Laptop/Hard Drive: Carrying In Pannier Bag?

On 2013-03-24, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Does anybody have experience carrying a laptop computer with hard drive
in a rear-luggage-rack-mounted pannier bag?

Does anybody have a history of carrying a laptop in a pannier bag
without damage?

Yes and yes. I've carried my laptop in a laptop sleeve within a
waterproof pannier hundreds of times; it has not sustained any
damage. Make sure the laptop is sleeping or off, so the hard drive
heads are parked while you're not!

Having examined a great many laptop sleeves, the one I can
wholeheartedly recommend for this purpose or any other is Tom Bihn's
very protective "Brain Cell", which suspends the laptop in a sling
within.
http://www.tombihn.com/PROD/TB0390.html

I've been recommending a variant of this product since 2005.
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec....4/TL5CbqzdUd0J

Here's a story for your amusement. Once I failed to turn the pannier
latch into the "lock this bag onto the rack" position. Going 30mph
downhill, I struck a pothole and the pannier, containing the laptop
in the Brain Cell, flew off the bike and tumbleskidded down the
street. After stopping and retrieving my bag, which now had several
small holes in the bottom from asphalt friction, I continued my
commute and, upon arriving at work, found no damage to the sleeve,
laptop, hard drive, or the data contained therein. It's only one
anecdote, but from the "you had one job only" perspective: mission
accomplished.

--
Gregory S. Sutter Mostly Harmless

http://zer0.org/~gsutter/

TRY THE BUBBLEPACK

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 11:00:01 AM UTC-5, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Does anybody have experience carrying a laptop computer with hard drive

in a rear-luggage-rack-mounted pannier bag?



My kneejerk reaction is that it needs tb carried in a messenger bag or

back pack to isolate it from road shock.



OTOH, it seems like there's some give when something's in a fabric

pannier bag.



Does anybody have a history of carrying a laptop in a pannier bag

without damage?


I've carried cheap little netbook for the past couple years in nothing but a neoprene sleeve. No problems. Everything on it's backed up, so if it gets squished in a fall, no big loss. All HDDs can fail without warning, even just sitting on a desk--back it up and stop worrying.

On Friday, March 29, 2013 9:15:33 AM UTC-4, landotter wrote:
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 11:00:01 AM UTC-5, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Does anybody have experience carrying a laptop computer with hard drive



in a rear-luggage-rack-mounted pannier bag?







My kneejerk reaction is that it needs tb carried in a messenger bag or



back pack to isolate it from road shock.







OTOH, it seems like there's some give when something's in a fabric



pannier bag.







Does anybody have a history of carrying a laptop in a pannier bag



without damage?





I've carried cheap little netbook for the past couple years in nothing but a neoprene sleeve. No problems. Everything on it's backed up, so if it gets squished in a fall, no big loss. All HDDs can fail without warning, even just sitting on a desk--back it up and stop worrying.


.....


charmed life

On Mar 29, 5:11 pm, datakoll wrote:
On Friday, March 29, 2013 9:15:33 AM UTC-4, landotter wrote:
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 11:00:01 AM UTC-5, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Does anybody have experience carrying a laptop computer with hard drive

in a rear-luggage-rack-mounted pannier bag?

My kneejerk reaction is that it needs tb carried in a messenger bag or

back pack to isolate it from road shock.

OTOH, it seems like there's some give when something's in a fabric

pannier bag.

Does anybody have a history of carrying a laptop in a pannier bag

without damage?

I've carried cheap little netbook for the past couple years in nothing but a neoprene sleeve. No problems. Everything on it's backed up, so if it gets squished in a fall, no big loss. All HDDs can fail without warning, even just sitting on a desk--back it up and stop worrying.

....

charmed life

I had to brake hard in the BMW one day with an early laptop (not real
lightweight) in bag on the front seat. The whole business
somersaulted forward across the spacious front legroom and hit the
floorboard like a big rock, but it still worked and no apparent
damage.

