Laptop outside -> may cause condensation on hdd when going inside ?

[Mike Kallies]

Zbigniew Koziol wrote:
> James Knott wrote:
>> Ummm...  If there was a vacuum, there wouldn't be any air to cause the
>> heads to fly.
>>   
> Here is a good reference to support you:
> 
> http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/packAir-c.html
> 
>> I always take the computer as carry on luggage.
>>   
> They do not object? No one asks for duty taxes? I would gladly take next
> time mine, its a small desktop (not a laptop) that would fit in.

You're always taking a chance when you travel with a machine.  It might
be searched, dismantled, taken to be searched in their lab.  Whatever
else they like.

For duty, if it looks shiny and new, you *should* keep a receipt or
something to "prove" that you're not subject to duty.  It depends on the
machine, the country and your appearance.

Again... you're always taking a chance when you travel with a machine.
You're not protected against anything except some pretty extreme human
rights violations at a border crossing.  The argument I've heard is that
you're not in the country until you clear customs, so you're not
protected by any constitution until you clear customs.

That said, a friend of mine packed her mac mini in carry-on from Europe
and back.  No problems, no questions, no receipt, and it was only a few
months old.

The only borders I've heard of where they seem to care about computers
are the U.S. and Cuba.  At the U.S. border, they may want to search your
files.  I've never heard of this happening to anyone I know, but it's
been in the news enough to worry people.

At the Cuban border, they just want to make sure the machine is
registered because they don't want it imported... they don't like people
having unfiltered Internet access.

Before crossing a border, back up your files, encrypt your drive and be
prepared to lose your machine if you don't decrypt your files for them.
   I'd like to think that regardless of what else was on your boot menu,
booting to an unencrypted install would let the border guard tick off
his little "ok" checkbox and everyone can feel good about doing their
part to stop terrorists.

Just normal travel stuff.  I hope these laws get changed soon.  They're
warped.  I think it's analogous to your personal diary... for the safety
of the flight, I can undestand x-raying it, opening it, shake the pages,
then closing it.  But to take it away or to make a copy to read at your
leisure is insane.

Realistically, nothing will probably happen.  Probably.

-Mike
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