The laptop survival guide!
Apr 18 '01
The Bottom Line Take only what you need, invest in a good carrying case and mobile surge protector. Don't worry about modems, internet cafes are everywhere.
I just got back from a wonderful two week adventure in western europe; I've compiled my laptop survival guide below.
1. Carrying Case, don't go cheap!
After dropping three grand for my new laptop, the last thing I wanted to do is spend even more money on a "upgraded" carrying case. I was soon kicking myself when the 10-pound load began cutting a groove into my shoulder. Laugh if you must, but I wasn't laughing when this happened to me.
Dig into your wallet for a sturdy, comfortable carrying case; your shoulder will thank you! How can you tell what's nice and what's not? Look for padded shoulder straps, reinforced corners, and specialized compartments designed to hold the AC adapter, extra modular drives, extra batteries, and so on. Some creative cases even fold out to form a makeshift desktop or come in a backpack form.
Whatever you do, do not pack your laptop in your suitcase and send it on through baggage check. If you think that your clothes are soft enough to protect it, think again! You could end up with a broken notebook. There's a reason that airlines are currently considering prohibiting even animals from riding in airplane cargo holds; it's rough down there.
2. Battery Power, know how long your battery can last!
Whatever you do don't turn off your laptop's power management system! My Pentium III based laptop came with Intel's SpeedStep power management software which adjusts the speed of the processor to save power. Being the smart guy I am, I shut it off...afterall I didn't spend 3Gs for a new 850Mhz system to run at 450Mhz. I was on the plane to europe working on a monsterous website for which I would document my vacation when all of sudden the machine shuts off! Since that day I've never turned off the power management again.
I also learned that you can get an approximate value of how much battery life you have left using the Windows power meter. The power meter in Windows 95, 98, 2000, and NT 4.0 looks like a tiny battery, and it sits in the lower right corner of your screen in the systray. Simply slide your mouse pointer over this image, and the percentage of remaining power appears. This icon turns into a power plug when your system is plugged in. Run the pointer over the plug to monitor how quickly your laptop is recharging. Unfortunately it doesn't spell out time for you...so to really get a good idea of when you laptop is going to kick the bucket; pull out a stop watch and benchmark how much time you can squeeze out of a full charge (maxium life)..then you can calculate the remaining charge by applying the percentage the power meter gives against your benchmark result.
3. Power Adapters, make sure you got the right converters and a surge protector!
Well I really didn't have any issues here, my laptop's AC power supply is international ready...I bought a type D socket (for western europe) converter and I was ready to go. I also bought an APC Mobile Surge Pro to protect me from surges or spikes, I suggest everyone get one of these too.
4. Modems?
Don't bother unless you need it for work, internet cafes are everywhere these days.
5. Maintenance.
Take a couple of cotton swaps, Curtis Screen Wipes (my brand of choice), and a can of compressed air. Thats all you'll really need.
Well thats it for now, if you got any questions drop me some mail and I'll answer it if I can :-)
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