bringing a small desktop on plane and to the world???

[yankeeslover]

dumb question, my laptop is on its last legs, i have been shopping for a new laptop but in my research i have found one of those new hp touchsmart all in one pcs. i have found i really like this much better then a laptop and other then my one trip to disney in three weeks i dont take the laptop out of my house so it kind of defeats the purpose.. i only need it in disney because i have my dslr and my hd camcorder so i want to be able to upload my pics/videos to the laptop.. with that said, if i purchase this hp all in one smarttouch, would it be an issue to bring it on the plane? i was thinkiing of packing it in the original box and putting that box inside my luggage..... and if this is no trouble, would it be trouble hooking up and leaving inside the room at disney? there is no case with this, its just a 20 inch screen with everything built into it.... once again, i know laptop would be easier, but i dont want to purchase a laptop for just one trip if you know what im saying..thanks

 

[jlewisinsyr]

You definately wouldn't want to pack it in your checked luggage and those boxes are pretty big, so not sure if you could even count it as a carry-on due to size (although there is no restriction from a product perspective).

You'd be much better getting a portable data storage device like a Jobo, Digital Foci or Hyperdrive:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Stand-Alone-Data-Storage/ci/3369/N/4220238587

 

[magicaldisney]

If you are only using it to download your pictures and videos, why not go to one of the photo stops at Disney and have them download them onto CDs for you?

 

[deegack]

Why not just pick up a few extra memory sticks?

 

[sam_gordon]

You definately wouldn't want to pack it in your checked luggage and those boxes are pretty big, so not sure if you could even count it as a carry-on due to size (although there is no restriction from a product perspective).

You'd be much better getting a portable data storage device like a Jobo, Digital Foci or Hyperdrive:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Stand-Alone-Data-Storage/ci/3369/N/4220238587

Those are cool! BUT expensive. You can get a cheapy laptop for less than some of those.

If you are only using it to download your pictures and videos, why not go to one of the photo stops at Disney and have them download them onto CDs for you?

$$$$$

Why not just pick up a few extra memory sticks?

Too easy to lose, not really a "backup".

During our recent vacation, I took my laptop simply to copy photos each night, and take notes for a trip report. I never had to format the cards in the camera, so I had a backup of every picture... one on the card, one on the laptop.

Some kind of portable hard drive would be great, but the cost...

OP, I would *NOT* pack one of those in checked luggage. Go to a photo store and see if they have a photo backpack that will fit that size screen.

Can you borrow a laptop from a friend? From work? Use the business center and upload your pics to the "cloud" (ie: photobucket, picassa, etc).

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Those are cool! BUT expensive. You can get a cheapy laptop for less than some of those.

You get what you pay for.

 

[ibob52]

.. with that said, if i purchase this hp all in one smarttouch, would it be an issue to bring it on the plane? i was thinkiing of packing it in the original box and putting that box inside my luggage.....

** If by bring it on the plane you mean **

1) in your carrying on luggage ... I will venture to say you will be required to place the computer (without the box) in the TSA bin for screening. The same rule as for laptops at most USA airports.

2) in your checked luggage ... then you are on your own ... if you want to take the risk ... as electronics are not covered for lost ... IIRC.


I too have had a laptop for travel ... which is only used a couple of times a year

and agree with the cost vs use for a new laptop.

 

[ToddyLu]

This sounds like what my BIL would do--have a very elaborate system of redundancy. Yes, he is a rocket scientist. The camera would accidently land on the savanna at AKL then the laptop would be stolen somewhere along the trip to the tarmac.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Carry it on. It's a valuable electronic.

Take it out and put in a bin seperately. You also need to be prepared for extra screening.

My son brought his Xbox and special carry case as his carryon on our last trip. He took the Xbox out of the case and TSA took the Xbox and swabbed it. His carryon for it has a small TV built in and lots of wires. He had to hook it all up for the TSA agent and prove it worked.

I was very glad that we always leave plenty of time to get through security.
So leave yourself plenty of time and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Oh and I bet you can find an inexpensive laptop computer case that would fit it so you don't have to put it in it's original box.
Most of the computer cases I've seen lately have a nice area that would protect it even at 20 inches. It should even fit under the seat in front of you then and be better protected than if it ended up in an overhead bin.

People push and shove stuff up there so it could get damaged if it's on an overhead bin.

 

[yankeeslover]

from what i read online the dimensions are 21L by 8w by 16H...im thinking thats too big as a carryon...and doubt it would fit in anytype of bag at that size....

 

[chartle]

from what i read online the dimensions are 21L by 8w by 16H...im thinking thats too big as a carryon...and doubt it would fit in anytype of bag at that size....

Yes these all in ones are like a thicker flat screen TV, its not just like a big tablet. There is probably also a power supply thats a little larger than an ordinary laptop supply.

YOu would really want to carry it on and not check it. Well you could check it but at a huge risk. It you really want to have in WDW I would ship it Fed Ex or UPS there and back.

OP I would just get more memory and rotate, much less hassle.

 

[chartle]

If you are only using it to download your pictures and videos, why not go to one of the photo stops at Disney and have them download them onto CDs for you?

I have heard this may still be possible for photos but not at all for videos. They would have to use multiple DVD's, 8 or so, or many more CD's, 64 or so, to download HD video off a hard drive based camcorder.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

from what i read online the dimensions are 21L by 8w by 16H...im thinking thats too big as a carryon...and doubt it would fit in anytype of bag at that size....

Yes, this would be too large for most, if not all, US airlines for a carry on bag and keep on mind that these are the dimensions of the computer itself, the bag would have to be larger, so no way you will be able to take this on the plane.

Personally, I can't imaging lugging such a large computer on any trip, except a permanent move.

 

[twinklebug]

It's not about it being stolen, or even how to get it there as there's always a way -- were I you, I'd pop out another $200 or so for a netbook or low end tablet that would be perfect for travel for years to come. It's just not worth the risk of potentially ruining your new machine to travel with it and all the bumps it'll encounter.

I just picked up this one for just this purpose & to replace a netbook that now has a bad jack I need to tear apart to fix. The iM101z looks like but is not a netbook (i3, 2g, I upgraded to 8g of memory, but it has no optical to keep it small and light) and is a bit higher in price than what you might want.