• Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

Laptop while on the road

kubotamiketx

0
Forum Supporter
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
1,419
Reaction score
701
Location
Austin
First Name
Michael
Last Name
Morisoli
Just realized that the upcoming NMBDR ride means I will be on the KTM 1090 for 6 days without access to my laptop. The odds of me needing to do some work at night one or more nights is super high, so what if anything have riders found that are safe to in saddlebags or a camelbak.

I have a small Surface book but there is no way I would bounce that thing to death in the saddlebags or want it in my camelbak when I crash.

Thoughts ?
 
When I rode to CO for a weeklong work meeting, I just put the computer in a laptop bag and put that into the trunk. Easy peasy.
 
If it has the SSD then you should be fine, everything else should be solid state. A couple of my camel baks have a plastic stiffener between the bladder and the back padding. I generally stick my ipad or laptop there. But I am usually traveling and don't need the bladder. Ya could also pack it in foam.
 
On my bike, I would find a way to put in my hard top case and have it well padded. Vibration might not mess things up internally, but having it rubbing against other things that are also vibrating might do external damage. That said, I have never carried a laptop, tablet, or anything other than my phone. I have carried camera gear, lenses, etc,... They go in the hard top case and are well padded :-P
 
I would be more wary of damage to the laptop then I would to a tablet computer. The only thing I have proven is that handle bar mounts can damage internal cameras in cell phones
 
I have a nice Surface Book, but its way too expensive to even think about banging around like that and a huge Alienware 18.4" beast that weighs more than the fuel on the 1090 so that is a non-starter. Costco had a simple HP Laptop, 14" 8 GB with a 256 GB SSD, slow little i3, but it was only $449. Might be worth getting that thing as a sacrificial lamb. Hate to think of work on a trip like this, but I support so many systems, something is going to need a quick touch at some point. Guess a padded sleeve and wrap it with my spare clothes, should do fine in the Rackless bags.
 
Very small pelican case with the foam inserts. Bonus it is water proof also.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
 
I have a nice Surface Book, but its way too expensive to even think about banging around like that and a huge Alienware 18.4" beast that weighs more than the fuel on the 1090 so that is a non-starter. Costco had a simple HP Laptop, 14" 8 GB with a 256 GB SSD, slow little i3, but it was only $449. Might be worth getting that thing as a sacrificial lamb. Hate to think of work on a trip like this, but I support so many systems, something is going to need a quick touch at some point. Guess a padded sleeve and wrap it with my spare clothes, should do fine in the Rackless bags.
Supposed to get things at a discounted price Club right, crap they show the same thing at Walmart for the same price. I got sick of Sam's Club for the same reason.
 
I carried a Lenova Yoga laptop on Richard's 2017 Continental Divide Ride. I put it in a sleeve and packed it in a Givi 33L pannier with my clothes, toiletries, etc. Nothing rattled around in that box. It's also been on several overnight and longer pavement trips with no ill effects. I'm still using it.
 
If you could go with Android and a Bluetooth keypad this is cheap and great specs, big battery
But apparently you need Windows
 
I carried my HP Pavilion Entertainment Notebook on a 28 day ride that was 5,800 miles long. I used it to keep notes nearly every night. I had it packed in my pannier with it resting edge ways on my sleeping bag and sandwiched between T-shirts. I'm still typing on it tonight. Windows 7, so it might be a little old.
 
If you could go with Android and a Bluetooth keypad this is cheap and great specs, big battery
But apparently you need Windows
Does this thing have a keyboard? I'd be interested in replacing my laptop with something smaller.
 
I don't have one but it looks pretty good to me. The best thing is that it is shipped and sold by Amazon which means free returns. Take it for a test drive I would say. You would have to add a Bluetooth keyboard if you wanted it. I'm using a high $ Samsung tablet . I use voice detection all the time anyway. This thing shows that it is Google Certified also.

It's understandable that Mike may need a Windows computer. certain applications only run on Windows.
 
We're Android phone people and got tired of dragging our MacBook Pro with us....it was heavily protected, but MacBooks are freaking expensive. We purchased a refurb Dell Chromebook and LOVE it. Long battery life. Great WiFi. 11 in screen is perfect. Have taken it on multiple trips on bike and flying. Perfect for lightweight travel. Highly recommend you look into Chromebooks. Ours was $200 all in including extended warranty (Square trade) and 128 GB micro SD Card to expand memory.

Our $0.018 worth.
 
You didn't mention what type of work. If it's just email or browser based, any hardware solution should work fine. But, I like to have the same laptop I use at home, on the road. No duplicate software or duplicate data to integrate. So I stuff it in on top of my cloths in my canvas bag that goes in the top case. I have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles in Europe, South, Central and North America and never had a hardware problem.
 
I have a Lenovo hybrid ideapad flex 4 I carry with me on road trips. it is a combo net book and tablet in one.
 
Sorry, should have been more specific on my needs. Yes, I need a Windows laptop. 90% of what I do is to RDP into clients systems but I will need the full Office suite. I am part of the Microsoft Developers Network, so I get all the MS software for free. I have tried to use my iPad in the past, but it is just not practical. Takes 20 minutes to try and do the simplest thing. My Surface Book is a couple of years old and is really pretty small and has a 500GB SSD drive, but man I would hate to beat it to death.

Thanks for the input, there is no magic solution, just need to get pragmatic and make something work.
 
Over the past two days I had both a Lenovo laptop (in a thin foam-lined zippered case) and a CPAP machine (in its travel case) held hostage in a Dry-bag Duffle on the seat behind me along with my clothes and sundries. The equipment racked up over seven hundred miles that included all of the Twisted Sisters. Wasn't the first time I carried my computer along, as the sole IT presence at work the computer always comes with me when on the road, including dirt roads, forest roads, etc.

Laptops are built fairly rugged because they are expected to encounter more abuse than a desktop computer. In my experience they have never let me down. Now with SSDs the potential for problems is very low. As long as you pack it surrounded by soft stuff it should have less excitement than it did in the original shipping box it came in when new.
 
I have a little Dell XPS 13 with an SSD and it’s been my constant companion on long trips. It has yet to fail me and means I can get my GS911 out and running any time I need to as well.
As for packing it. I have it in a small dell soft case and I just shove it in wherever I can. It’s done time in both panniers and my top box. It hasn’t complained once.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've carried laptops on my motorcycle back and forth to work for years and taken them on trips. Now, I didn't take them on dirty trips, but they've never had a problem with riding on the motorcycle.

If you like your Surface, why not try a Surface Go? Small form factor, similar experience, and with the Surface Go2 announced, you might be able to find a good price on an original Go. Also would likely be less expensive than the "Beater" you are looking at.
 
I'll echo what others have said. If it is SSD, not spinning drive, it will be fairly robust. I've been all over the country with a macbook air packed on the bike so I could work remote and also to process pictures and moderate this site. After 4 years with that machine I handed it off to my mom who has been using it for a year now. I tried a tablet and never gelled with it for work use.
 
I carry my surfacepro with me even on the dual sport bike. I have a padded case and put it in atop case, usually surrounded by clothing. On the big bike, it's usually in the top case, but I will put it in hard side cases on occasion.
 
I bought a old refurbished HP with Windows 7 Pro on it, it's mighty tough and if it breaks it was only 250 bucks. Had it 4 years now.
Also have an AT&T hot spot for wifi that I only buy data for when I'm going somewhere. Which lately hasn't been anywhere.
 
I use an iPad pro in a case , inside another cheap briefcase in my pannier. I haven't wrecked but it seems to be well protected.
 
Back
Top