the PC, will display a black screen. This is something that you could easily replicate by shutting off the monitor, but it’s nice to see SmartSleep’s developers thought of it. Also, as the moment when the PC will shut down approaches, the sound volume is slowly decreased. Now that’s something you could not replicate with a simple press of a button.

Pros
Comes free of charge
Black screen and decrease volume
Automate and schedule shutdown/reboot/log off operations.
Easy to use

Cons
The UI (user interface) is not exactly pretty

SmartSleep has been reviewed by George Norman on 28 Oct 2009. Based on the user interface, features and complexity, Findmysoft has rated SmartSleep 5 out of 5 stars, naming it Essential