Sensei_Sin

Hello everyone,

I just discovered these forums and they have a real wealth of information, which I'm really thankful for since I'm going to travel to the US soon (from Portugal) but I have a question that no one has been able to answer me yet so I hope you guys can help me out

Last year I traveled to the US from Portugal with my laptop and at the airplane gate, just before boarding, the security staff was asking everyone for their laptops and asking to turn them on. This was after 2 check points and the Xray scan to the bags and the laptop.

This is no big issue but, unfortunately, my laptop has malfunctioned since then. I've come to find out that I'm one of the "lucky" owners of a faulty graphic card chip that will break down and cause the computer to display no image at all. Apparently the soldering was bad and causes these issues, which cannot be repaired without something called "reballing", which basically means the old solder has to be removed as they insert new one at the same time (one of the reasons I want to take my computer with me to the US is because I can get my computer repaired this way).


The computer still works fine (you can hear the little windows sounds and stuff) and there's a small LED screen that even says "ASUS" and has the clock in it but it just displays no image on the main screen. I can fix it temporarily by overheating the graphic card and then rebooting really quick, usually, but I can't do that at the airport.

So here are my questions:
Can I travel with a laptop that cannot display an image (but otherwise turns on) or will the security people confiscate it?

Can I just bring my laptop turned on from home and go through security that way or will security ask me to turn it off before going through the x-ray machine?


My laptop is an ASUS G1s, in case you're wondering and this is a picture of the small little LCD that the laptop has:


Thank you very much for any help you guys can provide

celticwhisper

I'd give it a shot as-is. I've flown with a netbook a few times and the neanderthal nazis in the blue shirts haven't ever given it a second glance, possibly because they're too stupid to know what a computer is or maybe because the drone was near the end of its shift and was getting too tired to pay attention to shiny objects to steal.

If they make an issue of it, go back and check it as baggage - no sense in making it easy for the subhuman thieving facsists to take from you. Might also want to photograph/video yourself at the departing airport with the laptop in your possession and an independent, disinterested 3rd party to verify the date and time too. That way, if the TSA pond scum searching baggage unlawfully appropriate your laptop, you have some evidence that you did indeed have it with you before you left and maybe we can have the TSOs responsible put up against a wall and shot. ...Or at least charged with larceny.

Mimi111

If you're concerned about it or need to use it at the airport, leave it turned on from home if the battery will last. Never put it in your checked baggage. Worst case scenario, you can always send it Fedex or something similar from the airport to your destination.

TSO1973

1. Yes you can. Passengers come through with laptops in varying stages of working or not working all day long every day.

2. Doesn't matter, on or off. Makes no difference how it looks on the x-ray.

BearX220

In hundreds of flights from US airports, domestic and international, I have never been asked to turn on my laptops, which are always carry-on. I have one of those new briefcases where you don't have to take the laptop out, just unzip the laptop pocket and lie it flat on the x-ray conveyor, and nobody has ever asked for more. I wouldn't worry too much about your US departure.

FriendlySkies

Welcome to FlyerTalk! I hope you will stick around, and continue to learn, as well as contribute ^

FWIW, expect for secondary inspection I got at customs in Sydney, I have not had to turn on any of my electronics, since the pre-9/11 days. IIRC, last time I was asked to turn them on, it was in the early 90's.. I bet you'll be just fine^

Sensei_Sin

Thank you all very much for your replies, it put my mind at ease for sure!

All the check points I've gone through in the US were really impeccable and I'd dare say I was a very lucky one based on some stories I've read on these forums (young female flying alone). They were a lot more anal at Lisbon and I even commented to the TSA guy at Newark that I had to remove every single thing from my bag and break it apart as far down as possible and the guy said "Yeah, we're a lot more laid back here, we're not here to harass people".

What would that secondary inspection consist of? I don't mind taking the 3 small lids on my laptop, exposing the CPU, memory, HDD and a good chunk of the motherboard but more than that and I'm afraid they'll either damage my computer or make me lose my flight.

Thanks again for your answers.

FaustsAccountant

Many years ago we had to boot up our laptops. The last few years we have not. (Booting up Windows, waiting for it to load to get to the shut down screen was a real pill.)
My suggestions is to make sure your power cord, mouse cords and all that are wrapped neatly for the xray imaging. Mostly so the screen can identify it and not be confused.

Loren Pechtel

In the pre-9/11 era I was once asked to turn on a laptop. Fortunately they didn't want to see much--the battery pack was in terrible shape and couldn't keep it running long enough for the desktop to appear. (I knew about the problem but it wasn't a big deal as I was always using it plugged in anyway.)

Since 9/11 I haven't flown in the US without a laptop and I've never been asked to turn it on.

Likewise, pre-9/11 I once had a bit of trouble with a SLR. The screener apparently didn't understand SLRs and thought it was fake because she couldn't see anything through it. Never mind that that's all you normally get when the lens isn't mounted.

Post 9/11 I have generally carried a DSLR and the only time it's drawn any interest was a domestic flight in China--and that turned out to be due to the batteries for the flash, not the camera at all.

gojirasan

Looks like I'll be canceling my trip to the Azores then. Haha. What that TSO told you was just Bravo Sierra. You can't trust anything a TSO says. I think it's actually kind of random, but also depends on how much stuff you have and how weird it looks on the xray machine. I get my carry-ons inspected every single time I travel, but then I tend to travel with stuff like motherboards, CPUs, RAM, video cards, LCD monitors and hard drives. On an xray it must look like some kind of big messy bomb. Before my trip I was half expecting the TSO to ask me to assemble the thing and throw the power switch (which would have been on the power supply that was in my checked luggage). Of course I am always left to repack it myself, which is lucky because it is all packed like a delicate, static sensitive, jig-saw puzzle. Last time I think it took me 15-20 minutes to put it all back together again. My carryon full of computer equipment was only searched on my outbound flight fromt the US. On the flight back to the US security didn't pay much attention to it, which kind of amazed me. I have yet to see more stringent airport security than in the US, but then I have never been to Portugal.

Sensei_Sin

Technically if you're going to Azores you shouldn't have to "hop" via Lisbon, you should go directly to Azores since there's a huge airport there now. On a biased note, you should really go there, it's really gorgeous and the food is amazing! They cook a pot stew with volcanic heat that is just amazing, people line up from 5 and 6am just to keep a place in line.

I had the same experience that you had in Lisbon but I didn't had anything sensitive, just a couple of external hard drives, my laptop cooler and the respective cords inside my backpack.

Thanks again for all the help and I'll keep you all posted with my experiences when I do fly in a couple of weeks