How to Protect your Laptop, MacBook or MacBook Pro
So you’ve just spent a small fortune on your new laptop? Money that could have gone toward gold plating your dog, cat or toddler. Although you missed on on the gold plating, you do have a wonderful new shiny laptop. All is well with the world – or is it?
Your expensive purchase will soon be non-shiny, scratched, dinted and essentially wrecked. Yes, really, laptops are fragile beasts and don’t take well to abuse, * emotional or physical. No name-calling or jamming a Subway into your laptop keyboard; both of these are bad. Remember this.
How do you stop the death of your laptop? You can’t. The enraged gibbon of time will eventually pounce on your purchase and ultimately destroy it. That’s a fact. But I have great news, fellow believers, you can delay the gibbon of time, and this is a helpful guide on how.
With the proper protections and precautions, those simian fingers can be kept away from your pride and joy. These precautions will extend the life of your laptop and stop Swiper the fox from swiping it while you’re busy consulting map, climbing big red hill or swimming turtle-head river.
First, some basics.
Purchase your laptop using a credit card. If you don’t have one, steal one or make the numbers up. use a relatives or friends with permission. (Revised by legal squirrels.) That way your purchase is covered by all kinds of guarantees provided by your credit card company. Just ask them what benefits you get from doing this, you’ll be amazed.
Check that your home insurance covers your laptop, covers accidental damage and is ‘old for new.’ If you don’t have home insurance, get it. Shop around, take your time, but get it. You see that invisible elephant in the corner? Er, well, anyway, that elephant is going to knock your laptop off your desk and/or pour a drink over it as soon as he can.
I see this piece as ‘under development’, if you have suggestions post them in the comments. Expect this to be updated as the gibbon of time roars on. As you might have guessed, CR is mostly aimed at Mac users. The information here can to used for all laptops though and most of the pages I link to have both PC and Mac protection available to buy.
Bag:
Soft Cover:
Speck Canvas Sport
www.speckproducts.com/products/by_device?device_id=9
iSkin SOHO
www.iskin.com/soho/?cart=1202242209731275
Soft Shell:
Protective Leather Case:
www.macally.com/EN/Product/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=206
Hard Shell:
Speck See Thru Case
www.speckproducts.com/products/by_device?device_id=9
Keyboard:
iSkin ProTouch
www.iskin.com/protouchmb?cart=1202242209731275
Trackpad Protection:
Skin Styler
Invisible Shield
www.invisibleshield.com/laptop/apple/macbook-pro-15-inch.php
Wrist Rest Protection:
BodyGuardz for Apple MacBook Pro 15″ – WRIST REST & TRACKPAD
www.bodyguardz.com/MacBooks_s/34.htm
Invisible Shield
www.invisibleshield.com/laptop/apple/macbook-pro-15-inch.php
Protection Pack
www.marware.com/PRODUCTS/Apple-Laptop-Products
Screen Protection:
iProtect Micro Screen Protector (Keyboard Cover)
www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=124
Shaggy Mac 15.4″ MacBook Pro Laptop Screen Protector (Keyboard Cover)
www.shaggymac.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_4&products_id=72
Notebook ScreenSavrz
www.radtech.us/Products/NotebookScreensavRz.aspx
Macalley Screen Protector
www.macally.com/EN/Product/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=79
Cleaner
OmniCleanz
www.radtech.us/Products/OmniCleanz.aspx
Port Protection
www.radtech.us/Products/Portectorz.aspx
40% of laptop thefts are from the office. According to the FBI, losses due to laptop theft totaled more than $6.7 million dollars in 2005. The Computer Security Institute/FBI Computer Crime & Security Survey found the average theft of a laptop to cost a company $89,000. (Wikipedia)
Theft/Loss:
FlickrBooth
Auto upload pics to Flickr
StuffBak
www.radtech.us/Products/StuffBak.aspx
Locks
Over 80% of the laptops on the market are equipped with a Universal Security Slot (USS)
Kensington Key or Code Cable
us.kensington.com/html/11179.html
PCGuardian Key or Code Cable
www.pcguardian.com/products/2900_2901_2907_ez_keyed.html
www.pcguardian.com/products/combo.html
Affixing Plate
www.pcguardian.com/products/4101_4140_miniplate_pkg.html
Theft Recovery
LoJack
PCPhoneHome
www.pcphonehome.com.au/products.html
4 responses so far ↓
1 Rebba Rouckley // Oct 1, 2008 at 7:27 AM
Thanks for a great list of laptop goodies! I highly prefer the ShaggyMac Optimist Prime Cleaner over others mentioned. Lets see…it cleans my ipods, iphone, macbook, 23″ cinema display, 42″ vizio, canon 40d lcd & lens. This stuff has far exceeded my expectations. It is also used by MIT, Boeing, NASA…not too Shaggy.
http://www.shaggymac.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=73
2 Brett Downing // Jun 24, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Thanks for the tip!
The ShaggyMac Screen Protector is the perfect solution.
http://www.shaggymac.com
3 wagnerk // Mar 2, 2008 at 3:43 AM
If you think that the communication device you have is the best then you are yet to see this . Its great and amazing the features and functions are outstanding , it is better seen and than ANY . the New MacBook Air & New MacBook Pros is Apple’s newest 13.3″ ultra-thin notebook offering cutting edge design in a remarkably thin package. models now available with Intel’s newest generation of Core 2 Duo processors in Gold colour.
If you are serious and need to lay your hand on it then feel free to inform via -@yahoo.com
(This screams spam to me, I’ve removed the email link – CR)
4 Aaron Wakling // Feb 21, 2008 at 2:30 PM
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Aaron Wakling
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