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What's In Your Laptop Bag?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the cool-toys-i-must-possess dept.

Mudzy writes "TheTechZone is running a cool human interest story showing what their chief editor has inside his laptop bag. Some of the stuff in there could really make a geek salivate - like a mobile VoIP adapter and the world's smallest wireless router."

3 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. True Story by crache · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was in highschool a few years ago when I met on of the most respected men in my life. He came to the school in the form of a "nice" Bofh. Living in a small town I was the only person I knew at school that used linux, until that year when I met my two geek friends. The one I'm talking of in this story though had been a consultant, computer tech, special agent in the military for drug enforcement and a soldier. This is the type of guy that has many stories, and all so good you could sit and listen to him for hours even if you didn't know him. We hit it off and since then have kept in touch although he and the school parted ways, in a not so friendly way.

    My sister had been wanting a laptop for a few years, and my dad can be cheap when he wants to be, which is most of the time. He had an employee working for his tree and lawn business who was willing to sell an imac to him for 50$. So he bought the laptop and gave it to my sister for $DEC25(christmas, yule, etc)

    A few days after christmas, my sister comes to me with a check she found in the laptop bag for about 150$. "Don't you know this guy?". It was indeed signed by my tech friend, and I asked if I could have it.

    I figured this was reasonable, since my fathers employee also did work for my friend on the side, and once he had him clean out a computer shop in town when they moved the business. Everything he thought was junk he left at the shop.

    So next time I saw my friend I showed him the check and asks in a very serious tone where I had gotten it from. I told him about the laptop bag and how my father had boughten it off from the mutual employee.

    To finish the story, the laptop was stolen!

    It was a happy ending though, my sister got to keep the laptop and the guy still works for my friend.

    Moral: you never know what you're gonna find in a used *bag
    *laptop, purse, tool, etc.

  2. What do you mean, laptop 'bag'? by david.given · · Score: 3, Interesting
    A while ago, my brother, who's an archaeologist, had to take his new, expensive Toshiba T1200 around various places in the middle east. He considered buying a laptop bag, but realised that carrying a bag with a 'STEAL ME NOW' sign on it probably wasn't such a good thing in the seedier quarters of Cairo.

    What he eventually ended up with was a bible case. It was cheap, provided excellent protection, was just the right size (this was an A4-sized notebook), and above all else --- who wants to steal a bible?

  3. Many don't seem that useful by Rakishi · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So this is basically a giant ad, so I'll try and mostly ignore the brands chosen.

    Let's see what I think of his "suggestions":

    Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 Gaming Notebook
    That's not a laptop, that's a small desktop. Not something I'd ever want to lug around, which given some of the other items seems to be the goal for this system. For those wondering, I know that I don't want to carry such a beast around from experience as last summer I got the joy of having to a drag a 10lb 300mhz beast to work every other day on the NYC subway (I said screw it at some point and just left it at work, this year I bought a 3.5 laptop and no longer mind carrying it around). I mean I'm not so addicted to games as to be unable to live without being able to play the latest ones for more than a few hours.

    Self Retracting NIC & Modem Cables
    Now this is something I could use.

    Kensington WiFi Finder
    Interesting, although not very useful for me from what a quick google search shows. Seems it detects all wireless networks (wep or not), last time I looked in NYC my laptop found around 5 different ones althrough I could connect to only one (others were encrypted, etc.).
    Also, it seems the thing is cheap and shitty from what I garner and will probably not find even an open wireless network. Maybe a fun toy but not worth the space to carry around.
    I'd find a cell phone with some internet access package much more useful for getting internet access.

    Logitech V200 Cordless Notebook Mouse
    Useful although I don't find the touchpad that bad for short usage or in cramped spaces, on my "to buy" list.

    Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 8-in-1 Card Reader
    Useful if you regularly need to access various solid state media.

    Asus WL-530g Pocket Wireless Router
    nifty.

    Linksys PAP2 VoIP Phone Adapter
    Potentially useful although you could just use your computer to pick up calls (do Bluetooth cellphone headsets work with computers?) which I assume is more versatile (no need to connect actual phones to said device).

    Kensington Microsaver Security Cable Lock
    Is this the one which requires only a bic pen to crack?