Taking Laptops on a Top Deck/Contiki Tour?

Question

I was wondering if anyone has done one of these tours of Europe and if you or someone you know too their laptop with them. Is it worth it? Or are you better off using internet cafes?

Answer 1

Taking a laptop is always a hazard. There is the risk of dropping it, it getting wet and it getting stolen.
Besides, you have to think about it all the time, where is it, is it safe, will the bus be locked when you are out, is it in you day-pack?
Do you dare to leave it in your hotel (or worse, on a dorm you share with others who know you have it with you?)

Further, you will find WIFI in many places, but often you have to pay for its use.
And if you can not get WIFI connection you might be able to work on your diary, but not much more.
Using your own laptop in internet cafes is not the most common thing, and might cost as much as using their machines, (and I have been in places where it did cost more.)

I found that using internet cafes is a good way to keep track of your e-mail and to do your banking if you have a good encryption system that can not be used twice in a row.
Remember always to actively log out from each site you log into, and it might be best to empty the recent pages files, but I have never bothered with that.

In short, do not take your laptop, use internet cafes, but think about what you are doing.