Like Jeff, I suppose, I've worked on many a broken laptop. I remember
the first time - already comfortable building and rebuilding desktop
and server computer hardware - that I had the nerve to tear a laptop
all the way apart. All those little pieces and I kept thinking of
cover stories (facetiously, I suppose, but I couldn't stop thinking
that way) for what was lookign like a distinct possibility that I
would never get it back together. But I did - and it even ran! :-)

Actually, I had a little portable printer under my belt by then, so
had already experienced that anxiety in it's rawest form. But the
laptop was much more expensive. So yeah I maintained a fleet of
Panasonic Toughbooks (far from the toughest model, but pretty neato
with touchscreens and everything like a decade ago) - eventually took
the worst one out of service and used it as a parts donor.

I got more experience working on several of my own laptops, and have
pretty good nerve to dive in now, but there is a judicious
consideration with laptops and they have to be in a pretty bad way
such that the "nothing to lose" maxim kicks in.

Being a pretty zealous computer enthusiast prowling ebay every day for
a while, I was always getting machines delivered to me from far flung
places. Risks abound, but laptops are a special crap shoot. One
laptop that _I_ sold and shipped was delivered ~DOA (POST but no
boot). (Yikes! It was been a sweet, *sweet* old maxed-out top-of-the-
line ThinkPad, lovingly built up with some very cool software - had
been my own favorite.) I had packed it well, but knowing laptops
fragility I could not shake the sinking feeling that I had given up my
baby to the gorillas at UPS for grocery money and was now going to
have to refund anyway. Fortunately, I walked the new owner through re-
seating the hard drive in its bay (step-by-minute-step in one take via
email - tech support Jedi skillz :-), and it lit up for him and he was
very happy. (Whew. :-]

(Someday I'll have to discuss the creative art and science of
protective packaging :-)

On 3/29/2013 10:50 PM, Dan O wrote:
(Someday I'll have to discuss the creative art and science of
protective packaging:-)

Think about the people who get to pack and unpack irreplaceable
artifacts for traveling museum exhibits.

--
T0m $herm@n

On Mar 29, 9:01 pm, "T0m $herman"
wrote:
On 3/29/2013 10:50 PM, Dan O wrote:

(Someday I'll have to discuss the creative art and science of
protective packaging:-)

Think about the people who get to pack and unpack irreplaceable
artifacts for traveling museum exhibits.


Yes, a fascinating case - irreplaceable therefor invaluable, and yet
constraints apply - not a "cost no object" situation. Good one.

so who dais the 'artifacts' are the real 'artifacts' ?
in Home depot or Lowes one finds 'feet' for equipment or design ypour own.

The 1705E here has two thicknesses webbed feet from HD on each corner and batt giving more antislip and air flow.

I ahven't picked up anew GPS lately. Are cases more vinyl rubbery than 8 years ago. The 76csx here is kinda plasticee compared with Cateye or MiFi sporting a cost effective thin vinyl band on perimeter edge.

A gps hard case can be glued with ethafoam or whathaveyou small knobby bumps as your laptop. Several perimeter knobbies n four each flat surface goes a looooooong way toward fool proofing.

Yeha Newton kills. The awww it was always safe there on the seat doesnp;t cut it with Newton who wrote 'expensive equiment tends to stay in motion"

On 3/30/2013 6:46 PM, datakoll wrote:
Yeha Newton kills. The awww it was always safe there on the seat doesnp;t cut it with Newton who wrote 'expensive equiment tends to stay in motion"

But he makes a good fig cookie.

--
T0m $herm@n

In article ,
"(PeteCresswell)" wrote:

Does anybody have experience carrying a laptop computer with hard drive
in a rear-luggage-rack-mounted pannier bag?

My kneejerk reaction is that it needs tb carried in a messenger bag or
back pack to isolate it from road shock.

OTOH, it seems like there's some give when something's in a fabric
pannier bag.

Does anybody have a history of carrying a laptop in a pannier bag
without damage?

A true laptop computer satchel has an interior suspension system
that isolates the device from vertical shock. The computer
does not sit on the bottom of the satchel. The satchel must
be placed vertically in the bicycle pannier or automobile
to function properly. Hotel goons will load them flat---morons.

--
Michael Press