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Notebook Security Locks on Sentia 3450

post #1 of 14
12/13/06 at 1:48am
Thread Starter 
I was at bestbuy today and saw this on a clearance table

http://www.targus.com/us/product_det...sp?sku=ASP10US

It was 24.99 vs 49.99 so I picked one up, I didn't open it yet, and I know if someone broke in and wanted the laptop a few good tugs and something in the chain would break or give way probably, but in general are these things any good at all really?

Anyone know of any cases where it saved the laptop?

Guess I have seen too many laptops grow legs and walk away (lived near MSU in East Lansing, MI) and it was common chat every Monday hearing someone lost their laptop over the weekend but I never knew anyone that used a cable to try and protect it.

Input from anyone before i break the seal?

Figured it can't hurt to have at least a bit of a deterrent and I won't put confidence in it being Fort Knox but is this just a novelty or do they work at all?

Bill
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post #2 of 14
12/13/06 at 2:00am
Thread Starter 
This is the same lock,

http://www.mobilityguru.com/2006/09/..._3/page23.html

(a few pics of the cable etc) and a description, it appeared to be the only one best buy had and when i looked at the others on the regular wall this was thicker and looked more solid so I figured ok on clearance, not open, looks solid grab it at 24.99...
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post #3 of 14
12/13/06 at 2:29am
The quick answer...NO it doesnt work.

The best can be said about these is that they are a deterrent, an average theif will see the lock and move on to an easier mark without one, but a laptop is still gunna get jacked!

HOWEVER, Like u said, anyone who REALLY wants YOUR laptop will not be stopped by a cable like these. I have a pair of sheet-metal snips (scissors) that will cut through the best of these cables in 2 seconds, completely silently too.

On the flip side a pro thief will see the lock and think your laptop is worth 2x as much as it really is, and go after YOUR laptop lock and all because of the perceived extra value.

Lastly, short of cutting the cable, a member of this very board made international news not so long ago by bypassing several of these locks using a ball point pen and toilet paper roll as a lock pick. Use the forum search and u should be able to find it.

So in the end is it worth the 24$, nope, the best and only security is to never let it leave your site!!! Walk away and leave a friend in charge, maybe, if the worst case scenario happens while your gone, will your friend REALLY be able to replace the laptop short of an appearance on Judge Judy.....prolly not.

Even then, my school San Jose State...... had a rash of robberies were 4-7 football players were robbing students at night at gunpoint on campus for their backpacks, cell phones, wallets, jewlry, ipods and laptops. Then beat the shit out of them only in the way a steroid crazed football player could. doh

So the only SAFE/Good laptop security investment is hard drive encryption coupled with a full retail value replacement theft insurance policy on the laptop........then u never have to worry except lost work, but not if u back up responsibly

On a side note, many of the majors at my campus require a laptop, as such SOOOO many students have them that it is so commonplace that general thievery is down b/c they are so common, although it still happens......

Class dismissed
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post #4 of 14
12/13/06 at 3:09am
Thread Starter 
I have a big safe here at the house and my sentia is in there most of the time (right now in fact) but I will say when I leave the house to run to the store or something yeah my alarm is on yeah my doors and windows are locked, yet if my laptop is out on my desk it is just waiting to be the first thing picked up.

In a perfect world it would be in the safe at all times when it isn't used but sometimes yeah it sits at my desk here, so I figured why not do the cable thing, I am not in school anymore and don't really tote the lappy around much, when i do it does not leave my site no exceptions, I woudln't secure it to the library table and roam the isles thinking it was ok etc...

Call me paranoid but even this main pc here has a thick cable going thru the case and is bolted to the studs in the wall, and when I leave town i take the hard drive out and stash that in the safe...

A bit of background, I lived in the Chicago Suburbs and New York as a kid growing up and saw too much BS happen and stuff walk away from peoples homes and such...so I guess I go a bit overboard but I do know a 13 min trip to the store to get milk and bread on any given tuesday afternoon could be my worst nightmare (it happens when you don't THINK it will happen)...

Just figured this might stall them long enough for me to find them and pound their asses thru a few walls by their heads, yes I have anger issues when it comes to someone stealing my things.

So far I have lost (and never recovered)

MY 66 Mustang window broken/stereo stolen/hubcaps stolen at train station in Palatine IL (decent neighborhood actually).

My 66 Mustang stolen from a parking lot in Schaumburg IL (woodfield mall) well lit, busy area, my car drove away and was NEVER seen again to this day...

