Laptops on college road trips

Answers to questions:

(1) Yes
(2) Have that puppy fully insured for drops, theft, etc. etc. It'll likely play more DVD's and games than homework, if it's like most baseball trips.

It's scarey to think of the laptop being left in rooms, on the bus, etc. If he has a really nice laptop, might want to consider whether one of the bargain basement specials on line for $400-$500 might work just for road trips. If it's lost, stolen, broken, etc., at least all his other stuff is "safely" back in his dorm room.

Its a portable p o r n machine

Can't imagine that many go without. Coach will have advice on how to treat valuables. Just put it away and out of sight when out of the hotel room probably.
Remind him that it's his lifeline to school while he's on the road, and since school is the allowance that affords him to play baseball, he'll have to look after it and treat it with at least as much care as he treats his most valued posession.

Oh yeah, remind him to back up his work!

You can probably get a rider on your homeowners insurance policy to cover the laptop at college.

My son is olny 12 and if you ask him this question he'll tell you " taking a laptop is a must" taking the laptop can be used for other things besides (****) like transfering mp3,movie files, and e-mailing mom,dad e-friends back home etc.

So I vote Yes!! on taking the used laptop.

It should be covered on your homeowner's policy. Check with your agent. Tell him to keep it locked in his suitcase and pile all his dirty underwear and socks on top while he is gone - if they have been moved when he comes back - he can head to the hotel manager right away.

Couple of additional "hints":
1) Invest in a tether. Then he can secure the laptop to a solid, heavy object at the hotel while he's at the ball park.
2) This is probably more important/beneficial, make sure he has a flash drive. I am embarassed to say I didn't know what these even were until about a year ago. But this way he can store his assignments on the flash drive, keep it with him at all times and if the pc is damaged/lost/stolen he will still have his work with him and can reload onto another pc.

Of course, this could be "no-brainers" for today's tech savvy kids!

Ahhh, he's JUST telling you he needs it on the road for homework!

Laptop's go everywhere, multi purpose, games, movies, communication and last but not least homework.

Never had a problem, anywhere.

My homeowners has a deductible. For 3 years I have paid for a policy (student insurance) that covers everything with no deductible. It even has a downloadable program that traces his pc if lost or stolen.

quote:

Have that puppy fully insured for drops, theft, etc. etc.

You can DO that????? Ut-oh,...making a call to my insurance agent right now! EEEK!!!!

Ohhhh,...and gotta get a flash drive too. ( I am soooo learning every day!! )

I like the idea of the tether. Could save all the hassle. I dare anyone try and pry my sons laptop off of his camode!!! ( ewwwww!!!)

Geesh,....have had my head buried in the sand waaaay too long. And to think I thought I was hip and suave sassy when I blocked all text messages from the cell phones and got insurance on them all at the same time.

Remember when we all carried around a dime for a phone call and always had a piece of paper and pen handy? ha!

Goood info on here! I am takin' notes!!! ( & making a few phone calls!)

quote:

Originally posted by Redhead:
Tell him to keep it locked in his suitcase and pile all his dirty underwear and socks on top while he is gone

UGH! Then it won't be fit for man or beast to use. But nobody would dare dig for it...

quote:

Originally posted by HiHardHeat:
You can probably get a rider on your homeowners insurance policy to cover the laptop at college.

I checked on it in regards to in the dormI will need to check on this for road trips. One thing I was told is that for a claim it can't just be swiped from his unlocked dorm, or from his backpack that is sitting unattended....it may differ by insurance company

quote:

Originally posted by KCBaseball:
Son just mentioned that he'll need to get assignments from Friday's missed classes and will be taking his laptop on the road for the first baseball trip. This worries me since they're not cheap to replace!

Two questions...
1. Do any players actually bring their laptop on the road?
2. Any advice (or horror stories) on players traveling with electronics? Such as... what to do with a laptop while not in your room? Maybe I'm just being cynical, but my son is so trusting!

All the players who do their assignments take their laptop on road trips. If they don't do their assignments or homework, then maybe they don't take them on road trips. I am on the road all the time, and my lap top goes with me all the time.

I got a laptop my junior year specifically for our spring break trip and the 2 or 3 overnight trips my school would take. I was a history/education major, so I had to write a lot of papers, whethere they were long or short journal responses that needed to be typed. It came in handy quite a few times, especially while I was trying to work on a senior thesis during hte season (which I would recommend you to tell your sons never to do unless it's a necessity for them to graduate that spring. It just caused a lot of unnecessary stress for me in both baseball and my schoolwork). It also came in very handy when we were on the road the weekend most of the team had to register for the next semester classes, thanks to hotel wireless connections. Athletes at my school didn't get to register early or anything. We had to fight and claw with every other student when our time came to get into a class, and online was the only way to register. So it could be very beneficial to have one.

I'd definitely say get a tether for your sons laptop, even for in his dorm room or off campus house or apartment. They can just as easily walk away from a dorm room while you're at practice or class as they can from a hotel room while on a road trip. Probably more likely to happen in a dorm than a hotel. It can be a pain to have to lock and unlock it when you want to take it somewhere, but what's 20 seconds if it saves you the trouble of dealing with a stolen computer.

quote:

It can be a pain to have to lock and unlock it when you want to take it somewhere, but what's 20 seconds if it saves you the trouble of dealing with a stolen computer

Very good point for buying a tether!!

At my sons school I think they all have laptops on trips and I've even called and inturupted 3 hour study tables on Sat nite. If they take a bus for shorter trips it is usually at least 1 two hour study time each way on top of that.

I had a camcorder stolen and made a claim on the homeowner's insurance. I wish I had just eaten the cost since it had a severe effect on the rates later on.

My laptop has survived its second year overseas and is still limping along despite the harsh environment where I use and abuse it. I had to get an external DVD/CD writer (now about $50) and the battery is shot, but the rest work fine.

I got HS '08 son one last fall so he can keep up with his schoolwork when he is travelling. I probably should tell him about the security measures mentioned here. Thanks all, for the reminder.