Laptop/Hard Drive: Carrying In Pannier Bag?

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?
--
Pete Cresswell

(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 carry my laptop in an Ortleib office panier bag. I do put the laptop
in a sleeve, and the sleeve in the bag. I've never had a problem with
damage to the laptop. I suspect that the "floor" of the bag is not
rigid helps absorb shocks to some extent. -RL
--
Rob Lindauer - for my real email address, please replace "att" with "sbc"

On Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:00:01 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

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

Not me, but some of my student customers have tried that. The newer
drives seem to last. Old machines (i.e 6 years) seem to be
problematic. The most common shock failure is not the hard disk
drive. It's soldering failure under the BGA chips, which is difficult
or impossible to fix.

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

I recommend a common laptop bag lined with extra foam rubber. Just
about anything better than a towel wrap will help. I idea is to
prevent impact with the metal pannier frame or anything solid in the
pannier bags.

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

I would agree if the laptop doesn't make contact with the frame or
contents, but that not what's usually inside the bags. If you can
wrap it with a padded jacket, it might work.

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

Not me, as I mumbled, some of the local UCSC student do it on a
regular basis. I only see the broken laptops, so I don't have much
history for the successes. I can't say that any of the one's I've
seen were carried inside panniers. More likely a backpack.
Incidentally, the backpack is a problem because the bottom is not
padded. I see more cracked cases than crashed hard drives from
dropped backpacks. Add some foam padding on the bottom of the
backpack.

Think about an SSD (solid state drive). They're getting more
affordable and the speed boost is wonderful. Otherwise, make regular
image backups of your hard disk drive, so that recovery is painless.

http://kimoechan.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/hard-disk-drive%E2%80%99s-weakness-%E2%80%93-shock-robustness-introduction/

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Mar 24, 10:59 am, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:00:01 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

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

Not me, but some of my student customers have tried that. The newer
drives seem to last. Old machines (i.e 6 years) seem to be
problematic. The most common shock failure is not the hard disk
drive. It's soldering failure under the BGA chips, which is difficult
or impossible to fix.


That's what I was going to say (had it typed even but didn't send):
If the hard drive is not running (heads parked), it's probably no more
concern than many other laptop pieces prone to breaking.

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

I recommend a common laptop bag lined with extra foam rubber. Just
about anything better than a towel wrap will help. I idea is to
prevent impact with the metal pannier frame or anything solid in the
pannier bags.


Yep - isolation - like Joy's ripe tomato solution, except
appropriately damped for the load.

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

I would agree if the laptop doesn't make contact with the frame or
contents, but that not what's usually inside the bags. If you can
wrap it with a padded jacket, it might work.

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

Not me, as I mumbled, some of the local UCSC student do it on a
regular basis. I only see the broken laptops, so I don't have much
history for the successes. I can't say that any of the one's I've
seen were carried inside panniers. More likely a backpack.
Incidentally, the backpack is a problem because the bottom is not
padded. I see more cracked cases than crashed hard drives from
dropped backpacks. Add some foam padding on the bottom of the
backpack.


I got a backpack with my ThinkPad that was specially designed to carry
a laptop, with padded compartment.

The only time I have carried a laptop on my bike was short trips (a
few miles) across town. I have a heavy (large, thick-skinned) leather
bag that I just hang off one side of the front Surly Nice Rack, with
the shoulder strap across the top platform and hooked on the far side
at rear. It rides fine that way, though I take it easy - more becuase
of the handling effects of load hanging off one side up front. The
bag is large (spacious) as noted, and the inner laptop compartment is
not especially padded, but holds the laptop securely buffered in
isolation from the outer compartments. The heavy leather also takes a
beating without transmitting froces directly.

Think about an SSD (solid state drive). They're getting more
affordable and the speed boost is wonderful. Otherwise, make regular
image backups of your hard disk drive, so that recovery is painless.

http://kimoechan.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/hard-disk-drive%E2%80%99s-w...

On 3/24/2013 12:59 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Not me, as I mumbled, some of the local UCSC student do it on a
regular basis. I only see the broken laptops, so I don't have much
history for the successes. I can't say that any of the one's I've
seen were carried inside panniers. More likely a backpack.
Incidentally, the backpack is a problem because the bottom is not
padded. I see more cracked cases than crashed hard drives from
dropped backpacks. Add some foam padding on the bottom of the
backpack.

I used a backpack with an external pocket below the main pocket, and
stuffed in a rain jacket and rain pants, so there was something squishy
at the bottom.

--
T0m $herm@n

NOBRAINER

backpack. check Kelty at Campmor.com and Pelican.

butbutbut in an accident where you would fly, the bike stops. a rack, see my ply rack photos with perimeter guards and a foolproof fasening sysem wins.

with a pack, look for adding a waist belt eliminating sway to a side when in extremis. rarely do we fall on our backs.

I have a Dell 9400/1705E. A pelican was looked for but that time was not available for a big screen so the 1705 went into the Kelty in bubblkepack.

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 7:04:33 PM UTC-4, datakoll wrote:
NOBRAINER



backpack. check Kelty at Campmor.com and Pelican.



butbutbut in an accident where you would fly, the bike stops. a rack, see my ply rack photos with perimeter guards and a foolproof fasening sysem wins.



with a pack, look for adding a waist belt eliminating sway to a side when in extremis. rarely do we fall on our backs.



I have a Dell 9400/1705E. A pelican was looked for but that time was not available for a big screen so the 1705 went into the Kelty in bubblkepack.

........


rain in from the Gulf. Rain equals Pelican

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 7:10:37 PM UTC-4, datakoll wrote:
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 7:04:33 PM UTC-4, datakoll wrote:

NOBRAINER







backpack. check Kelty at Campmor.com and Pelican.







butbutbut in an accident where you would fly, the bike stops. a rack, see my ply rack photos with perimeter guards and a foolproof fasening sysem wins.







with a pack, look for adding a waist belt eliminating sway to a side when in extremis. rarely do we fall on our backs.







I have a Dell 9400/1705E. A pelican was looked for but that time was not available for a big screen so the 1705 went into the Kelty in bubblkepack..



.......





rain in from the Gulf. Rain equals Pelican

.....

urack runneth over

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/...%252834%252 9

On Mar 24, 7:30 pm, Phil W Lee wrote:
"(PeteCresswell)" considered Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:00:01
-0400 the perfect time to write:

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?

You're most unlikely to damage the hard drive of a laptop by carrying
it on a bicycle.
The bits around the hard drive will break long before the HDD.
I'd be worrying about screen, keyboard, hinge, and the corners of the
casing well ahead of any damage to the drive.
They really aren't that delicate when they aren't actually spinning.
Even a desktop or server HDD will stand up fine to pretty severe
shocks as long as it's switched off (you should see what couriers do
to disk drives in transit).
Just make sure it is properly padded, and it'll be fine though.

Another approach / measure that didn't spring immediately to mind:

http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/

.... though I can tell you from experience maintaining a fleet of them
that they're not indestructible.

On 24 Mar, 16:00, "(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.

You also want to minimise the range of thermal cycling and so carrying
on one's back will possibly be better in winter. Some sort of low
thermally-conductive bulk for temperature stability along with dense
edge padding to give vibrational "isolation" should cover most of the
problem.


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?


or is it possible for any reasonable period of time? If it's
tolerable I believe that a suitably padded backpack is, for the most,
preferable.

--
Pete Cresswell