laptop carriage

[delap]

Them up at t' mill are suggesting a laptop replacement for my ageing desktop.  We are talking more workstation replacement than ultra-light but 15" rather than 17".  I already commute with two large panniers (25+ ltr/side) and I am not a weight weenie but if I am going to carry it daily I reckon it needs to be in something that would survive a low-side crash or an improperly attached pannier bouncing off at speed

Something like this would more than suffice protection-wise but the external width 336 mm is pushing the quoted width of my pannier (320 mm).

I am interested in others' experience/suggestions, and would consider homebrew solutions (I imagine that a sleeve constructed with gaffer tape from epa foam and corrugated cardboard might give adequate shock protection)

*fixed link*

[Andrij]

Sorry, no suggestions or reviews.  But check your link - it has some extra characters.

https//peliproducts.co.uk/cases/1095-laptop-case.html

[Kim]

And some missing characters: https://peliproducts.co.uk/cases/1095-laptop-case.html

[L CC]

I carry my work laptop in a neoprene sleeve and drop it casually in my pannier.

It belongs to work. They want it better protected, they can provide something.

[quixoticgeek]

I stick my laptop in to my backpack (unpadded), it's been bouncing around in there for my rides to/from work, including my occasional 50+km detours on the way home. No obvious marks or damage.

J

[ian]

My mothership MacBook goes in a light padded sleeve and into the pannier. Job done. If it gets broke, that's their problem same as if I dropped it – it's their computer and they should expect any portable device to get bounced around. Anyway, with all the crap in the bag, it's pretty much protected from the occasional knocks. Never managed to break one yet.

[Kim]

In this era of solid-state storage, I'd be completely non-fussed about it being shaken around^[1], so it's all about waterproofing, scratch-protection and not concentrating pressure on it in a crash.

On the odd occasion I've carried a laptop it's usually been in my Brompton C-bag, which has an appropriately shaped compartment, and a decent amount of physical protection afforded by the bag frame, or it's been in a regular pannier with some bash-protection afforded by tactical wrapping in civvy clothes.  I do carry my 10" tablet + keyboard around while touring, and that just goes into the internal compartment of an Ortlieb front-roller with a dry-bag for additional damp protection, though I try to arrange it so that the back of the keyboard is in contact with the dome nuts attaching the lower pannier fixings rather than the back of the tablet.

A neoprene sleeve sounds like a good idea to me.

I would say that if your panniers are prone to coming off in anything other than crash conditions, it would be prudent to get better pannier fixings.  I also hear that theft by grabbing the quick-release handle of Ortliebs is a thing in That London, so there's an argument for attaching it in a way that nobbles that (eg, by feeding the top strap round a bit of rack, or crossing the closure buckles over with a matching pannier on the other side of the rack, or even using the locking cable accessory).


_{[1] When I've had to carry hard drives by bike, I've used a rucksack.}

[rogerzilla]

A messenger bag suspends the laptop from any vibration.  Some laptops are heavy, though.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Mrs Cudzo carries a laptop in a pannier with no special padding. Sometimes it's a left pannier, sometimes it's a right – she only uses one pannier commuting but she's ambi-pannierous. When she got knocked off a couple of weeks ago, it was in a right pannier; she fell to the left, lost a lot of skin and became very angry – but nothing happened to the laptop at all. Might have been different if it had been a left pannier day, of course.

[Greenbank]

If it's replacing a desktop I'd leave the laptop at work all the time. You'll get bored of lugging it around all of the time, especially if it comes with a power brick the size/weight of a house brick.

(For work I have a desktop and a laptop. Desktop stays at work, laptop stays at home as I work from home half the time. The laptop goes in to work about once a year, mostly for certain types of meeting.)

[Rod Marton]

I used to have a laptop pannier which tended to become detached when going over bumps. The laptop was unscathed throughout, though probably cushioned by all the other odds and ends in the pannier.

I've since switched to an Ortlieb pannier, which, though it isn't specifically marketed as a laptop pannier, fits it well enough and doesn't make a bid for freedom as soon as I hit a pothole. It just goes in there, with no further protection than a plastic bag (which is really to keep it clean). The important thing to do is to make sure you are properly backed up: you can generally afford to lose the hardware but not the data.

[fimm]

+1 to Greenback - I have a laptop which lives at work 95%+ of the time. I don't see why I should take it home (except under certain circumstances). Your employer may want you to lock it to the desk or leave it in a locked drawer overnight. When "they" were suggesting hot-desking one of my objections was the assumption that it would be easy for all of us to take our laptops home.

[ian]

I take my MacBook everywhere, it's 2 kg so not much, slips into a pannier without issue. I work from home, so take it into the office. I used to have a crappy pannier that came off once as I crested a speed bump and bounced pretty much all the way from Sydenham to Forest Hill. The laptop – an older Dell – seemed supremely unbothered. Shame, because I fancied an upgrade.

I switched to Ortlieb. They're 100% waterproof and don't fall off. There's no laptop protection per se, just a holder, but with a thin padded cloth (may by humans, no less) sleeve, it's fine. I usually stick my notepad in behind it just to keep the securing bolts out of the way.

[pcolbeck]

I did some consultancy for a major government department. As part of the updated way of working we were planning on giving everyone laptops and letting them work from home sometimes. The civil servants then decided they should have two laptops each, one for in the office and one for home use, there was no way they were actually going to commute carrying a laptop .....

[ian]

Just make it an excuse for getting a top-of-the-range super-light ultrabook. That's what our lot do, rather than the standard issue Dells breeze blocks.

[rafletcher]

My last 3 employers have insisted that laptops - our only computers - were taken home every night, so as to remove the risk of theft from their premises.

[SteveC]

When I got a laptop for work I asked the question of the IT manager and he just shrugged and pointed to the bag which came with it.
That wouldn't fit in my pannier, so I didn't bother. I have a Carradice pannier with a slightly padded sleeve in it which I use for the laptop.
Never had a problem, but I've not had any spills with it on board.
However, we run an 'everything on the server' policy so unless I were to be working off line, the only loss would be the hardware; all the data is automatically on the servers.

[arabella]

Mine gets locked in a drawer at work when I go home. 
If I do take it with me I put it in the laptop section of my laptop rucksack and strap this on the rack with the laptop bit uppermost, the theory being it gets cushioned by the rest of the rucksack.
If they want me to carry it around regularly on the bike they can get a laptop pannier as well as a laptop rucksack.

[DaveR]

Love the replies here.

I occasionally carry a work laptop in a neoprene sleeve in a pannier - hasn't broken yet.

One tip I would recommend if you do have to carry it home every day - get (your work to get you) a second charger, so that one stays at home and the other at work. This significantly reduces the weight you have to carry and is less faff too

[mustgettaller]

Like several above - I don't worry too much about it...

Macbook pro in a neoprene sleeve, then put in my Altura detachable pannier. All fine. Been knocked off once (bike was a write off and I had impressive bruising for weeks afterwards - but that's another story), and laptop was fine. It didn't take any direct impact, but still was on the 'down' side when I impacted the cast iron bollard...

As has also been mentioned - SSD (solid state disk) is a good idea to avoid any potential problems with vibration etc.