Does carrying my laptop in a roller bag damage the laptop, due to the vibration?

December 19, 2007 11:53 AM

Because of an injury, I carry my laptop in one of those roller backpacks. I've heard that tiny vibrations (such as construction in the next office building) can be very damaging to computers. So does the vibration from the rolling on pavement potentially damage my laptop?

Should I just suck it up and carry my heavy widescreen laptop on my back? Does keeping it in a neoprene sleeve help? Any tips on how I can keep the weight off my back, while preventing damage to my computer?

I sprained my ankle at one of those trampoline gyms: Sky High Sports in Santa Clara, CA. It's all fun until someone rips a tendon.

posted by k7lim to technology (17 comments total)

Haven't seen that warning re: tiny vibrations. Of course any vibrations are bad, but if you've secured your laptop cozily in shock-absorbent cushioning, then you're fine. I've carried my laptop around in a an ebags.com wheelie backpack on hundreds of trips with no problem whatsoever.
posted by diastematic at 11:58 AM on December 19, 2007

Should I just suck it up and carry my heavy widescreen laptop on my back?

Even if it does damage your laptop, the answer to this question is seriously no. Unless you value your laptop above your body.

The most fragile bits of your laptop are the ones with moving parts. That means the hard drive. Back up your important stuff every day, which you should do anyway. Then you won't have to worry.
posted by grouse at 12:02 PM on December 19, 2007

That 'tiny vibrations hurt your computer' idea seems to me to be a relic of an earlier era of hard drives, or a marketing point from a case manufacturer. A rolling backpack will not harm a powered-down or suspended computer. You don't want to get too many vibrations when the HD is running, but laptop drives are pretty hardy generally, and I suspect that the chances of spontaneous HD failure are about the same whether the unit is exposed to vibration or not.

In short: No.

p.s. I have one of these and I love it so, and I work in IT, and I've never worried about what you're worrying about.
posted by ulotrichous at 12:14 PM on December 19, 2007

The claim that tiny vibrations are going to be damaging to a computer doesn't even make that much sense. If a tiny vibration is damaging, what about the resounding shock for typing on the keyboard? Vibration from the laptop's fan or optical drive spinning? The base from a stereo nearby? That really just sounds like it marketing hokum that somehow got repeated as fact.

If you're really concerned, put some extra padding in your bag, but it's almost certainly not going to make a difference. Make daily backups as everyone above suggests and you'll be right as rain.
posted by Nelsormensch at 12:24 PM on December 19, 2007

Anecdotal evidence: I transported a ~2001-era Dell laptop all over creation in one of those rolling backpack thingys for a couple of years, and it survived with no problems at all.
posted by somanyamys at 12:26 PM on December 19, 2007

More anecdotal evidence: I carried a Thinkpad in a rolling bag for 2 years, traveling every week, and not only did it survive, I am still using it right now.
posted by bedhead at 12:32 PM on December 19, 2007

Agree with the above that it shouldn't be a problem - if you want to be extra careful, though, make sure you turn the laptop off when rolling it. If my fuzzy memory serves me correctly, the concern is more about the hard drive heads bouncing off the platters, and this becomes a non-issue if the laptop is off.

Or I could be making that all up :)
posted by um_maverick at 12:48 PM on December 19, 2007

The vibration WILL hurt your computer. Many hard drives have a feature where if they aren't spinning, they lock the read heads and the platters in place to protect them, but unless you have a fancy computer you probably don't have this. Thinkpads and newer macs have this tech; I don't know about latitudes, but inspirons use POS cheap HDs and will suffer from this.
DO NOT roll around with your laptop on in any fashion where the HD spins - but suspend/hibernate are fine. Still, constant vibrating isn't great, so pad it well (i.e. don't use a cheap POS pack), or get a fancy rolling pack with a sling - I forget what they're called, but the laptop sits in an elastic sling suspended from the top of the pack rather than resting on the bottom - this will definitely protect your laptop.
In any case, protect your back, you can always get a new laptop.
posted by lrodman at 1:22 PM on December 19, 2007

irodman, all hard drives park when not spinning. The technology you're talking about is related to combining this present capability with sudden motion sensors found in apple and thinkpad laptops.

