Originally Posted by CPRich

I think you need to look at what settings are different and which you prefer. Balanced probably shuts the screen off after some time, shuts the drive down after some time, puts the entire machine into Sleep/Hibernate after some time, etc. Just pick one of them and them check/change all the settings as you want them.

I've read in numerous technical forums that continuously shutting down and starting up drives puts more stress on them than just letting them continuously run. I can't vouch for that, but I know it's true of many other mechanical/electrical components. FWIW, I've never set mine to power down after some time.