Traveling This Summer With Laptop in Tow? Most of us around these parts are roadwarriors. Traveling and blogging at conferences and while on vacation normal as packing your toothbrush. How else are you going to those ebills while you're at the Vineyard, right?
However crime statistics are saying that 20-25% of all notebook computers are being stolen. The hot places to have your prized laptop swiped include inside your locked hotel room or car. Before you head out on your next trip, you might want to check your homeowners/renters insurance policy to see if they will replace your prized possession. Be sure to ask about how they handle depreciation. Can you get a blanket rider at a set valuation? Christopher Elliott who writes the Travel Technologist recently wrote an excellent article called: Is Your Laptop Available for a Steal?
For us-- we've insured the computers with Safeware since they first offered the service to CompuServe members years ago. The neat thing about Safeware is you set a total value for the computer, accessories and the replacement software. For me insuring a $3000 computer costs me $180 a year with no deductable. Which is a sure of a hell of a lot cheaper than eating the cost of a new computer!
"Computer insurance, [from Safeware] on the other hand, compliments the warranty by providing coverage for all kinds of unexpected, externally caused losses: theft, fire, power surges, lightning, spilled coffee in the keyboard, accidentally dropped notebooks [ahem Doc] and natural disasters like: earthquakes, hurricanes and floods."
Here's a couple other tips we've learned from carting thousands of dollars of electronics with us on trips.
Make sure you have reciepts in a safe place. Back up on CD's all the important things on your computer you can't replace, like documents, passwords and other data, like your weblog! Invest in a computer lock like the Belkin K100 Notebook Security Lock or Belkin C100 Notebook Security Lock. What I like about these locks are they are long enough to thread through a computer case and lock it to a chair, dresser or the inside of an inroom hotel safe.
Got any other tips? Let me know... we'll make a list of them for everyone to share.
