storing laptop?
 

ok - since everyone here flies more in a week than i have in my whole life -- what do you all do with your laptops in the hotel..

say you want to go out for a day of seeing the town or city (ny city in this case) -- do you leave your laptop in your room? if so, do you lock it up?

thank you and i have no idea which forum to put this msg in

thanks,
allen

I hide mine under my clothes in a drawer. Never had a problem.

If I leave my laptop unlocked then I remove all it's parts (cd/dvd drive, battery etc...). Most thieves are smart enough to know that these replacement parts cost more than the machine is worth to them.

I usually lock it to something in the room if I can, but you have to be careful where you put it, if you put it under the mattress and the maid sits on the bed, or under the bed and they vaccum.....

My usual choice is something in the closet they would have to take apart to take the laptop.

so basically kengington lockit to a wall? i have a lock with number pad and one of those that makes crazy sound...

i just got the laptop so im quite nervous

I always use a Kensington lock. Just be sure you put the cable around something secure, where it can't be slipped off. Often this is the desk, sometimes the handle on the nightstand.

ok not to be wacko but you lock it and then you put it right in open sight?

My 2-pound laptop is small enough to fit in the individual safety deposit boxes offered by some hotels. Otherwise, hotel staff will let me use a safe, vault, or other storage area under the control of the manager. Disclose what you're storing and what it's worth, verify the applicable liability limit, and get a claim tag. (Hint: liability limits are usually too low to be useful for a laptop; see my comment about insurance, below.)

When I traveled with a larger laptop, I used a cable to secure it. The standard laptop security cables that you see everywhere are no good. I went to a hardware store and had them crimp a length of fairly thick aircraft cable (stranded aluminum cable) into a figure-8 shape. I would wrap the loops around two opposite corners of the laptop and join them with a lock.

There is a company that makes this product to order, based on the dimensions of your laptop. If you do it yourself, get heat-shrink tubing or cover the aircraft cable in electrician's tape to avoid scratching the laptop. It is very important to get the dimensions right.

Another company makes a ridig metal cradle, which is also very effective.

Before traveling with any expensive electronic device, check your homeowner's insurance policy to make sure that your device is properly covered. Many policies have special dollar value limits for electronics. As a rule, homeowner's insurance policies do not cover property used in a person's trade or business. If the laptop belongs to you but is used for business, you may need a business rider. If the laptop belongs to your employer, find out what the employer's expectations are.

Be sure to back up your system and to remove any sensitive data. While traveling, carry sensitive data with you on CDs (3-inch mini-CDs are ideal) or flash memory cards (Memory Stick, Compact Flash, Smart Media, etc.). Network file transfers (which can be as simple as e-mailing enclosures to a Hotmail account) are also useful in this regard.

Paul Marcelin-Sampson
Santa Cruz, California, USA

thanks for the responses - the laptop i purchased is a 12.1" widescreen - fits in a standard letter size file folder.

i paid extra for loads of tech coverage on my policy - i will verify with them about the travel.

i wonder if my amex covers anything

in the past i have left the laptop in the car but now i will be in the city with no car

thanks again

The Kensington cables could probably be cut, but at least at the point where they connect to the computer they are secure. Removing them by force will render the laptop worthless. Nearly every laptop manufacturer includes a Kensington slot on the computer that allows you to attach one of their locks directly to the main chassis.

Kensington offers one model of lock that has a replacement guarantee. (up to $1500 value)

I would probably go with this option if concerned about determined thieves.

I usually put mine in my laptop bag (not a regular looking laptop bag, more of a tweed carry-on) and stick that in an unused drawer or closet, or I stash it in a drawer, usually covered by my security blanket (think Linus, not Kensington). BTW, I usually travel with a 17", and something a 17" and a 12", rendering most normal security facilities (like an in-room safe) useless.

In many laptops, the Kensington-type security slot is in a corner. With that layout, snapping off the little device that plugs into the slot would cause cosmetic damage, but wouldn't compromise the machine.

$1500 isn't much for a full-featured laptop. Just for fun I pulled the terms of the guarantee. It's valid for one year and you can pay to renew it for one additional year. These arbitrary limitations don't inspire much confidence.

I've lost the link to the company that markets the figure-8 cable that I described, but I did confirm that Kryptonite produces the "cradle" assembly. Do a Goole.com image search for "kryptovault".

Paul Marcelin-Sampson
Santa Cruz, California, USA

Mine is a 17", as well, so yes, not many places to stash it. :)

I usually lock it to something secure, but I will often put up the "Do Not Disturb" sign if I go out in the evening or for a short time, such as for breakfast. Yes, I might miss the turndown and mint pillows, but the safety of computer, PDA, etc. is worth it.

Obviously no guarantees, but my thought is that a thief with a hall full of rooms to choose from might be less inclined to choose one with a DND sign, since most people only use it when they are in the room, and if she or he knocks on a door with a DND sign and there is someone in it, the likelihood of a call to the front desk significantly increases.

I bury mine under the clothes and laundry in my suitcase. So far, so good.