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Hotel Hazards for Laptops
The Travel Technologist · April 19, 1999

Think getting your laptop stolen is the worst that can happen on your next trip? Not by a long shot.

Having your portable snatched from a hotel room is relatively common, according to Secure Computing Magazine, which estimates that an astounding 1 in 50 laptops is stolen in the United States annually. The Federal Bureau of Investigation puts the collective pricetag of the stolen PCs at $8 billion a year.

But it's practically painless compared with the other horrors that await your notebook when you check into a hotel.

Once a computer is gone, you move on. You buy a replacement. End of story. Hotels, on the other hand, offer a minefield of dangers that can destroy data, mutilate hardware and short-circuit processors - afflictions that disrupt work and leave you with the often false hope that lost information can somehow be recovered.

"Hotel rooms aren't necessarily the safest places for a laptop computer," says Bob Lawson, editor of roadnews.com, a Web site for laptop travelers. "You have to be aware of what's out there."

Here's a list of hazards:

Magnets

Your hotel room is littered with magnets, the sworn enemy of your disk drive. Televisions, radios, alarm clocks, coffee makers, hair dryers and refrigerators may contain small magnets. Although most laptop experts I talked with said the possibility of a disk drive being completely erased by an appliance is remote, they admitted that it's a potential problem that could affect random bits of data. The more exposed your notebook, the greater the danger. Ultralights with little shielding, floppy disks and Zip disks left on appliances for hours at a time are most vulnerable. Leave electronics on a desk away from any appliances to avoid a potential magnet problem.

Room service

If you leave your computer in your room while you're away at breakfast, and an attendant comes by to clean up, watch out. Hotel employees have been known to bump into computers, knock them down or spill cleaning solutions on them. Whenever I had to part with my portable, I used to stash it under the bed. Big mistake. Vacuum cleaners can smack right into the gadget. And if it doesn't damage the electronics, the magnet in the motor might. A drawer or closet is a far safer place.

Phone lines

Because digital lines run at a higher voltage than analog ones, you may seriously damage your modem if you try to plug a digital line into an analog modem. But you already knew that. What isn't so well-known is that some laptop users claim that in addition to frying their modem, the surge caused memory loss and a meltdown of some processor functions. The best way to prevent digital burnout is to use a line tester and, if possible, to buy an adapter.

Food

Burning the midnight oil in a hotel room often means food and drink co-existing with technology. The two just aren't compatible. Manufacturers say the worst accidents involve wine or soda - any liquid that doesn't readily evaporate and leaves a sticky mess behind. In the vast majority of cases, a repair shop can clean out the keyboard and make your portable companion as good as new. However, in some instances, the spill soaks the keyboard to such an extent that it renders the whole machine all but useless. Don't eat or drink next to your computer.

You

Yeah, you. People do the most thoughtless things with their portables, like doze off in bed while using them. This is stupid. According to resellers and consultants I talked with, users have unplugged their notebooks, knocked them off the bed or rolled over on top of them. Needless to say, taking your computer to bed can be dangerous not only to the machine but to you. Especially if the computer is still plugged in. I haven't heard of anyone getting electrocuted in bed, but it could happen. Don't let yourself become the first: keep things platonic with your electronics.

Above all, advises Tom Finn, president of the online mobile computing store Laptop Travel, "use common sense" when handling your portable in a hotel. "There are all kinds of things out there that can destroy your data. But if you pay attention, it's less likely to happen to you."

I asked Catherine Potter of the American Hotel & Motel Association, a Washington-based trade group for the lodging industry, if she thought properties were adequately warning guests of these dangers. "Protecting your data is a legitimate concern," she told me. "It's reasonable to think that a hotel should provide a safe environment for its guests and their computers."

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Annapolis, Md. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. The Travel Technologist appears weekly on this site. This story was also published on Biztravel.com.