marvelousmouse

Game boys- or at least whatever the equivalent is- are actually more complex than a simple tablet these days. I would think if you can disguise a bomb as an Ipad, you could do the same with a game boy. My neighbor has one, and it's got a lot more features than my cousins old game boy did.

But then again, I don't really understand why tablets are ok and not something like an iPad mini. The only different is the screen and camera. So if Ipad is danderous why is my iPhone safe?

Iwan2go

Man, if this goes through I am going to be so mad. I just bought six novels on my iPad for our two week trip. I used to haul paperbacks and they weigh a ton, especially if you're doing train travel. I still need email for my business as well.

I hope it doesn't happen - and that they come out with a statement in the next ten days, before we leave. I need to know. I'm not leaving an iPad in checked luggage.

vipsha

I usually carry a Kindle Paperwhite - that should be allowed? I would be happy to not carry anything else and chill, I am usually so far behind on TV and movies and everything else. A little naive, to think that a device larger in physical dimensions could do more harm than a smaller device, but whatever. Good respite to not have it while travelling for work, I don't always look forward to it.

marvelousmouse

So according to the most detailed article I could find on the ban for middle eastern airlines- they're literally banning everything larger than a cell phone other than medical equipment. So no amazon paper whites and no gameboys- both prohibited. And I can just see them confiscating some grandma's ten year old digital camera. I can see them confiscating my digital camera because I never remember where I stick it.

Gosh that sounds like fun day at the airport and flight. Not. One of the more entertaining critiques of this is that all an enterprising terrorist has to do is fly into, say, Canada, and catch a flight to the US.


I just don't get it. If they really think this is a high risk situation, it's not like it's hard to get your hands on medical equipment anyway. I mean it says that they will allow those on after screening but they already screen laptops. If they can't tell the different between a "bad" laptop and a "good" laptop, then how are they going to effectively screen cell phones and medical equipment?

Guenmai

I don't take my MacBook Air to Europe, S.E. Asia, and other places for entertainment purposes. It's my main means of communication with both family, here in the U.S., for elderly parent information/updates, contacting friends overseas on trips, and checking to see if any of my many flights have been changed or if there's a problem with my accommodations etc.

I don't have a cell phone with internet service etc and hardly ever use a cell phone overseas anyhow as it's expensive and I find it a hassle. So, the internet is accessed on my MacBook Air, for free, and which has a screen large enough for me to see. And as for internet cafes, in places where I travel, they're becoming fewer and fewer as many that I used, just 5 years ago, are now gone.

Tomorrow, I will be going out to look for an inexpensive laptop as I saw a Dell for $199. It might have to end up being my travel laptop as I don't want my MacBook Air in a suitcase and checked in. When I was flying from Copenhagen to Venice, Italy, summer before last, my suitcase arrived with the TSA lock open and dangling from the metal, suitcase tab. Fortunately nothing was missing inside of my suitcase, but it looked as if it had been gone through a bit. I'm going to have to figure it out as I leave within a month and don't want it to be my luck that, while away, suddenly a big ban pops up and I end up in the mess of it.

Happy Travels!

sparkchaser

On a personal traveling level, nothing will change for me.On a business travel level, this could be an issue because not only would the risk of computer theft would significantly rise, but so would the rise of unauthorized copying of drives by foreign governments and third parties.

If the international business community kicks up enough fuss, they'll likely rescind on this idea.

isabel

Well the meeting yesterday ended 'with no decision' so at least there's hope.

marvelousmouse - you are using 'logic' and 'common sense' but those abilities have now been banned by anyone working in the US government.

rs899

I know it won't be quite the same or even close, but you can pair a Bluetooth keyboard with your phone and operate a bit more like using a laptop. If it comes to that...

marvelousmouse

Ah, but "money" hasn't, Isabel, and that's what I'm counting on.

Trouble is, rs899, it's not the size of the screen that is the real problem, although I have no idea how you could type efficiently at an angle you could also read your screen. I can work on an iPad, but it makes life more difficult. I went 6 months with just an Ipad and keyboard to see if I could do without buying a new laptop. It's the whole operating system that makes it difficult. Phone is the same issue. Websites load differently, software is sometimes weird. I ended up buying a laptop because I wanted normal capabilities instead of finding work arounds for mobile every time.

