I'm just wondering which setting people use. I love to save energy, but I hate that when I power up the computer from it's sleep mode, it takes forever to connect to the internet again. I have Vista  lol so here are my options

Balanced
Power Saver
High performance

Each of those have settings I can change  how long before turning off the monitor, how long before going to sleep mode.

Any advice or suggestions as to which is the best for power saving with optimum performance?  FYI, I shut down the computer completely during the day while I'm at work and overnight.

I don't let anything shut down automatically. I also don't use screen savers.

Ok, thanks Sid. I've changed mine to only shut down the monitor after an hour of idle time. Leaving the cpu running unless I shut everything down for the day or night. Less hassle. I also do not use screen savers.