How do you guys protect your laptop/PC when travelling?

Just returned from an LA trip where among other things I played (with 2.5.2) at a party.

Rather unpleasantly, when I returned home I found my laptop had suffered a hard disk crash. So far I've been unable to recover any data. Fortunately my tracks are stored on an external drive that is fine, but it's still going to take quite some time to get everything back up to snuff.

I thought I'd packed it pretty well, but apparently not -- I suspect it suffered some sort of blow or impact that caused a head crash. I had it packed in a standard foam-padded light "laptop bag", which obviously didn't cut it.

For those of you who travel a lot for gigs -- how do you protect your laptop from being thrashed? Should I get one of those generic padded suitcase things intended for camera gear and instruments? Something better? This situation is bad enough, but it would have been complete disaster if it happened on the way TO the gig, rather than the way home!

 

For around town, I use: http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.main&ID=714daa121a8bbf9ed4d892d091c5af43

When flying, I carry the laptop on board with me - it's WAY to precious to be in hands of others.

 

for high quality and stable cases check out

Parat a German manufacturer. I own a leather tool-bag from Parat for 20 years now.

Sales Contact for the Canada/USA:

Wera Inc.
7-710 South Service Road
Stoney Creek, Ontario
Canada L8E 5S7
Phone: (905) 643-6600
Fax: (905) 643-6604
E-mail: weracda@skylinc.net

Another manufacturer I trust in is GT - Line .

I'm satisfied with this case:


What about e.g. this nice Photocase with built in stand ?


Check out their full product range of Laptop and Photo Cases here

Contact:

salesinternational@gtline.com

 

For now, my PowerBook and my extra-thick mousepad goes into this,
http://www.loas.co.jp/loas/image/syohin/SZC-009us.jpg
(this inner bag is made from the same material as sea diving suits)

then into this,
http://www.elecom.co.jp/photo/p01/118041_01.jpg
(I put the cables, mouse and AC adapter in the front pocket)
then finally into my backpack.

I can still fit my UC-33 & US-122 (I also put these into the inner bag mentioned above) into my backpack, but for safety reasons I decided to put them in another bag.
Maybe I should get the M-Audio Studio Pack ...

I would never use rolling cases ... hard drives and CD drives are too sensitive for those bumpy sidewalks (especially over here where roads are dug up for 'political reasons' ... ).
I would always carry it in my hand.
BTW the Lab Photo case looks cool!

 

This is the model i use:

Boblbee Sweden

Go to the main site here Boblbee language selection

I saw a demo where a guy swinged a baseball-bat at the hardshell case worn by another guy, and the laptop was intact... ':thumb:'

I've had mine for 4 years now, and it still holds up extremely well. I tried 4 different brands before deciding on this one, mainly for ergonomics (back strain from carrying on one shoulder, anyone?)

BTW, I am not affiliated with the company in any way, just a pleased customer.

 

Lots of good products and advice here! There area host of good products on the market, several mentioned in the thread. In many ways its likely to come down to personal preference while following some simple guidelines:

DrBrooks has it nailed, carry your laptop with you. It really is too precious to be in the hands of others, especially if those others have little regard for the safety of your property.

Cablefish has it too. Roll arounds are hard on laptops even if well padded in the case.

Keep your Laptop in a well padded case or backpack. Pay special attention to the corner padding.

I use a simple Targus Case that I can carry to any gig it includes cables, Firewire 410, AC Adapters, Power strip, Mouse and Headphones. During the week it allows me to carry my laptop to work or wherever minus the music gear.... I try to keep my load as light as possible I gave up carrying recordcases in part because of the weight and bulk I have no real desire to replace one bulky item with another, Although ironically I have recently resorted to carrying a smallish record case to gigs for some Vinyl and CD's
I've gotta stop doing that!

Phil

 

check out www.thecrumplernyc.com

I have a great soft bag from there that is padded and has a heavy duty strap so your laptop and gear won't snap off and crash to their doom. I think my bag is the wacko-phone model.

 

Thanks all for the recs. Haven't decided yet what i'm going to go with, probably a combination of one of these padded sleevecases:

WaterField Designs

and an external bag, something like the M-Audio one.

Anyone know where to get padded cases, like the ones above, for smaller bits of gear, like external hard drives, Kaoss Pad, etc...? I emailed SFBags and they didn't make any that small.