in my saddlebags some years ago (on the side of the bike of course that
had the laptop in it). It was carried in one of the flimsy aluminum hard cases which were already installed on the Enfield Bullet when I picked it up in Madras. It was
okay because I had it packed it in a padded laptop case, then made sure
it was cushioned by my clothes. (I was okay, except for my knee.) Photo at right: MacTruck laptop case.
On a trip across the USA my Ural broke down (for the umteenth time)
and I called a flatbed tow truck. The driver put the truck bed down right on
top of my suitcase, laptop and camera. I had let him help me drag stuff
out of the bike and my hotel room and he put it in the
way of his operating mechanism. Duh. But it was also my fault for not keeping track of my own stuff. IMPORTANT NOTE: My State Farm agent got it covered under my renters insurance, reimbursed me, and collected from the towing company. (Check to see that your renters or homeowners insurance covers damage to equipment while your travel.) In my opinion
it's this kind of stuff you have to watch out for most when carrying a
laptop around. That is, making sure you always know where it is and don't let
anybody "help" you with it.
I've heard that Pelican cases are good, but I'm going with one of two options from RadTech.com for my upcoming trip in Morocco: MacTruck is the super-hard-core option for a Mac (not sure if it will do for a Windows machine). It's an
"ultra-rugged, work-in enclosure that provides suspension and lots of
cushioning and supposedly can get run over or thrown off a tall
building without damage to your computer. The other one is called
Otterbox, which is a heavy-duty waterproof bag with nice, work-in design, also with
shock-absorbing suspension. They also have rugged iPhone case.
If you don't go with an option like this I'd recommend at least a neoprene glove for your laptop, a
good, padded case or backpack made for laptops, and taking care every day to cushion it properly in your
bags. And of course lock it up.
Which brings me to this: I never travel without my Targus Defcon 1 Ultra Cable Lock and Motion Alarm. It combines a stainless steel cable with motion sensor and a 95-decibel alarm and easily attaches to your notebook or carrying case or anything else. When you're not on the bike you can attach it to the security key in your laptop and loop the retractable cable around a table leg, a luggage cart…anywhere. I use it to secure my laptop, then loop it around the strap of my digital camera, my luggage, backpack, whatever. It just provides that extra security and peace of mind when you're in a strange place.
I like this device in particular because I can also set the motion sensor and place in in my tank bag so anybody messing around with it will get bleeped – and I (and others) will hear it – it's pretty piercingly loud. I've looped it around my hotel room door handle and attached it to the zipper of my tent, too. It costs about $30 on amazon.com.
My rule of thumb is: if traveling with a laptop, the data must be backed up elsewhere!
Never, never travel with a portable device that contains the only copy of your precious data. Laptops can be replaced. Data can not.
One complication can be digital assets like pictures. If you’re traveling somewhere like the US or Europe where internet access is easy to come by, use a service like Mozy to back up your photos every few days. This could save you a lot of heartache.
Stacy, what a great point you make! I always back up my data on a hard drive kept at home while I travel. And since I have a Mac, I use MobileMe’s $99/year service to back up my data while I’m on the road, including those huge RAW photos in my digital camera. So very very important.
I’ve heard that MOZY is great, and I do like MobileMe service a lot because it holds my calendar, address book, email, etc., so if I’m away from my laptop or can’t connect, I can go to anyone’s computer and log in to access.
Thanks again!
You should consider something like the Toughbook 19 as a laptop travel companion. It’s designed for use in rugged mobile environments; so it should be able to stand up to life on a motorcycle. No extra case needed. It’s not too big or heavy, can be used in the rain, snow, dust storms. etc. I think you can even get it with Gobi, so you can connect to a mobile data carrier anywhere in the world (assuming your domestic carrier has some global roaming relationship – AT&T is a good example). The screen is also daylight viewable. Long battery life is a given. They cost a bit, but they are perfect for what you do. If you can’t afford a new one, you should look into a used version of the previous model (the Toughbook 18).
Wow, such great advice! Charles, I looked at the Toughbook years ago when I worked on Windows machines and positively lusted after it. But it was out of my pricerange. If you’re a Windows user it’s a great option. http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/toughbook-products.asp
I’m a Mac kinda gal these days – one thing that attracted me is that they are a lot sturdier than a lot of Windows machines. I carried a Sony VAIO on my trip in India, and it was pretty delicate – a tradeoff of being very lightweight. I was careful to pack it in a padded case and in my clothing. When I crashed it wasn’t damaged at all!
Thanks for the tip!
I’ve never carried a laptop because I was concerned that the bouncing would wreck the hard drive. Have you ever had a hard drive fail while on the road?
I’ve gone down the cheap end of the spectrum and have an Asus EEEPC 901, which I love, and seems remarkably tough. I like the solid state drive with it, which seems more rugged than a hard drive to me. The case is looking a bit battered round the outside now but it’s all still working.
OK so downside, a 9inch screen, a correspondingly small keyboard, and relatively small memory.
Upside, Linux (which I love), SD cards/memory sticks are cheap to upgrade memory, wifi, bluetooth, and a huge and dedicated online following of Asus geeks, ready to answer every question.
Oh and they’re cheap as chips too.