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Netbooks. What's the best way to pack them ? Netbooks. What's the best way to pack them ?
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Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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  #1  
Old 21 Jun 2014
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Netbooks. What's the best way to pack them ?
Heading up to Scotland for a short trip and thought this time i'll take my recently acquired netbook. As this is a first for me, taking the netbook that is, I wondered what is the safest way to pack them. Is it upright on its edge or flat if possible ? Wouldn't want to damage it through careless packing.
Would really appreciate any information.


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Old 21 Jun 2014
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Orientation is not that important. Try and avoid any pressure on the screen or any flex on the case. And keep dry obviously.

I have a rigid A4 document folder that I use to enclose my net book and pad it out with other documents I am carrying

--Ian
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Old 21 Jun 2014
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Stick some cloth between the keyboard and screen to prevent damaging the screen.

If it has a mechanical hard drive rather than sold state memory, shut down the system before packing--you don't want it waking up as you are going over bumps or the disk drive heads will hit the disks.

Otherwise they are remarkably resilient.
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Old 21 Jun 2014
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Excellent question as I, too, travel with a netboon in my saddle bags.

I place the Asus Clamshell) netbook in a neoprene pocket and place that into a slim but very sturdy Pelican travel case.

That combination addresses vibration and hard hits. It has worked well for me the past 3 years over some very tough terrain.

I hope this helps.
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Old 22 Jun 2014
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Don't take up space with unnecessary padding: I keep mine in a 'packing cube' with about 1 1/2 inches of clothing (tshirts, pants, etc) packed firm on either side.

Inside a hard saddle bag, orientation does not matter. In a soft sided bag, envision the bike lying on it's side with the wheels uphill. You will need to drag the bike around on it's side to lift it. Which orientation would be best for the netbook? I usually opt for an on- edge, flat side parallel to the long flat side of the bag as long as that flat side is well padded.

..........shu
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Old 22 Jun 2014
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Many thanks for the advice. Will be using Wolfman soft panniers so I will make sure it is protected from both sides when I pack.


Thanks again.


Martin.
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Old 23 Jun 2014
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I work in a warehouse and pack things for transit on trucks and planes every day.

My standard method is:
something soft [bubble wrap, soft foam etc], then something hard [plastic case or thick cardboard etc] and repeat if the item is extra fragile. For a netbook or similar I would probably have a waterproof layer in there somewhere as well.

Having said that, I travelled Brisbane to Darwin and back with a laptop in the bag on the back of my Harley, just shoved in there amongst the clothes etc and it survived...
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Old 7 Jul 2014
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You really want a laptop with an SSD disc. If you don't allready, conscider swapping it or tbackup your stuff as you go and bring an os on a stick drive...

Much like your bike falls to bits from vibrations, so will your laptop. An SSD is one less thing with moving parts. Pack your laptop in something soft that will absorb vibrations, like memory foam, a towel, bubble wrap... Store it so it doesn,t bouce arround in your luggage and prevent impact (i.e. heavy tools bouncing arround)... dont squish it, keep it dry...
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Old 22 Jul 2015
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Always put delicate bits of electronica into your tank bag, much better protection against shocks and vibration than in panniers. If you don't have a tank bag, take a look at the Enduristan Sandstorm bags as sold by Zen Overland in Wells Somerset, by far the best Tank bag I've used in many years.


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Old 23 Jul 2015
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As long as you stay on tar mac just pack it between your clothes/Sleeping bag. If i go very hard offroad i made my selfe a little bag so i can hang my Netbook around my neck underneath my jacked. This way it even surwifed Africa: Adventure experience - motorcycle trip riding across Africa
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Old 23 Jul 2015
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I can agree with Tim Cullis, put some cloth between the keyboard and screen, I failed to do that in the early part of my trip and now my Mac Air has a line and several marks on the screen due to it rubbing on the keyboard. I also keep it small neoprene bag. Seems to do the job when carting it about

Wayne
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