12-29-2008, 07:33 PM
Get yourself a solid, very well protected carry case if there's any question about the one you have. There will be bumps and collisions if you carry the thing around much, and many of the "laptop cases" have pathetic amounts of padding and protection, especially on the all important corners. I have a Brenthaven...not the most hip-looking case, but the laptop is virtually indestructible when inside it.
If you will keep your laptop often docked at one particular place, buy a separate monitor, keyboard, mouse and USB hub for that location, all set up in an ergonomically correct configuration. That will serve two purposes...1) keep down the wear and tear on the laptop keyboard; 2) save you from RSI and shoulder/neck pain. A laptop is ergonomically horrible to use. You won't notice for a while, then when the pain appears it will be too late, and a long recovery process.
Get an extra powerbrick if you're going to take it places. I actually leave one at work and one at home all the time so I don't have to wrap up and carry one around too much. Also, before I got the second one I'd occasionally show up at work without the brick, meaning I only had an hour or so of battery "up" time available.
Buy a locking cable. It won't stop a determined thief, but where I used to work we had unlocked laptops grabbed from desks by well-dressed thieves pretending to be clients. Also get yourself a copy of this: http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/ . Not a 100% solution, but a lot of protection for the money.
If you will keep your laptop often docked at one particular place, buy a separate monitor, keyboard, mouse and USB hub for that location, all set up in an ergonomically correct configuration. That will serve two purposes...1) keep down the wear and tear on the laptop keyboard; 2) save you from RSI and shoulder/neck pain. A laptop is ergonomically horrible to use. You won't notice for a while, then when the pain appears it will be too late, and a long recovery process.
Get an extra powerbrick if you're going to take it places. I actually leave one at work and one at home all the time so I don't have to wrap up and carry one around too much. Also, before I got the second one I'd occasionally show up at work without the brick, meaning I only had an hour or so of battery "up" time available.
Buy a locking cable. It won't stop a determined thief, but where I used to work we had unlocked laptops grabbed from desks by well-dressed thieves pretending to be clients. Also get yourself a copy of this: http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/ . Not a 100% solution, but a lot of protection for the money.