Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Heart Break Kid

macrumors 6502a
Feb 13, 2003
574
8
Toronto
while you or the powerbook is sleeping??


im going to do some international traveling this tuesday - heading to germany then india

i was wondering, since its the first time ill be carrying my laptop with me, should i leave it on sleep mode until i get through security? i know they ask every1 who has a laptop to turn them on.

perhaps security will notice the intricate beauty of my 17" PB and will let me through with as little hassle as possible?
 

Das

macrumors regular
Jan 28, 2003
150
0
Originally posted by Heart Break Kid
while you or the powerbook is sleeping??


im going to do some international traveling this tuesday - heading to germany then india

i was wondering, since its the first time ill be carrying my laptop with me, should i leave it on sleep mode until i get through security? i know they ask every1 who has a laptop to turn them on.

perhaps security will notice the intricate beauty of my 17" PB and will let me through with as little hassle as possible?

As long as you don't have a screensaver with a red beeping clock counting down to zero you should have no problem with sleep mode...stupid bag checkers. No sense of humor.

Anyhoo, I leave mine in sleep mode all the time with no problem at all. Although I was wondering if, when the lid is closed, a piece of paper will prevent the whole keys leaving a mark on the screen thing for the old ti books or do you need something thicker?
 

rainman::|:|

macrumors 603
Feb 2, 2002
5,438
2
iowa
i seem to remember that sending it through an x-ray while sleeping can cause rare damage... but that may be an old wives' tale. But then, some airports require you to turn it on. Besides perhaps air travel, i don't think there's any reason to worry--

pnw
 

NNO-Stephen

macrumors 6502
Jun 9, 2003
278
0
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Originally posted by Das
As long as you don't have a screensaver with a red beeping clock counting down to zero you should have no problem with sleep mode...stupid bag checkers. No sense of humor.

Anyhoo, I leave mine in sleep mode all the time with no problem at all. Although I was wondering if, when the lid is closed, a piece of paper will prevent the whole keys leaving a mark on the screen thing for the old ti books or do you need something thicker?

a piece of paper might scratch the screen.. go to OWC's website and get a leather thingy that goes over the keyboard. fifteen bucks. http://www.otherworldcomputing.com

anyway, is the oil from Keyboard to screen a problem on the new AlBooks? This will determine if I buy one of them pads myself for if/when I get a PowerBook of my own. also, yes you can leave your PowerBook on while you travel. dont worry about that.
 

frescies

macrumors regular
Dec 9, 2002
225
0
Los Angeles, CA
should be fine!....

Don't flame me for posting cause i have an ibook, not a powerbook. I know my machine (that i love) may seem inferrior to you PB heads, but I think the same principles may apply.

In the new apple portables, the hard drive armature gets locked in place upon Shutdown and Sleep. When you put your PB to sleep... just wait a few seconds before hauling it away to prevent the head from skipping off the platter.

BEWARE of your laptop bag or a sensitive clasp. If your PB opens while it is in the bag it will wake it up and it WILL overheat in a bag, or the magnetic head will break off it is bombarded by shock.

As for the keys touching the screen, beware. Over time pressure from the keys is bad for the screen (though nowhere near as much as a problem on the newer PB's.... but still there). I use a folded paper towel between the screen and the keys. Just make sure you use something soft and NOT TOO THICK.

As for the X-Ray thing..... Theoretically possible but highly unlikely. If you don't want to be the one in 500 million people to possibly suffer such damage from X-ray acceleration of a moving electron on in your computer, then turn it off. I would leave it asleep... Anything to keep the flow through security and give them less time to get the idea to take it apart.

David
 

Rower_CPU

Moderator emeritus
Oct 5, 2001
11,219
2
San Diego, CA
I never power off my PowerBooks unless it can't be avoided.

I've never had any issues with Xray machines or any kind of damage. The only thing you have to watch out for is running out of battery power if you're running low or will leave it slept for longer than a day.
 

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,644
4,044
New Zealand
Regarding the keys on the screen, my iBook came with a spongy-foamy thing between the keyboard and screen, and I just put that back in every time I'm going to transport it. I've got no idea whether that sheet comes with all iBooks/PowerBooks, or whether the reseller I bought it from put it there.
 

arogge

macrumors 65816
Feb 15, 2002
1,065
33
Tatooine
Originally posted by Heart Break Kid
perhaps security will notice the intricate beauty of my 17" PB and will let me through with as little hassle as possible?

There was a commercial on television a few years ago that showed an airline passenger trying to take one of the new "thin" laptops through the security checkpoint. He was stopped because the baggage screeners said that the laptop was suspicious. He tried to convince them that it was only a laptop, but they kept saying that it was too thin to be a computer. In the case of a PowerBook, you might get a case of the "thin" scare followed by "Where's your Start button?" :rolleyes:
I was asked to open my PowerBook's case at a security checkpoint and the officer looked startled for a few seconds. It turned out that we both used the same company's protective case for carrying equipment. :)
 

iShater

macrumors 604
Aug 13, 2002
7,026
470
Chicagoland
Originally posted by Nermal
Regarding the keys on the screen, my iBook came with a spongy-foamy thing between the keyboard and screen, and I just put that back in every time I'm going to transport it. I've got no idea whether that sheet comes with all iBooks/PowerBooks, or whether the reseller I bought it from put it there.

I use the same think with my iBook, it does a great job... or at least I *think* it does :)
 

Kwyjibo

macrumors 68040
Nov 5, 2002
3,809
0
Originally posted by NNO-Stephen
a piece of paper might scratch the screen.. go to OWC's website and get a leather thingy that goes over the keyboard. fifteen bucks. http://www.otherworldcomputing.com

anyway, is the oil from Keyboard to screen a problem on the new AlBooks? This will determine if I buy one of them pads myself for if/when I get a PowerBook of my own. also, yes you can leave your PowerBook on while you travel. dont worry about that.

i'm more of a fan of the protectors from http://www.radtech.us, they polish the screen nicely too
 

gotohamish

macrumors 65816
Jul 15, 2001
1,078
9
BKLN
Maybe so, but as you are told to turn off all electrical equipment on take-off, does this not apply to sleep mode?

H
 

Rower_CPU

Moderator emeritus
Oct 5, 2001
11,219
2
San Diego, CA
Originally posted by gotohamish
Maybe so, but as you are told to turn off all electrical equipment on take-off, does this not apply to sleep mode?

H

I don't believe so, since your computer will not be sending/receiving any sort of signals that would interfere with the onboard radio, radar, etc.
 

saabmp3

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2002
868
0
Tacoma, WA
turn off your computer? I guess I don't know what that means. So far I've driven over 2000 miles with my PB, flown twice and gone on a ferry, ever since I've rebooted this thing. You shouldn't have any problems at all keeping it in sleep mode.

BEN
 

janey

macrumors 603
Dec 20, 2002
5,316
0
sunny los angeles
once i flew to las vegas (yah...45 minutes by air compared with several hours to drive) and the guy there thought my 17" alubook was so adorable he was like "omg it's like the mini me ad!!"
he wouldn't stop touching it lol so as soon as i got past him i grabbed my trusty iKlear packet and cleaned off all the fingerprints and gunk and dirt and god knows what else that built up.
usually i never have a problem with laptops and airports, but make sure your battery has enough juice in the battery to start up and at least log in and get to your desktop, because i once saw this poor guy whose battery was at like 1% and he couldn't start up his laptop so he and some security guy had to spend like 5 minutes to look for a free outlet because the secutiry dude was suspicious.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.