05-07-2007, 07:21 PM

Im going off to college in a short few months, and I was advised to pick up a lock for my laptop. Anyone know if the generic Laptop locks works with a macbook? I looked around on the case and didnt see anything....

05-08-2007, 01:53 AM

No doubt Google will hook you up Mr. Dogfood. I prefer Kingston for all of my generic needs (such as locks), check this out.

05-08-2007, 05:44 PM

None of those are too good. For the most part, they're just keeping the honest people honest. Someone could get through one of those in a matter of seconds. People use them, but they really offer only minimal protection.

I don't know where you are going to school, but let me give you this advice. I am a freshman in college. I got my MacBok like two weeks before school started, and I was freaked out about people stealing it from me. I live in the dorms, where there are people around 24/7 and going into my first semester, I didn't really trust any of them. Now that the second semester's almost over, I would trust any of the guys that live up here with my life. I know them all, and I know that none of them would steal from me.(and if they did, it would be as a short-lived joke) We all have each other's backs, and if any one of us saw someone else's stuff getting ripped off, the robber would get his **butt** kicked. I never bought a laptop or external HDD lock, and I never needed one to begin with.

05-08-2007, 07:37 PM

If you're in a situation such as what Jeff has described, you shouldn't have any issues anyway. This is assuming that you use common sense and lock your doors/ do not leave your macbook in the hallway by itself for an hour.

05-08-2007, 09:48 PM

I agree with that, Jeff. But really you never know. A $40 lock that deters someone from stealing it is, imo, worth it for a $1600+ investment. Its more of a deterent than anything else. There is always a chance that I or my room-mate will step out for a few minutes and forget to lock the door or something. Until I can build solid trust in my room mates, i think its something I would like to have.

05-08-2007, 10:10 PM

for those people who do use laptop locks, where do you usually put the other end of the cable?

05-08-2007, 10:22 PM

Originally Posted by PixelP 2.o

for those people who do use laptop locks, where do you usually put the other end of the cable?

I use a Targus Defcon CL notebook lock at work. It has a loop on one end, so you can literally wrap it around something immobile (or even something big, like a chair, that's hard to conceal as you run away with the goods) and then feed the other end of the cable through the loop.

A would-be thief would be hard pressed to steal my laptop with this lock. It's not going to be easily cut without a pair of bolt cutters or something similar. It has a four-digit combination that is user-configurable. Tearing the lock from the notebook's security slot would be very difficult without doing serious damage to the case. I'd recommend it to anyone leaving their notebook in a public place for short periods of time.

Now, I don't think I'd feel comfortable leaving it in a public place overnight, but if you're in a crowded room and just want to go to the bathroom for a minute, I highly doubt it would walk away without being noticed.

05-09-2007, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by PixelP 2.o

for those people who do use laptop locks, where do you usually put the other end of the cable?

At my college there are holes in the desks designed for that purpose, whcih im sure is the same for most colleges around.

05-09-2007, 04:06 PM

My work laptop has one of these cables on it, and it's looped around a steel overhead bookshelf.

05-09-2007, 04:14 PM

Just by a safe at walmart.

05-09-2007, 07:13 PM

I use a Kensington lock provided by my IT department to keep my Macbook chained to my desk when I'm at work. My wife used a Kensington lock also provided by my IT department to keep her Macbook chained to her hospital bed back when she was spending time in the Hospital.

Yeah, I suppose it isn't the best, but it does keep the quick grabber (*yoink*!) type of thief at bay.

Though, interestingly enough our IT people sort of require that we chain our company owned Dell laptops chained to our desks, I typically don't use the Kensington on the company provided Dell. Rather I keep that in the trunk of my car. My Macbook, however, is securely cabled down since I have a co-worker who (jokingly, of course) keeps saying he'll steal it.

He doesn't really mean it, of course, since he knows that if he touches my Macbook I'll cut him!