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Macbook and air travel.

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macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Hello everyone,

Great news! My senior leadership class recently received a $2,000 grant from State Farm called Project Ignition to implement a safer driving program at my school- we were 1 of 25 schools in the nation to get it. We turned in our results and several reams of paperwork and we found out today that we are now one of the top 10 programs in the nation and will be going to the National Youth Leadership Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico to compete for spots 1 - 10 in March.

(http://www.sfprojectignition.com/meet_the_recipients.html See Ada High School)

Now that all of that is out of my system 😀 I will be taking my Macbook with me during my stay in New Mexico. I know I should take it with me as a carry-on but- is there any special things I need to do or know when traveling with my macbook to keep it safe?


Thank you, Andrew.
 
First of all, congratulations and have a good trip.

As long as you have a sturdy well-padded bag for your Macbook you'll be fine. Just don't let it out of your sight in the airport or around public spaces at the hotel. Don't pack the bag so full with other stuff that it exerts pressure on the screen, either.
 
Keep it easily accessible because you'll have to take it out of your bag at each security check-point.
 
I've also heard something about not letting it go through metal detectors or x-ray machines or something??

Anyone know anything about that?

Should I leave it on sleep during the check points because ive heard on several occasions that people were required to turn it on to assure that it is infact not a bomb.
 
When in doubt, call the airport. Security idiosyncrasies in those terminals may require that you do things other than advised here.

A little googling has lead me to to understand that the non-magnetic Xrays have no effect on data storage devices (see PC Guide, et al). You might want to make sure that it's in a bin though, and that you're the only one handling it. 🙂

Have a good trip!
 
andrewxps said:
I've also heard something about not letting it go through metal detectors or x-ray machines or something??

Anyone know anything about that?

Should I leave it on sleep during the check points because ive heard on several occasions that people were required to turn it on to assure that it is infact not a bomb.
Click to expand...

Going through airport detectors is no threat to your machine. I tend to leave my machine asleep, just to speed up the process if they ask me to turn it on.
 
andrewxps said:
I've also heard something about not letting it go through metal detectors or x-ray machines or something??

Anyone know anything about that?

Should I leave it on sleep during the check points because ive heard on several occasions that people were required to turn it on to assure that it is infact not a bomb.
Click to expand...
You will definitely have to put it through the X-Ray. Just don't worry about it. The TSA handles millions of laptops every day - their procedures are absolutely harmless to laptops.

You may be required to turn your laptop on, so just having it in sleep mode isn't a bad idea.
 
Having it on sleep is a good idea, but I think the reason they ask u to put it on is to see that when it starts up a bomb doesn't go off or something else.😕
 
baseballman1243 said:
Having it on sleep is a good idea, but I think the reason they ask u to put it on is to see that when it starts up a bomb doesn't go off or something else.😕
Click to expand...
No, they don't want any bomb to go off - anywhere - period. If they had reason to believe it was a bomb, they wouldn't let you touch it.

They just want to ensure that the laptop is in fact a computer, and not another device (e.g. a bomb) disguised as a laptop. Once they know it's a computer, they also know it's not a bomb.
 
EricNau said:
No, they don't want any bomb to go off - anywhere - period. If they had reason to believe it was a bomb, they wouldn't let you touch it.

They just want to ensure that the laptop is in fact a computer, and not another device (e.g. a bomb) disguised as a laptop. Once they know it's a computer, they also know it's not a bomb.
Click to expand...

alright...its just that when I go to yankee games and things like that, they make you turn your cell on and off, so i had reason to believe it was sort of the same concept 😉
 
Interesting, in all my travels, I've not once been asked to turn my work laptops on... is this something anyone has seen confirmed?

Only other recommendation would be to keep a very close eye upon your laptop and/or bag, and possibly use a bag that doesn't really look like a computer bag. Have seen diaper bags, etc. being used... and, who wants to steal that!?!? 😛 [yea, of course, humans are 😕 in what they'd do at times...]
 
MSM Hobbes said:
Interesting, in all my travels, I've not once been asked to turn my work laptops on... is this something anyone has seen confirmed?
Click to expand...

I have been asked to open up my 12" PowerBook. I opened the lid, a login prompt appeared, and they took a tissue thing and wiped my keyboard area with it and tested it for.....chemicals or something. Not sure.

Anyway, this was around 3-4 years ago, and it has only happened once in the 200+ times I have flown on an airplane. 😉
 
Abstract said:
I have been asked to open up my 12" PowerBook. I opened the lid, a login prompt appeared, and they took a tissue thing and wiped my keyboard area with it and tested it for.....chemicals or something. Not sure.
Click to expand...

When TSA or other countries' security officials use one of those "tissue things," does it stain the notebook? I don't know if that tissue is dry or moisten with some type of chemicals. It happened to me one with my company PC (I don't take my Mac on the air travel simply because I don't want to put it in the security cart).
 
MSM Hobbes said:
Interesting, in all my travels, I've not once been asked to turn my work laptops on... is this something anyone has seen confirmed?
Click to expand...

I've been asked - mainly in/out of LAX. I didn't have to this past August - but i think that they have had some major upgrades to xray machines. I still have to turn my camera on/off when i go thru Security at Kennedy Space Center though!

YS2003 said:
When TSA or other countries' security officials use one of those "tissue things," does it stain the notebook? I don't know if that tissue is dry or moisten with some type of chemicals. It happened to me one with my company PC (I don't take my Mac on the air travel simply because I don't want to put it in the security cart).
Click to expand...

They are testing for explosive residue i gather. I've never had it mar anything - never fear!

Honestly, these days - the biggest pain for security was traveling with my DDs injectable meds. Heck, even having her Neosporin in her bag locked with it didn't let that thru (4 days post those new liquid requirements). But those needles and that liquid med in a syringe - TSA FUN FUN FUN was had 😀
 
When I came home from Hawaii, it was very late, but they still did a check...a double check! They didn't do any chemical swab on my stuff as we went through the normal security check, but before we went on the plane, you had to put all your stuff on a table and it was really in depth, they went through everything...and they had that wipe, which they wiped on my medicine my mother had to take on the plane. They also did it on my computer too, and ipod. LoL, security these days.
 
Yea, I've been asked to open the laptops, but never to turn it on. However, there is a BIG difference in security from airport to airport, and even at the same airport, depending upon time. And, the chemical swab has been done about 1/2 the times. Oh, as to having the Apple on the plane, be ready to have a few admiring looks plus questions... 😉
 
you should check if the airports you go to have free wireless internet... you need something to do to pass the time.. and also watch out cause people are going to be eyeing your macbook...😀
 
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