2BMobile

As we all are enjoying our long weekend celebrating  the birth of our country it is another reminder why I chose to get into this business.  It's great that our team is able to have flexibility to travel and work, whenever and wherever, because our business is virtual.  We decided from the start that we would practice what we preach to our clients.

This is a laptop checklist of the things to do before you leave on your next business trip and what to bring along.

One-time Steps

• Insurance - Who is responsible if the laptop is lost or stolen?  Check with your insurance carrier.

• Security - There are number of steps you can take to both physically and electronically to lock down your laptop from the bad guys. See my article on the 12 basic steps for laptop security.

The question is a good one.  If they can it will saves millions of dollars for businesses as they will not need to equip their mobile workers.

A second question is what will a mobile device be; a netbook, an iPhone or like device, or a regular cell phone?

Can you use current applications or do they have be rewritten to be used on mobile devices?

Is it possible to have a single device or does practicality make it  necessary that we have at least a phone and a display/input device?

As the saying goes you can never be too rich or too thin, so goes it with Laptop memory you can never have too much. But the real question is what is the minimum memory needed to do get my job done.

I will pass on the special requirements of gamers and assume you know what you need, but rather focus on the typical mobile users who are using their laptops for work and a little personal enjoyment i.e. iTunes, DVD movies and etc.

I was cleaning out my desk when I came across a box full of 3.5” floppy disks that I used to back up my personal files many years ago and it was a great reminder of how much easier it is to use flash drives and external hard drives to backup and protect our important files.

by Ray Stahl
January 16, 2009

The USAir jetliner having to ditch into the Hudson River is a sad reminder of our growing dependence on our laptops. Laptops are holding more and more of our important content and though the odds of being in an emergency situation on a plane are incredibility low this event is still a good reminder that we need to have an "emergency plan" for the worst case scenario.

The single biggest difference between a desktop and laptop computer is portability. This fact alone means you have to take extra steps to protect your laptop from the unscrupulous. I have put together a check list to help you take basic precautions in securing your laptop for your travels.

Before you leave and something that you should have done already

When traveling it is sometimes easier not to bring my laptop along because I will have access to computers at my destination. However it can be a hassle not having  important files that I might need and my browser with my personal log-ins and bookmarks that I have become so dependent upon.

The majority of the time that I use my notebook computer it is plug-in. But those times when I need to get things done, typically on the plane on my way to a business meeting, it is then that I really need to know how I can get the most out of my notebook's battery.