13.13. Bags and Suitcases

You probably wonder, why I include this topic here. But shortly after using my COMPAQ Armada 1592DT I recognized that the rear side of the machine (where the ports are arranged) was slightly damaged. Though I have taken much care when transporting the laptop, this was caused by putting the bag on the floor. It seems that the laptop has so much weight, that it bounces inside the bag on its own rear side. So I decided to put a soft pad into the bag before loading the laptop. A good bag is highly recommended if you take your laptop on trips, or take it home every night.

Laptops computers are frequently demolished in their carrying bag. The two main causes of demolition are poking the LC display and banging the edges. A good case has very stiff sides to spread out pokes, and lots of energy-absorbent padding around the edges to help when you whack it on the door jamb. Few cases actually have either of these features.

More laptops are lost to theft than damage, so camouflage is a wise too. Emerson, Tom # El Monte <TOMEMERSON_AT_ms.globalpay.com> wrote: "I use for a laptop travelling bag: a Pyrex casserole carrier bag. Yup, you might think it odd to use a casserole bag for a laptop, but it turns out it has several advantages:

• The one I use has a microwavable heating pad in it - while I don't actually heat this pad (it's meant to keep food warm while in transport), it does provide padding underneath the laptop. The carrier I have only has a lower - heating - pad, but there is also a similar carrier that has both a lower - heating - pad and an upper - cooling - pad - placed in the freezer to get it cold - -- the intent is that you keep one or the other in the bag to keep your food hot or cold as desired. A secondary advantage to the - cooling pad - pad is that if you've - chilled - it before taking the computer out for the day, it will keep the CPU cooler while you're running the laptop...

• the top of the bag has a zipper on three sides, so it - opens - the same way as my laptop - I don't even need to take it out of the carrier to use the laptop

• there is enough room at the side of the bag to store the external power supply, a regular Logitech mouseman, and the network - dongle - with BNC/TP ports - and if I had it, the modem/phone port as well -

• there is enough clearance on top of the machine to include a handful of CD's or diskettes, if needed.

• when it's left - unattended - in a car, it's less likely to be stolen - think about it, if you were a thief walking through a parking lot and eyeing the contents of cars, a - laptop bag - is instantly recognizable as holding a laptop computer - something that can be fenced at a pretty hefty profit, but if you saw a casserole carrier in the front seat of a car, would you think it contained anything OTHER than a casserole? - and probably half-eaten, at that... - Unless you are a hungry thief, chances are you'll skip this and move on.

• likewise, I've heard that keeping a laptop computer in a diaper bag is another good - camouflage - technique - who in their right mind is going to steal a bag of - dirty - diapers?"