Would traveling Italy for a couple of weeks with a laptop, by train, here and there, more of a pain than it's worth?

I don't think so, in fact we just got a new one for the trip. It would depend, of course, on how heavy yours is, but, for checking email at home, downloading pix from the camera, writing your trip report, checking all your saved information, lots more stuff. Watching movies or playing games... I think it would be essential.

I think having a computer is an asset everywhere - so I will either take a laptop or a Pocket PC to Europe. I use both of them as a substitute for lugging the pounds and pounds of dead trees that most Fodorites seem to favor.

It's getting to the point that one can walk down any street in the first world, easily find a wide-open wireless network, and just sit down and start surfing.

http://us.kensington.com/html/5703.html

We just took ours on its first European trip, but we were staying in an apartment in Paris the entire time. It was really nice to have, but I don't know if I'd want to drag it around if I were moving a lot. We bought a really nice backpack designed for laptops. It pads the laptop and also has lots of room if you want o put toher things in it. Plus, it looks just like a regular backpack rather than a laptop bag so it's not going to be as tempting for a thief.

>wide-open wireless network
You surely can do this in Munich, fully open, not even the default IP's and passwords of the routers have been changed. With free access to everybodies Windows PC on the network over the air. Scary...

Mine is in its own compartment in a discreet rollaboard. http://tinyurl.com/h496x

logos - I button up my ports and examine everything coming in (HTTP, POP) for viruses. A firewall prevents anything malicious from getting out, and I don't open executable email attachments - from anyone. I feel equally safe on my home network or someone else's. Anyone else's.

This is the one time that I let my boys play with stuff they find in the street.

>http://tinyurl.com/h496x
Perfect, but not for Germans ;-) I'll need a US proxy...

>Our German product selection is different than our selection in the USA. If you followed an internet link to a specific product on our US site, we regret that the same product may not be available on our German site.

How about http://tinyurl.com/feogv

This works, looks havy!

Hi LB,

For what purpose(s)?