Aren't you worried your laptop might get stolen?

I've been a PC user all my life. One of the biggest fears I have with purchasing a laptop is basically, it's a pretty prized possession, and people would love to have it. There are countless cases daily of laptops and phones being snatched, stolen, or forced, and the owners are left with nothing but a hole in their pocket and nothing to show for it. PCs can do the job laptops can't, for a better price, with better performance, and you have the security of it not being stolen easily. So are you guys worried about your own laptops?

 

I don't really worry about getting my laptop stolen because I rarely take it out and about. It's a few years old and kind of chunky and heavy so it's kind of a drag to be carrying it with me wherever I go. I would worry if I took it to university because it just seems like the ideal place for laptops to be lost or stolen. I see a lot of students with their Macbooks or whatever, but I try to take mine out as little as possible. When I do, I carry it in my backpack and I make sure to keep my eye on it. I would hate to lose my laptop, I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to it because I absolutely adore my dearest laptop.

 

Yes, there are thieves everywhere. I am always careful when I use my laptop in the public. Never let it leave your sight is the key. If you have to leave for a moment (such as going to the restroom), let someone you trust to watch it for you, but you still can't leave for long in case that someone stopped paying attention to your laptop after a while.

The fact my current laptop is a Surface Pro 4, cost me almost $1,500 after tax and discount. I am even more careful with it than with my previous laptop.


PCs are great for doing a lot of more resource intense programs, but laptop's strong point is its portability. There are times we have to carry them with us to various places. That is something PC can't do... or at least can't do it easily.

 

I hardly take it out with me so that's really the last thing on my mind. Whenever i use it outside, I'm cautious of my surroundings and i won't leave it unattended for one second, that's just asking for trouble.

 

Not really, you can install tracking devices and system lockers on your laptop that will make your laptop impossible to be hacked, so you won't lose any data. Then you can use the tracking device (that the thief can't uninstall at all) to locate your laptop and get it back with the help of the police, a friend of mine was in that situation before.
I get where you're coming from but it's easy to protect yourself.

 

Good luck with stolen items. Cops do not care about such small theft most of the time. They'd rather catch bank robbers.

Tracking and locker are both useless. Just take a look at how many iPhones are stolen every year? Or even every day? With "Find my iPhone" tracking, and fingerprint locks, the thieves can still take them and make use of them. And you should never count on the thief can't make good use of the stolen item. Even if they find it useless to them, you aren't going to get it back either way. The best thing to do when deal with theft is to stop it from happening. Just watch out for your own stuff all the time.

 

No, I'm not at all worried that my laptop might be stolen. Why? Because I took out insurance on it as soon as I bought it. It's covered for theft so if it gets stolen I can just get a new one. Obviously, if the new one then got stolen then I might be in trouble because the insurance company might question it but that insurance is ongoing indefinitely. It continues year after year unless I stop paying but it's definitely worth it.

 

I am not worried about my laptop get stolen since I don't use it in public area. I am, however, worried about it being stolen from my house should there be a break in. I like to think being cautious is best, and always put my laptop somewhere out of easy sight when I leave the house.

 

I carry my laptop when I am traveling or when I am out. I am worried about my laptop being stolen. If I lose my laptop, I just don't lose the laptop, I lose data that is too valuable for me. When ever I am outdoors, I always carry my laptop with me, I never leave my laptop unattended.

 

Well, honestly, I learned the hard way that people can simply break in into your place and steal your desktop computer, and that's much worse: I guess back in some part of your mind you understand that your laptop could be stolen or loss so you are more careful with the things you put in there, with your backups and security. You probably add a stronger password, install some software to track the thing if it was stolen and so on, but I guess one sees a desktop as this perpetual immobile thing and, trust me, that's not the case.

I usually only take a cheap Chromebook out of the house and for traveling, it is in that sweet spot that works for me, meets all my needs but it was so cheap that if I lose it it is not going to be a big deal. I don't see myself carrying a very expensive laptop around though.

 

I am very careful with my laptop for 2 reasons. First, my laptop is the official issue of our office. Second, laptop is second to cellphone when it comes to thievery and burglary. There are news reports that show cctv footages of laptops being stolen in fastfood outlets while the owner is busy or eating. If it can happen to them, it can also happen to me that's why I never bring my laptop to the mall when I am alone. Besides, what am I going to do on my laptop when I am in the mall where I should shop? And leaving my laptop in the car, I have throw pillows in there for cover so potential burglars wouldn't see it.

 

Given my current situation, I worry from time to time. You just have to be weary and careful, if you can't handle a laptop, you probably can't handle a baby, so it's sort of like parent practice

 

That's not true, a friend of mine recently got their iPhone stolen and the police helped because he had a tracking device on it. I know where you're coming from and numerous devices of mine have been stolen and the police didn't do anything because it would've been a big time investment, but as long as you can track your electronics and it doesn't take more than a few hours to get to the thief the police are willing to help.

 

Wasn't it in the news that two women lost their iPhones, and they reported it to the cops but were told to deal with it themselves. The cops also just told them to call 911 if there is a problem...

They had to go to the house and knocked on the door. Good thing was the guy returned their iPhones without incident. I guess a thief is a thief. If he was more "brave", he'd be a robber instead lol...

There is also no way for me to track my laptop. At least I am unaware of I can do it. So I'd rather be careful enough not to get it stolen in the first place.

 

There is actually a way of tracking and protecting your laptop, at least that's what I'm using right now. It's called Prey (https://preyproject.com/) and no thief can uninstall it and once you report your laptop stolen then it locks down and it becomes unusable. Not really sure if the laptop will still be tracked if the thief takes out the hdd though.