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Laptop Travel Checklist for Teams

Fri, 02/06/2009 — Ray Stahl

By Ray Stahl
Feb 6, 2009

In my first article laptop travel checklist I focused on traveling as an individual and what you should bring with you to make life easier.

This article focuses on what to bring when you are working with group of people while traveling. In that case you need to think more about group communications, connectivity, and privacy.

One-time Steps

  • Insurance - Who is responsible if the laptop is lost or stolen?
  • Security - There are number of steps you can take to both physically and electronically lock down your laptop from the bad guys. See my article on the 12 basic steps for laptop security.
  • Store your data in the Clouds. A lot of companies are offering you the ability to store files on their servers. The big email guys, like MSN's OfficeLive, Google offers Google's Apps, and companies that charge for storage like i-drive, E-Vault and others, provide higher security features that you may need.
  • Laptop Carrying Case or Bag - With airlines charging for just about everything these day you will need to make sure your laptop bag can both protect your laptop and efficiently store everything in as small a space as possible.

Planning ahead

  • Backup your files. If you can make a complete backup image of your drive do it. If you do not have the time right now then make sure to back up all of your work and personal files (usually that is My documents but make sure). This is also a great time to delete old files you are not using or that you would not like to have other people see if your laptop is lost or stolen.
  • Entertainment
    • Get Movies - In today's travel any trip can be a long one. Bring some movies with you which will help make the time pass.
    • Bring TV shows with you - If you travel a lot consider buying a Slingbox. This allows you to watch you own TV or DVR from your laptop. Another option that Tivo offers for owners of Tivo products is the ability to transfer TV shows to your laptop through your home network.
    • Get some more tunes on your iTunes or other audio player.
  • Check out the plane - If you are going on a long domestic or overseas flight see if the airplane you are scheduled to be on has power available at your seat. This can be a big weight savings if you do not have to carry a spare battery to power your laptop throughout the flight.
  • GPS Phones - If you phone has GPS you can either use your phone company's GPS navigation service or Google Map to help you navigate your way on the roads.

Make sure to pack

  • Chargers - Make sure to bring charges for your laptop, iPod, and cell phone. Try to consolidate them by using the USB output of your laptop as a charger for your phone, iPod and other gadgets. If you are going on a long road trip make sure you to bring car chargers with you. Again consolidate where possible. Another possible choice is to get a power converter that converts the 12 Volt car battery to a 115V AC power source for use with standard plugs.
  • Laptop Accessories - Make sure to bring your laptop accessories like the DVD player, web-cam, external mouse and pad.
  • Flash drive- If you have to transfer files or a presentation to someone else this is by far the easiest way.
  • Spare batteries - If you do have power on board the plane and you want to use your laptop for most of the trip consider bringing a spare battery if you're traveling coast to coast (6 hours). . The average laptop battery life is anywhere between 2 to 3 hours with some models going longer.
  • Cables -Do not forget the cables you will need.
    • USB cable for your cameras, phone, palm, and etc. Can they share USB cable? Some manufactures have special configurations and will not work with other devices.
    • Ethernet cable 6ft. even with wireless the Ehternet is faster to download and always more secure than wireless.
    • Get a bag to keep all the cables in one place so every time you travel you have it ready to be packed.
  • Camera*
  • Cell Phone*

* Not really part of the Laptop checklist but for completeness I added them.

Optional

  • Privacy screen for your laptop. The truth is you have no idea who the people sitting around you are or more importantly who they work for. If you are going to work on material that is sensitive then I would promote this item to a must have before you leave for your next business trip.
  • VOIP service like Skype or a number of other providers. For computer to computer it is usually free and for connecting to the phone system it is very inexpensive to use. When overseas it can save you a lot in long distant charges and make things like file transfers a snap. Also these services support Web cam so you can talk and see the other person which can be good or bad depending on your point of view and time of night.
  • Team Work - Consider bringing your own wireless router. This will allow sharing of the hotel connection in the hotels that still charge for Internet access and also allows you to collaborate together while on the road. Some routers even allow you to share the computer projector.
  • Computer Projector - If you do not know if there is going to be one available then bring it with you. Hotel charges are so high that you could buy one for the cost of several days' rental.
    • In addition you can make sure you practice your presentation so that all those great features that you put in your presentation will work.
    • You will know that the remote works.
    • Bring extra batteries for the remote and a spare bulb for the projector.
  • Power Strip - If you are the group IT manager you might as well make sure you bring a power strip that is also an extension cord. This is another of the hotel charges and when you have a bunch of people working on laptops almost everybody wants to be connected to power and try finding enough power outlets at any hotel.

I have found that it is easier to have a "Laptop kit bag" to keep this stuff in. When you go on your next trip it is all in one place and easier to pack.
 

References

Slingbox is product that access the Internet and forwards your home entertainment content to your laptop or even your smartphone.

Tivo makes DVR and has a product called Tivo-to-Go that you can load TV programs onto your laptop computer

SeatGuru is a travels service that provide details on specific airplanes that each airlines uses and whether the planes are equipped with power and where the seats with power are located.