laptop security question

[kittymom65]

I kind of feel dumb for asking this, but:

 

I travel with my laptop a good bit, but it is always road travel. Unfortunately, work demands that I must take it with me on the Mariner next week.

We are driving to Port Canaveral.

I have never had to go through any security checkpoint, scanner, x-ray, etc with it before. What is the procedure to go through security at the port with my laptop?

 

Thanks!

[massfriends]

I kind of feel dumb for asking this, but:

 

I travel with my laptop a good bit, but it is always road travel. Unfortunately, work demands that I must take it with me on the Mariner next week.

We are driving to Port Canaveral.

I have never had to go through any security checkpoint, scanner, x-ray, etc with it before. What is the procedure to go through security at the port with my laptop?

 

Thanks!

 

Same as at the airports...just need to take it out of the carrying case and put it in a tray and send it through the x-ray machine.

[louanne93]

They have you take it out of the laptop bag and put it in a bin all by itself. My 9 year old son who was in a cast at the time had to have his cast checked!! He was pulled out of line and had to sit in a chair and they looked down in his cast and felt all around (like you can feel around a hard cast:confused: ). But...I must say security did a good job.

[prc]

I've always had to take the laptop out of the bag at the airport, but never at the pier. I just lay the bag with the laptop in it on the belt and that's it. Even taking it out would not be an issue.

 

Also if you are wondering about the safety of your laptop onboard, I always place my GPS antenna in the window or on the balcony rail and run the usb cable to the laptop on the desk. It runs 24x7 for the entire voyage to create a map trail of the voyage. This leaves the laptop out and running the entire time, and I have never felt unsafe or worried about theft.

[prc]

Dang duplicate...

[HorrorFan]

Sorry for going off topic, but PRC, what software do you use with your GPS?

Streets and Trips doesn't cover the Caribbean.

[HorrorFan]

Sorry for going off topic, but PRC, what software do you use with your GPS?

Streets and Trips doesn't cover the Caribbean.

[Fury1995]

Not sure if this has been pointed out. I know there has been a few laptop threads in the last couple of weeks but here's a warning regarding laptops and security that should be reviewed before taking them out of the country.

 

Link from MSN article today:

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23037049/

[prc]

I use Streets & Trips '08. It covers the Caribbean, just not with any detail other than Puerto Rico. You get the location and outline of the land masses, but no terrain or road info.

 

I used it last week on the Serenade out of San Juan, and I had 100% coverage with anywhere from 4 to 9 sats constantly the entire trip with no dead spots. It makes a nice little map I keep for each voyage!

[HorrorFan]

I use Streets & Trips '08. It covers the Caribbean, just not with any detail other than Puerto Rico. You get the location and outline of the land masses, but no terrain or road info.

 

I used it last week on the Serenade out of San Juan, and I had 100% coverage with anywhere from 4 to 9 sats constantly the entire trip with no dead spots. It makes a nice little map I keep for each voyage!

Thanks. Just wondered if there was some other software that had more detail for the Caribbean/Central America.

[BillOh]

Same as at the airports...just need to take it out of the carrying case and put it in a tray and send it through the x-ray machine.

 

 

Its a good idea to make sure your battery is in good shape and is charged. Once in a great while, they will ask you to power it up. If your battery is dead, they may escort you to an area with an outlet and make you power it up. That doesn't happen often, and rarely in big city airports. I usually see that or other odd things at the smallest airports. If you don't need them for this trip, remove extra cables like network cords or external drives and mice, they look suspicious on xray screens. It also helps to attach a business card to the laptop.

[prc]

Thanks. Just wondered if there was some other software that had more detail for the Caribbean/Central America.

 

I believe the latest version of the DeLorne software has more detail. I saw some screen shots that Radio posted last mionth in his "Live from the Liberty" thread, and it showed some good detail of Haiti and the DR. I haven't asked him about it yet, but i may invest the 40 bucks to try it, as my Microsoft USB receiver is really a Pharos SIRF-III unit and should work fine.

[critterchick]

I have only had to take my laptop out once going through port security. It in LA. We travel out of that port frequently and it was the only time, so it doesn't appear to be their usual procedure.

 

Fury, that is one scary article!

[steve20832]

Its a good idea to make sure your battery is in good shape and is charged. Once in a great while, they will ask you to power it up. If your battery is dead, they may escort you to an area with an outlet and make you power it up. That doesn't happen often, and rarely in big city airports. I usually see that or other odd things at the smallest airports. If you don't need them for this trip, remove extra cables like network cords or external drives and mice, they look suspicious on xray screens. It also helps to attach a business card to the laptop.

 

I travel a lot with my laptop and have never had anyone ask me to turn it on or search my laptop bag. I have 2 ethernet cables (in case one goes bad.) Mouse, batteries for the mouse, power cords, GPS, surge protector, DVD's to watch on the plane, and sometimes a camera.

TSA employees know what these items are in the X-Ray and have no reason to look at them out of the bag.