JusRestin

Headed to Costa Rica -four of us on a rental car road trip to Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio in early March. Is it advised or safe to take a lap top? Would it be useful? Thanks

Allylam

I live here and would suggest you leave it at home. There will be 'internet cafes' where you can check in if need be.
Have a great trip.

volcanogirl

We bring ours and haven't had any problems; it's handy if the place where you're staying has WIFI. If they don't, I'd leave it at home. Most of the places we've stayed have also had one central computer in the lobby for guests to use.

hopefulist

I've always advised no on the lap top to CA question before but last summer I took a tiny netbook and had a blast blogging with it. If you can't predict you'll have wifi handy don't consider it, but if you're staying at a place with wifi it can be fun to look at pictures and keep in touch with family through blogging or emails. My blogs are on the main page of the 2007, 2008, and 2009 (x2) collections below if you'd like to check them out (not CR, though). Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

JeanH

My laptop goes with me. Even when we were in Colombia, and I needed to use internet cafes, it was so much easier plugging in my own machine that had all my sites bookmarked and my address book handy.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

It's a high-theft item. Do you absolutely need to have it with you?

Statefan

I can't imagine not having mine with me:

1) It's my backup source for pics and videos.
2) It's my really cheap source for phone calls (Skype).
3) It's my primary means for additional research on my trip while I'm on the ground.

I just put mine in the room safe or ask the hotel to put it in their safe when I am going to be out of the room. If we're traveling in between cities, I either take it with me during stops or someone stays in the car (usually the latter in places like CR).

JusRestin

Thanks for all the great replies, I guess I'll have to think on this one.

hipvirgochick

I never take my lap top and I'm always grateful to have left it at home! It's just not something that needs to be on vacation with me. Agree that I'd also be nervous about having it disappear.

hopefulist

I would never consider bringing my regular laptop - too much weight to lug around, too much to lose, too obvious to would-be thieves, needs to be recharged after a few hours of use. The little netbook I have cost me less than $300, is less than 9" x 7", weighs 2 and a half pounds, and has an 8 to 10 hour battery life. It's so small and light it's easy to pack around and I really enjoyed sorting and sharing photos and blogging along the way.

sylvia3

We really enjoy having a computer with us; it was invaluable in CR and BZ! Plenty of access to wifi in CR, never worried about it for a minute.

hipvirgochick

I just love being "disconnected" when I'm traveling, but totally get everyone's perspective. I'm on the computer all the time at work so it's a good feeling to leave it all behind for a few weeks.