Security Lock Questions for M1530

I am planning on buying a lock for my XPS M1530 as I am bringing it to a college, and it will often be in my dorm room on the desk when I do not feel like carrying it with me. So I have a few questions....

1. What lock do you recommend? Probably something thick and strong I would imagine.

2. What do people usually tie it onto? I would assume a desk leg or something...not sure

3. How does the lock work and stay connected to the laptop without just getting easily ripped out?

4. Anything else I should know about security locks and having computers in a college dorm room from your experience or from what you have heard.

Thanks.

 

1. I use a Kensington cable lock with keys. Take it with me whenever I travel and it's great.

2. You need to tie it to something from which the cable cannot removed. A leg is not good because all you need to do it lift the desk/table to free the cable.

3. Ripping out the lock would seriously damage the laptop which would make it close to worthless.

4. Lock you door. Lock your laptop. Take your laptop with you whenever possible.

 

The main issue is that I'll have a roommate too, so I can't always be so sure that the door will be locked. And who knows who he'll let in our room. If it was just me then it wouldn't be a problem obviously because it would be locked whenever I'm not in it, but that's not the case.

And the laptop is not the only thing I'm worried about, as I am planning on bringing my desktop for serious gaming and possibly an Xbox 360 (though I may not bring that right away with me). Of course its probably harder to steal a desktop, but its still a concern.

 

When I was dorming, I tied it onto a bedpost.

Xbox 360 and your desktop's monitor and other parts should all have lock slots too.

 

Xbox 360 has a lock slot? My monitor *might*, I know my mom's 17" monitor does, but I never noticed one on my 20" one. I'll have to look.

My desktop computer doesn't have a lock slot, and I know this because I built it. Even if it did it would still be pretty easy to bust it open and take out the valuable components inside. I might throw the whole system into a crappy looking beige case.

Edit: Wow, what do you know? It does appear to have a lock slot...I have had this Xbox 360 for many years and never heard about it having one at all. That's crazy I'm quite surprised about this. Microsoft must have had dorm rooms in mind when they built the 360.

 

In my dorm, we had radiator heat so you could put the lock around the pipe. I never used one myself, I just always made sure the door was locked. But you never know if your roommate will do the same.

 

That's exactly the issue there.

 

When i was there i locked everything (had a desktop and laptop, xbox 360 and lcd tv and surround sound system)

 

Not having a roommate ftw!

That's all I can contribute

 

Having a roommate and dealing with compromise is about eighty percent of the total college experience. You are also forced to socialize to some degree as opposed to locking yourself in a desolate room playing games all the time.

 

That maybe so, but having a crappy roommate is worse. I mostly hung out with the guys I knew on another floor, it would have been nice to have a solo dorm.

 

Ok, so I have found out that my 20" Dell monitor has a Security Lock, my XPS M1530 obviously does, and my Xbox 360 does as well. My desktop gaming PC (the tower itself) doesn't...

 

does the case panel have a lock on its handle to open? i know mine does, as well as the front bay door that gives access to the power button and optical drives and such. as for locking it to your desk / whatever, you could try having the lock cable go through an empty backpane slot where a pci card would normally fit, then have it go up and have it either go out another one, or find somewhere else that it could fit through (maybe a hole in one of the fan guards? if the cable is small enough or if you could stand cutting part of the guard to make a hole big enough)

im in the same situation as you, ill be bringing my m1530 as well as my desktop which i will use as a server in the dorm room, so security is going to be pretty big for me (im rooming blind, which doesnt help)

 

No it's a Cooler Master Centurion 5. My idea was to either either buy a cheap beige case and put my stuff in there to make it look like an old PC. I do have an old beige server-style case I might be able to use as it's currently housing a non-functional socket 462 (A) Abit KT7A-RAID motherboard. But your idea of rigging up a lock through the back of the case (such as through the PCI slot cutouts) sounds like a good one.

If by "rooming blind" you mean that you do not know who your roommate is then I am in the same situation.