I agree. My IT department initially forgot to make me an administrator of my new laptop. Within 20 minutes I was already needing them to either
a) make me an administrator of this laptop like I had been for all my previous ones or
b) install software for me every 5 weeks when a new version comes out.

They went with a. With a mobile force it is difficult to lockdown workstations and do remote installs all the time. Much easier to just let us do this. Over 4 years only once did this become an issue: I was doing some personal stuff I shouldn't have been doing on a work laptop (as I had no personal laptop at the time) so after that was fixed I quickly purchased a personal laptop and do that stuff at home.

For non-technical people who don't travel I can understand restricting access, but for other people I don't.

Traveling into some countries with multiple laptops can subject to you customs duties, such as India.

I have personal stuff on a 1,8" Samsung 160GB disk drive (not requiring any power supply beside the USB connection) and run PortableAPPS on it. They do not require any entry in your registry or place any files in any local c: drive temp directory so remove the disk and all gone.

On there I have VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird and all the other goodies...

Cheers, Tjobbe

Why not setup a Virtual Machine for the personal stuff. Then any problems will only affect the VM and not the notebook host machine. :confused:

I carried 3 laptops (Lenovo T60, and 2 x T61). Had one is a back pack and 2 in my roll-aboard bag (and everything else in checked luggage). I was expecting some comments at DFW security checkpoint, but not even a second glance from anyone as I put them each into their own tub for screening. Carried them DFW-LAX-LHR, where one T61 was delivered to its new owner and I continued LHR-HKG-KUL-HKG-SYD-BNE with the remaining 2 (work T60 and personal T61).

Thankfully I don't have to do that regularly. Just dealing with one laptop at security checkpoints is enough trouble.

Security-wise, it's a nightmare. I fully understand why IT wants to lock down mobile clients. I don't necessarily think it's an optimum solution, but I do understand the motivation.

I usually carry one computer and 2 or more hard drives in separate caddies. Works fine with most computers.

MisterNice

I did it every week for ten months on one of my projects. One laptop supplied by my employer, and one supplied by the client, both of which I needed to use to do my job.

It was a nightmare because of the added bulk, and of course they couldn't use the same type or wattage of power adapter, so I had to carry two of those as well. Needing three bins at the checkpoint (two for laptops, one for jacket/shoes/plastic bag o doom) was always annoying because guaranteed someone would think I put a bin out for them, or would immediately set their things down right next to my backpack.

Then there were the occasional TSOs who seemed to have an issue with it, such as the one at DFW who insisted that he had to swab my laptop. I asked 'Which one?' indicating that I had two of them. He just kept saying 'Yours', and eventually swabbed one of them and completely ignored the other.

I don't voluntarily travel with more than one laptop at a time, and when I have to I find it to be an added hassle.

I started travelling with 2 laptops back in April. Before that I only had my work laptop but I purchased an Asus K2 laptop for my personal use. I would have preferred one of the netbooks but it simply wasn't powerful enough for the Java tools I needed to use.

It has only been a slightly bigger hassle than normal through security. I have a Briggs & Riley messenger style laptop checkpoint friendly bag. The Asus travels in the checkpoint friendly portion and the work laptop comes out into a bin. All other electronics go in my rolling 4wheel carry-on on which the B&R bag rests when I'm walking which alleviates the extra weight issue a little.

Maybe the checkpoint friendly bag makes the difference with TSA. They have only swabbed my work laptop that is in the bin and haven't once asked to take out the one in the checkpoint friendly section.

This has been all domestic USA travel and nothing internationally yet.

why not carry an additional internal harddrive. On most laptops its very easy to slide out a hard drive and put another in. Just buy a new one from the dell website, pop that in and install Windows or whatever you like on it. Then use that as your personal travel computer.

I have a Samsonite computer/briefcase that has document holder slots. Just for fun I got 2 17" and 2 15" in there, one in the padded computer compartment and the other three in protected sleeve in the document slots.

My Asus is actually more powerful/faster than the laptop my company gives me to work with.

I carry two laptops for work: my own 17" macbook pro, and my 15" work PC laptop. I absolutely refuse to use my work laptop for personal things, both because it's a work laptop, and because I hate using windows for anything if I have any alternative.

Is it heavy? Yes. Is it inconvenient? No, not really. I keep my 17" in the laptop bag, and I pop the 15" into the front pouch of my B&R 21" rollaboard. It fits in there like a dream. If necessary, I can fit both into my 17" laptop bag, but I prefer not to because it does get a bit heavy.

For personal travel, my macbook is the only one that goes with me. It's heavy, but worth it.

2 or 3
 

I routinely travel with at least 2 and sometimes 3 full size laptops (HP 6730's). One is company computer, second is DOD and third is a demo server when I need one on site (thankfully not too often only 3 times this year).

I use an iGo charger with an HP tip that fits all 3 and has a port for iPhone also to cut down weight.

I don't bother with carrying a personal laptop ( Thinkpad X60) because even though its light my bag is heavy enough. I only do webmail and read news/ forums on company's computer if I use it personally so I am not worried about hurting it or getting "in trouble".

On a couple international trips I carried an iPad also but mostly to play movies and read iBooks. Battery and weight make this perfect as a road companion for personal entertainment. I got one of those small backpack bags with string straps like Nike makes to put it in inside my laptop bag. Then on plane I can slip it out and have it and headphones all together easily as well as anything else I need at hand.

I usually carry a wheeled Wenger laptop bag that can hold 3 computers. When I've been traveling with 2 I have a much smaller Briggs & Riley vertical laptop case (no wheels) equipped with a Claw strap. This configuration fits under seat and on RDs and other commuters much better. I do not like to check bags (I use an AirBoss to avoid it) and find it better to travel lighter and avoid checking. Last time I checked the AirBoss the Claw strap was stolen from inside. If I ever check again that strap stays with me on the plane :)

John n San Antonio

I used to carry two laptops - Windows and a MAC. Now I have Bootcamp installed on my MacBook Pro and carry two external HDs. I need both PC and Mac for my work. Now I also carry iPad and eliminated a DVD player/projector. I do sometimes have up to 5-6 bins at the airport with all these electronic stuff TSA wants in separate bins plus jackets/shoes etc. I actually do not use computers onboard unless I must. I would be happy to check/ship the computers if I could. They can be very heavy and I hate to pull all these stuff out on so many bins. Yes, I can hear the rolling eyes of people who may think they are slowed by all those stuff. But I try to move as fast as I can.

I did not have trouble in international customs when I carried two.