Do you take your PB on the road with you often?

[YS2003]

I travel often in a car and do some overnight stays at hotels while on business. I take my ultra-portable Dell with me and sometimes I will take my 12" PB with me.

Now, as the weather gets warmer, I am wondering if I need to be concerned if my PB stays in a car about a few hours in the parking lot (while meeting with clients) during a sunny day (or a very cold day, for that matter) . I keep PB in the incase bag in the back seat when I am driving. If PB is under the sunlights which came in from the car windows (as a car moves, I may not be able to position the PB where no direct sunlights trickle in in the back seat), PB gets warm or cold quickly because of its Al casing, which makes me a little concerned. I am a little wary of keeping it in the truck as it gets warmer more quickly.

Also, if you need to walk around with the city with your PB in its bag either in hot day or cold day, the machine gets either very warm or cold. Does it affect the machine adversely?

I am trying to find out how the other forum members are treating their PBs while on the go (by walk, car, plane, and etc). Any tip on treating PBs well (without going too much overboard) will be appreciated.

Please note my Dell has been going through my brutal daily use by running non stop in my passenger seat wih its wireless card on (to get e-mails in at all times) all day while I am at work on sales and gets the above mentioned treatments almost daily. So far, it is holding up well.

 

[Alte22a]

I travel with my Ti

I have an old PB 1ghz Ti book. It gets alot of bashing around too. But I have a slip case and an LCD cloth protector and keep the keyboard away from the screen. I have a friend that does IT support for macs and said that my Ti book is the best condition thats he seen.

I keep my mac well protected, with in the slip case I carry it in a timbuk2 back. All seems rather extreme. but my Ti book is rather healthy. and it works fine in all weather conditions.

Its even been out in the desert on location for a job. Next its going over Norway for the arctic challenge. -15. will let you know how it gets on.

 

[Melvin Furd]

You leave your pbook in the car when you are away. Aren't you afraid of getting it stolen ? I bring mine everywhere regardless where ever I go. I travel around the world on business as a portable (many extremely warm and humid environments and so far no problems). I do follow temperature operation guideline stated somewhere on the apple site.

 

[Alte22a]

sometimes i leave mine in the boot (trunk-american word) of my car. when I am just popping into a shop or a fast food place. I mean dont leave it on show and "STEAL MY LAPTOP!".

 

[HiRez]

Now, as the weather gets warmer, I am wondering if I need to be concerned if my PB stays in a car about a few hours in the parking lot (while meeting with clients) during a sunny day (or a very cold day, for that matter) . I keep PB in the incase bag in the back seat when I am driving. If PB is under the sunlights which came in from the car windows (as a car moves, I may not be able to position the PB where no direct sunlights trickle in in the back seat), PB gets warm or cold quickly because of its Al casing, which makes me a little concerned. I am a little wary of keeping it in the truck as it gets warmer more quickly

Just carry a small blanket or jacket with which you can cover it. It should definitely not be exposed to direct sunlight in hot weather (and you shouldn't leave a laptop visibly sitting alone in a car anyway). So cover it and if it's really hot, crack the windows when you walk away to reduce the maximum heat. Really cold weather isn't so much of a problem, but I'd probably let it warm up slowly if I left it out in (for example) < 10°F weather for 2+ hours. Of course it's best to just not do this, but it'd probably survive. My TiBook's 4-year birthday is coming up and it's been through all sorts of extremes with no problems yet.

 

[26139]

Easy rules to follow

I do quite a bit of travelling with my pbook (and before with my ibook) which includes plane rides, lots of car trips and even boating excursions.
#1. Never leave your 'book in a climate that is too hot/cold for you. If the car is in the sun and YOU know that you would not sit in it without the AC blasting, don't leave a laptop there.
#2. Get used to putting it in the trunk rather than the front. Thieves can't steal it if they can't see it (well, we all know this is wishful thinking, but it helps).
#3. No water of any kind near the laptop.
#4. It's A LOT easier to lug around a laptop backpack than visit a police station and have to figure out a way to get all your data back. Point is, if you can take it with you, do, if you can't, determine beforehand if you really need to be taking it at all.