So unless the "businessman" is just into social media, I can't see mobile device and Bluetooth as a serious suggestion that they'd adopt.

sparkchaser

marvelousmouse is on point.

Trying to do legitimate business on a phone or tablet is a waste of resources.

Dogeared

I don't travel with anything that would be affected. My wife likes to take her mini ipad. So I guess she would have to bite the bullet and put her old full size ipad in her checked bag and risk it being stolen. If someone stole it then their need must have been greater than our need and we would chalk it up to an act of charity.

I always have to check my bag not because of size or weight but because I always travel with a Swiss Army Knife. So my wife always checks her bag as well and avoids having to fight for space in an overhead bin with everyone else.

Don't you just love the way the digital age has made our lives so much easier. LOL

HappyTrvlr

Interesting that ban refers to flights to Europe not Asia or South America, etc. More travel to Asia perhaps..

massimop

The larger and more important issue is not whether you personally will miss your devices. The insistence by the US to put large numbers of devices in the baggage hold is a safety risk.

It means your safety is being gravely jeopardized even if you never travel with electionic devices. If everybody else's devices are in the baggage compartment of your plane, the passengers now have increased danger.

How will it affect your life? By possibly ending it.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/12/news...e-risk-europe/

5alive

I'm very concerned about a fire in the hold.

I live in the Pacific Northwest so I would probably drive to Canada for an international flight because of the safety risk.

I use a nice Canon point-and-shoot for my better photos. It doesn't have wifi or any of that, but that apparently doesn't seem to matter to TSA.

Last year, my dad checked his electric razor on just a domestic flight. His bag got opened by TSA and they didn't repack the razor at all. He had it in a sock and wrapped in a shirt before the security got a hold of it. They just threw it in there loose.

The razor broke. United wouldn't pay because of the TSA stickers on his bag. So I'm not too interested in checking my camera.

OReilly

I remember back to summer 2006 terrorist plot in London. I was traveling from London to Madrid that day for a 10 day vacation throughout Spain and had all my electronics with me. Everything had to be checked. It was pandemonium at the airport that evening, but the airlines were brilliant in how they handled it an everyone was co-operative. I packed my electronics in by suitcase and used the 'wrap' service, reasoning that at least I would know at the other end if my bags had been interfered with.

I imagine businesses will now have accelerated programs to use the Cloud so travelers can access their files from anywhere, in case of theft of laptops.

I would have difficultly reading books on my iPhone, but download audible books from audible.com/uk and movies from Netflix. Consider it, just in case.

progol

I'm planning to go to Morocco next year and the electronics ban will affect us, assuming it's still in effect by next Spring. I really can't imagine checking our camera and iPad in our luggage -- way too risky. Not sure how to handle this at all.

We use the iPad for, photo storage - we download our pix daily, travel research, reading material books - you name it, it's an important part of our travels. While we have iphones, I can't imagine using them in the same way as the iPad.

I don't know what we'll do.

Yes, I think it's all DHS theater, as someone in an earlier post suggested.

pavot

Those Kindle Fire tablets are really cheap, progol -- consider one. Another real plus for the Fire is the micro SD slot -- tons of GBs....

If the tablet gets taken out of your luggage, it isn't as big of a $$ loss.

Nikki

I don't understand how the wrap service works. It doesn't prevent anyone from breaking into the bag, and it doesn't prevent TSA from opening it to check? If that is the case, I don't see what good it is to know somebody has gone into the bag if my items are missing. Is it just a matter of making a wrapped bag a less appealing target than an unwrapped bag?

rs899

"Those Kindle Fire tablets are really cheap, progol -- consider one. Another real plus for the Fire is the micro SD slot -- tons of GBs...."

I am a big fan of the 7 inch tablet and probably have about ten of them lying around. I don't know that particular Kindle fire, but I am sure it is worth having. What bugs me about them is the constant " buy amazon" drumbeat. I am typing this on an Fire hdx that I got working on plain vanilla Android and it is a joy to use.

You can also go to Walmart now and get something usable for less than $50. But check the screen resolution and processor speed unless you want to drive yourself nuts with a cheap tablet.

progol

thanks for the suggestions on the Kindle; I also have an old mini iPad that I'd consider taking instead, although it's been unstable and I'd be worried about losing photos.

Speaking of photos, this also kills the plan to upgrade my camera - I would never check a good quality camera, either. So I guess cheap is the byword here.