I have a small laptop but it's not small enough to fit into my purse, since I'm going carry on only and I have other stuff to fit in the purse. I really don't feel like buying a bigger purse, so I'm thinking I'll slip it into the front pocket of my carry on suitcase.

Is that a bad idea?

I have a protective sleeve that I put my laptop in, but Im not sure if I'm still risking getting it damaged when trying to lift my suitcase in and out the overhead compartment, or if it were to fall from the overhead. Obviously if my bag needed to be gate checked I'd take the laptop out.

Thoughts?

If it concerns you, do you have a tote or daypack that will contain both laptop and purse? I bring a tablet and it's always in my daypack (I check my main bag) with plenty of padding around it. I prefer a small pack to a tote, find it easier to carry. With your purse inside it would still be just 1 "personal item".

I do the same as MmePerdu, although I don't bother about extra padding as my daypack fits under the seat in front of me. But I wouldn't be especially worried about a bag in the overhead either.

My lap top (or more often my iPad) is ALWAYS in my handbag -- not in the rollaboard in the overhead. Not because of safety so much but because I want to use it during the flight. If your handbag is too small - take a larger one or a tote instead. It doesn't have to be a specially purchased/new handbag. It can be a tote you already own or one you borrow from a friend/relative.

"...I don't bother about extra padding..."

I didn't mean added padding, but the padding provided by other items I carry in the pack.

It's fine.

No, not in an outside pocket of a soft bag... Too often the overhead bags get shuffled around and squished. Or the slight chance that it falls out from the overhead been. You can use one of those "green" grocery bags as a temporary tote for your personal item if your handbag is too small. Or if your handbag fits inside a backpack, that's a good alternative.

I've been putting laptops in my carry-ons for over 15 years and those carry-ons have ranged from standard 21" roll-aboards, soft-sided wheeled bags, soft sided back packs and smaller duffles or "hand-bag size "personal items. I've put the laptops both inside the bags, and in outer zippered compartments. I've taken hundreds of flight and have put the carry-on with the laptop in overhead bins and under the seat in front of me. I've traveled in First Class with lots of room, in business class with less room, in coach where space was always at a premium, in commuter aircraft where you have to "gate check" the bag as you board the plane and in small planes where you hand the bag to the pilot and he stores the bag in some available space on the plane. I've been in everything from jumbo jets to 6 passengers private planes. After literally hundreds of flights the only "damage" any of the laptops I owned was one "tiny "ding" in the outside cover of one laptop.

So, the risk of damage to a laptop in your carry-on is almost non-existent.

My experience matches RoamsAround.

If you are worried about it "falling out of the overhead bin" just take the laptop out of the suitcase before you hoist it up there and keep it with you at your seat.

Me too. The reason I put it in my handbag is for convenience, not safety.

One person's experience has little to do with how another may feel. Fears or concerns are often about what we imagine could happen and in this case it's simple to take precautions, then not think about it again. What does it cost to put the laptop somewhere else? Nothing. If it turns out the alternative seems more bother than it's worth then that outside pocket may seem safe enough.

i have also the same question in my mind =)
i am traveling with www.batik-air.net
So i hope they wont complicate.

I usually work on my laptop during my travel so I just put it where I can easily get it out specially during dull moments or waiting for my flight. I always have a handbag which is exclusive for my laptop and the charger as well.

Lots of soft bags have sleeves on the outside. Their purpose is to carry laptops and make it easy to access them when going through security and for use on the plane.

There are hundreds of laptops flying right now in that kind of luggage in the overhead bin. If people had their laptops damaged then those bags would not be as popular as they are.

People can have fears and concerns about lots of things, but that does not mean they are being reasonable.