Anyone travelled OS with a laptop recently?

president & 1st lady · Post by **president & 1st lady** » 01 March 07 5:13 pm

We are planning a White House holiday to lands beyond the sea later in the year and there is currently a household debate about the difficulties of traveling with a laptop.

Shortly after 9/11 the Prez visited the USA and was subjected to a long process of checking the contents of the laptop and the case (the actual laptop, not the carry bag). We are planning on caching and I feel we need the laptop to do this properly, however, I don't want to add stress and difficulty to what should be a fun holiday.

Very interested to hear about any recent experiences.

1st lady

Mr Router · Post by **Mr Router** » 01 March 07 5:17 pm

We went to Tassie

thats over seas! Anyway they just xray the lappy out of it's bag and away you go! But if you are going to the land of the paranoid it might be another story!

president & 1st lady · Post by **president & 1st lady** » 01 March 07 5:20 pm

Mr Router wrote:We went to Tassie thats over seas! Anyway they just xray the lappy out of it's bag and away you go! But if you are going to the land of the paranoid it might be another story!

Mainly UK and Europe, but USA may feature, unless the plans have changed, again. It wouldn't be a White House trip without it!! You never know, we might get to meet the real Prez and #1 if we let them know we're coming.

1st lady

RapidSupreme · Post by **RapidSupreme** » 01 March 07 5:28 pm

I spent a fair chunk of last year OS and can tell you if you're planning on caching, a laptop is invaluable.

I didn't have much of a plan of where I was going to be and relied on internet cafes and public libraries to get cache info once I got to a new area. Most of them are set up so you can't connect your GPSr to the machine without admin priviledges - I ended up keying in waypoints manually most of the time. Not fun.

However, if you're going on a short trip and have enough time to plan where you will cache beforehand and can fit all the WP's you'll need into your GPSr you can save yourself the extra baggage.
I never saw anyone have problems going through the airports in the states, just take the laptop out of its bag for the X-Ray machine.

Hope thats useful.

GeoScrubers · Post by **GeoScrubers** » 01 March 07 6:42 pm

We went to UK in September '06, just after they arrested the ?10 terror suspects in the UK. Couldn't take toothpaste or water, but the the laptop was fine - it just needed to be put through xray seperately from the carry bag. The only closer inspection of the laptop was at the refuel stop over at Singapore, they asked you turn the laptop on.... So no problem with the laptop

, but "I" was subjected to 3 random explosive residue swabs

<p>
Have a good trip

smerrall · Post by **smerrall** » 01 March 07 7:40 pm

I've been back and forth between Aus and NZ a dozen times in the past year. Phone, laptop, belt, keys and coins in the plastic tub through the xray and collect it on the oter side. With the normal stuff we all carry today, the laptop is just another bit of gear in tub - takes no time at all. The trivial inconvenience of putting it thrugh the xray is nothing compared to the convenience of being able to have it at your destination. Now what haven't I found in Auckland...

Cached · Post by **Cached** » 01 March 07 11:29 pm

I have decided to take mine.

we should chat.

(Like we don't already!!)

fehrgo · Post by **fehrgo** » 01 March 07 11:31 pm

I regularly travel to the USA, APAC, and other places, and having the laptop along is a non issue. As mentioned, it will get scanned separately, but isn't likely to cause you any real problems.

It will increase the weight of your carry on luggage, but many airlines allow you to count the laptop weight separately, so that really isn't a problem either.

My laptop has never even raised an eyebrow, but the portable hard drives that I have along periodically get a thorough inspection and run through the x-ray several times. I also had a security person at the Brisbane airport challenge my having my GPSr in my carry-on on my last trip to California.

Don't worry about the laptop, but it isn't worth taking shoes

Richary · Post by **Richary** » 02 March 07 1:22 am

I had no trouble in June with the laptop travelling to Singapore and France. Some places I have heard want it powered up to show it is real though I have never encountered this, so make sure it has a battery that works

Bronze · Post by **Bronze** » 02 March 07 6:02 am

I haven't gone overseas lately but from my Domestic Flight experience I suggest you pack lots of padding around you laptop. You can buy laptop size padded wallets for about $12 each and then pack you laptop.

If you are not taking your laptop on the plane as carry on then it will go into a suitcase. Pack your laptop in amongst you clothing (turned off of course as I know what the pres is like with computers). Make it a smaller case and put it on as fragile freight which is usually a separate counter near the main check-ins.

I suggest you might like to put a few dollars into getting your luggage plastic wrapped before you depart. This can be done at the airport I believe. And a couple of decent padlocks.

Oh, and one more thing. Don't think about using your laptop on the plane. Although the plane will be pressurized the had disk needs ground level atmosphere to operate properly and the slightest bump on the plane will scratch and destroy your hard disk. Making your laptop a handy doorstop with pretty lights during your trip.

It's on this page somewhere - http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/default.htm

imanoone2u · Post by **imanoone2u** » 02 March 07 7:06 am

Spending a fair bit of time overseas...both in Europe, USA and Asia I've never had problems with my laptop in or out of countries. getting your luggage 'shrinkwrapped' is a good idea and the laptop needs to be working and needs to ve put through the X-ray maxchine separately.

I've never encountered problems operating my laptop on a flight although some airlines (singapore airlines especially) won't allow it.

Enjoy your trip

Mr Router · Post by **Mr Router** » 02 March 07 9:28 am

Can you get wireless in the sky

you would be able to do a new PQ in the air so when you hit the ground plans are fresh!That would be

imanoone2u · Post by **imanoone2u** » 02 March 07 11:49 am

Mr Router wrote:Can you get wireless in the sky you would be able to do a new PQ in the air so when you hit the ground plans are fresh!That would be

some airlines let you 'plug' your laptop into their web (via armrest) but bring your credit card...

Grank · Post by **Grank** » 02 March 07 1:38 pm

richary wrote: Some places I have heard want it powered up to show it is real though I have never encountered this, so make sure it has a battery that works

Good advice - I had trouble at LAX due to a dud battery when asked to turn my laptop on ... and of course as I was in transit I did not have a US adaptor for my power supply

.

Once the whole line of "intending" had passed by they came over to me, I was still standing at the table - with my "not turned on" laptop, usless power cord, hard drive, cd drive and battery all layed out for inspection. They didn't say much - "you can put it away now" - and I was alloweed to pass; I suppose they figured that if I could just stand there for over an hour without breaking into a sweat (or making a run for it) that I was legit.

Fond memories .....

Richary · Post by **Richary** » 02 March 07 2:12 pm

imanoone2u wrote:I've never encountered problems operating my laptop on a flight although some airlines (singapore airlines especially) won't allow it.

<p>Hmmm, my Paris trip was with Singapore and they offered WiFi in business class.