Traveling with my laptop

Ok, I've never traveled with a laptop in the USA before. Now, it use to be you could take them as a carry on. I was wondering if that was still allowed? And if it is, what things should I do to make sure my laptop has a pleasant trip? (I'm going from Japan to Mississippi, so it's a looong trip..)

Thank you for your help and I hope I posted this in the right place!

 

U.S. (domestic - not sure about international) flights allow one carry on bag + one "personal item" including a laptop, briefcase, etc. As you go through security, you'll need to remove your laptop from it's protective case (which is obviously a must) and place it by itself in one of the plastic trays to be X-ray screened. After it and all of your other carry-on stuff goes through the machine, you place it back in your bag and continue on the flight. I generally keep my laptop case under the seat in front of me since people have big, heavy bags in the overhead compartments and who knows what could happen up there with a little turbulence. Pleasant flying!

~ Brett

 

Hey, long time no see!

How's Bob the laptop doing?

 

Every late evening, when I wake up from a drunken stupor, I thank Bob's owner for making me feel normal.

 

I've flown with a laptop several times and have never had a problem. I also stored it under my seat. Just make sure that it is within sight. It would be a pity to have it taken when you are not watching.

 

Thanks for the replies guys! I'm relieved, since I really wasn't sure how it worked. I haven't traveled with something like a laptop before and I want to be prepared!

As for Bob, he's doing great. I've discovered the screen on my Asus is better than 90% of the desktop monitors out there. Since I draw and color on my computer, I quickly figured out that even though something looks beautiful on Bob, it doesn't look so great on, say, my husband's Monitor. It's not Bob's fault, everything looks beautiful on him... it's all those crappy monitors in the world! :-o

I also enjoy the idea of being able to take Bob with me. That's really why I got him to begin with. I could go anywhere and still be connected. I mostly like the idea since my husband is military.. I can visit family while he's deployed some where and not worry about missing his emails or IMs because my family doesn't have [insert program].

gatordude123, What do you mean by that?

 

Bob the Laptop...hmm..my car has a name but not my laptop..

My desktops have been 'The Beast' and 'The Beast Mk2' just because they are always the most powerful thing in my computing stable..

 

I've travelled alot recently with my laptop. everything above is accurate but I suggest getting an aisle seat so you can move around a bit easier. If the fattie in front of you puts his seat back it's impossible to use the tray and this way you'll have a place to hold it if you know what i mean. also no drinking cuz you don't want to leave that baby there alone while youre taking a leak.

 

I travel a lot and I always bring a laptop with me in my carry on bag. I never let them screw with it and I've never had a problem..... Whatever you do, treat it like you would your wallet or passport... it's expensive and has a lot of your personal information on it.... No one should give you a problem.

 

I took Betty with me from Europe to US. I had it in a laptopbag in my carry-on bag. In the States they asked me to get it out of the bags so they could X-ray it. No problem for the rest, just be careful. And whatever you want to do, don't put your laptop in your checked luggage. I've heard some horrible stories about that...

 

The others here have posted great advice.

Additionally, I highly recommend you specifically look into your airline carrier and call them to ask which seats (if any) have available power ports so that you can run your laptop via AC as your laptop will only last a fraction of that plane trip if it's going off of battery. Most airlines today use a fancy port called EmPower - it's this little port that looks similar to an S-Video port. You would have to buy an adapter to use the EmPower port and most adapters are usually bundled with a cigarette-lighter end, from which you must couple with an AC/DC inverter, and then use your laptop's AC power supply to hook into the inverter.

A lot of cables, yes, but life is miserable when your laptop dies out on you within 2 hours or less on a 10+ hour plane ride.

 

My laptops are always most powerful in my stable too, when I bought a brand new Dell 8600 it became "CRAPTOP" - even though it was the best PC I owned. I've since upgraded to A8Js and it's fittingly named "MINICRAP", being the smaller notebook

 

Sleep? That's what I did...