The idea is that as a laptop is falling off a table the sudden motion sensor tells the hard drive to lock the read head so that when it hits the floor, the read head doesn't slap against the platter. This is what would normally happen without the sudden motion sensor, since the hard drive would continue spinning as the laptop hits the ground, causing severe damage to the platter and thus the data. It's much less likely to be damaged if it's locked when it hits the ground.

This technology has nothing to do with a hard drive that is already not spinning (i.e., because the computer is off or asleep). It also doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the hard drive, or constant vibrations.
posted by odinsdream at 2:49 PM on December 19, 2007

You're most likely fine. If it helps, buy a roller bag that's made to carry laptops.

Make sure you have rubber wheels and padding inside your bag. Neoprene would help some but you most likely won't need it. Shock can be destructive if it's not damped out.

When you roll your bag over a big crack, do you feel a jolt in the handle? If not, then you're fine.
posted by albolin at 2:54 PM on December 19, 2007

Brenthaven has a wheeled case with vibration protection™.
I have a shoulder case and I love it, it's very resistant.
posted by clearlydemon at 3:22 PM on December 19, 2007

I've had ancient laptops that survived all sorts of falls and damage. Still worked great. I don't think rolling vibrations would harm your laptop much.
posted by divabat at 5:33 PM on December 19, 2007

I had a tiny Dell 300 that I carried (unprotected) in my purse or briefcase every business day for 2 years. It had scratches all over the case and it had been dropped a few times - but the thing was still running like champ when I turned it in for replacement.

Laptops are stronger than you might think. Your back is comparatively much more fragile. Rolling bag it is.
posted by 26.2 at 6:07 PM on December 19, 2007

More anecdotal info: I keep my laptop (Lenovo T60) running constantly and drive with it on a not-very-cushy mount in my car. I drive from place to place a lot for work....

It's running when I snatch it off the desk, throw it in my bag, and whip it out to place it in the car mount. Then of course I drive around with it running and playing podcasts....

Of course, this is not prudent and you should do it at your own risk. If you want to be safe, I've heard smarter people say you should put it in suspend/sleep/hibernate/whatever if you transport it, just like the smart people above. However, I rarely do so.
posted by powpow at 7:19 PM on December 19, 2007

Pow Pow - I never put mine in hibernate mode either. I live on the edge!
posted by 26.2 at 7:29 PM on December 19, 2007

Yeah, I have a Dell Latitude D600 running Linux with no sleep/hibernate support (or I'm too lazy to configure it). It literally runs 24/7 except for when I travel (or when I accidentally pull the AC plug out when I set it down).

It lives on a laptop beanie bag type of thing and sits on a pedestal like thing beside my Captain Kirk chair.

Over the past 3-4 years I've knocked it off the pedestal thing (while up and running) countless dozens of times. Like a 2 foot drop... It's 3 or 4 years old now and used so much that my wrists have worn through the gray top coat and you can see the black plastic underneath. (no, really, you can definitely tell that those are wrist/hand/thumb marks on both sides of the trackpad.)

Anyway, unless your laptop HD is crap, then no... rolling it around in luggage isn't going to do any damage. If it's off, or sleeping you're pretty safe, and even if it's on you're pretty safe.
posted by zengargoyle at 12:12 AM on December 20, 2007

Not in my experience, I've had a JanSport one for the last 3.5 years and no damage of any kind to my laptop. My wife has the same model.

Not only has it saved my back, but because it doesn't look like a conventional laptop case (hello Targus) I'm less likely to get picked out for theft which is important in airports, train stations etc.

Use it everyday for commute to work, fly twice a month with it and no problem.

JanSport lifetime guarantee is great, retractable handle broke after 3 years due to wear and tear. Even though I bought it in Canada, they recommended a dealer in my town in Norway who fixed it. When the fix didn't last, they just gave me a brand new one. Would definitely JanSport buy again.
posted by arcticseal at 10:20 AM on December 20, 2007