2 house breakins one in new york one in chicago lost thousands in both stereo and electronics equipment.

Stereo system out of my 96 Impala SS while parked in my DRIVEWAY in Arlington Heights IL.

I actually don't even have much that means too much or couldn't be replaced easy and fast with insurance $$ but the laptop has some important stuff on it, actually im thinking of switching over and dumping the important files onto a thumbdrive and stashing that in the safe (might be a good idea for backup anyways) then just erase the files off the laptop itself in case it ever was stolen, wifes laptop has all our banking info in it so was gonna do the same (get another cable for hers too)... but hers sits in the big safe most of the time anyways she isnt on it too much...

Just had not seen any real reviews or video clips of anyone attempting to YANK one of these off and wondered how "secure" they are to a jerk and run situation (how much it would slow them down).

Bill
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post #5 of 14
12/13/06 at 3:25am
Thread Starter 
Well after some google searchin sounds like this just goes back vs opening

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twinci...g/15473832.htm

http://www.security.org/
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post #6 of 14
12/13/06 at 3:30am
Thread Starter 
SCARY VIDEO

http://www.engadget.com/videos/lockdown/targus_mwt.wmv
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post #7 of 14
12/13/06 at 3:38am
Thread Starter 
EVEN SCARIER HOW THEY OPEN THE COMBO

http://www.engadget.com/videos/lockd...us_fiddler.wmv
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post #8 of 14
12/13/06 at 6:35am
I loves me some Judge Judy...ain't no hands in pockets, arms crossed, look left than right and down at the floor while lying in her courtroom...you gotta look her rite in the eye and lie!!!



Zoid
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post #9 of 14
12/14/06 at 2:06am
So an "I told you so...." would be in order haha

Really though Bill, if you have the sensitive information you say, encrypt your laptop harddrives and use password authentication to read them, back up important information onto an encrypted USB harddrive and put that into the safe, not the laptops.

Like I said, there is no measure of protection against theft, your only recourse is to have insurance!! The every thief will just reformat your laptop harddrive rather than try to decrypt it!!!! So between insurance and encryption you should be able to sleep at night and be a lot less anal about were a laptop is at 24/7.
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post #10 of 14
12/14/06 at 2:36am
Thread Starter 
Arch how can i encrypt my files on the laptop? Are there any free apps that do this? Never heard of encrypting but that sounds like a great option that with insurance would make me feel a bit better if it did get stolen, in the past it was car parts stereo stuff etc nowadays its DATA I am more worried about losing (I do backup stuff) but in general my data in the wrong hands etc.
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post #11 of 14
12/15/06 at 3:25am
My suggestion is to encrypt the entire harddrive not just individual files, doing so requires a password to read anything off the harddrive including booting windows. Alas this is an area I have defficient knowledge in, I would suggest asking for this specific advice in a new thread in the AW General Forum, there should be someone who can tell you what/how this should be done. I think Vista offers a built in harddrive full disk encrypotion, but am sketchy on details. So ask in the general forum, I too will be interested to see what peeps have to say.
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post #12 of 14
12/15/06 at 5:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by archalien
My suggestion is to encrypt the entire harddrive not just individual files, doing so requires a password to read anything off the harddrive including booting windows. Alas this is an area I have defficient knowledge in, I would suggest asking for this specific advice in a new thread in the AW General Forum, there should be someone who can tell you what/how this should be done. I think Vista offers a built in harddrive full disk encrypotion, but am sketchy on details. So ask in the general forum, I too will be interested to see what peeps have to say.

Little article on the Vista thing, post some damn links arch .

Link
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post #13 of 14
12/15/06 at 11:09am
Thread Starter 
I will ask around on this, i have windows xp home on the sentia and probably won't upgrade to Vista for a while, but I am hoping there is a way I can do it with xphome.

Bill
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post #14 of 14
12/15/06 at 7:14pm
I use the notebook lock at college durring class. I lock my AW to the desk I'm sitting at for like short breaks, cigs or bathroom. It works very well in that sense. As for at home... If a buglar is set on stealing, thats just it... they will steal it. It could cost him an arm and he would still steal it if they wanted it. So... Its the same case with bike locks and windows on cars, they are just there to give that sense of security. If you bolted your lappy down to a table and it could not be cut/broke/burnt... The robber would just take the table... Get it? I use mine all the time though. I use it at the local internet caffe also for bathroom breaks..
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