My commute back to the office may resume, but as we'll only be on limited days I'll have to take my laptop in and out with me.
My commute is running, and my laptop is lightweight with an SSD. I've done it a few times before and its been Ok, albeit a little heavy. Am I risking damaging it if I do it frequently? Its a work laptop so its an inconvenience if I do as they'll swap it out for a loan laptop whilst its fixed.
No real world experience but I can't imagine it's much different to being bounced around inside a car with stiff suspension on pot-holed roads.
I used to do this regularly - 5 miles down the towpath to work. Provided you’ve got a running pack that you can snug-up tightly with compression straps, shouldn’t be a problem.
I'd imagine the potentially damp, sweaty environment would be more of an issue than bouncing around. I don't think it's something I would be doing a lot of to be honest!
There is always going to be a risk of something working loose but as it has an SSD the main area of concern (the hard drive) is covered.
Am I risking damaging it if I do it frequently?
No.
I’ll have to take my laptop in and out with me.
Sounds like a bind, can't they provide you with a desktop for use when you're in the office?
My commute back to the office may resume
Is there a good reason for that? Do you want to go back in?
They can't provide a desktop in the office as there's no room for them, we're doing hot-desking and will all be using laptops, and there's already about 40 desktop PCs that need housing somewhere for remote desktop reasons for other homeworkers.
Our employer want people to return to the office for 2 days a week, they're aiming for October but judging by how they're trying to pander to everyone's needs however bizarre, that will probably get bumped to November, when we may be in another lockdown anyway, so I'm not holding my breath.
I'd say whack it in a large ziploc type bag to ensure no dust or moisture can migrate into it while you're running. Then whack that into a padded case.
In the early '90's, i worked for IBM, in their desktop/laptop assembly plant in Greenock. One of the tests during assembly was known as HASS (Hyper Accelerated Stress Screening or something). this was basically putting the motherboards in a big, damp oven and running through many heat/cool cycles in order to create a product life time of wear and tear. And therefore make any weak parts break before they went to the customer, i.e. get past the first part of the bathtub effect.
not many boards failed!
so as long as you are not physically shocking the lappy too much, i reckon you will be grand.
With an SSD I wouldn't worry about it.
They can’t provide a desktop in the office as there’s no room for them, we’re doing hot-desking
Why can't you hot-desk with desktops (or fixed laptops)?
Our employer want people to return to the office for 2 days a week,
That's not what I asked.
It doesn't matter what they want. If you want to work from home then legally they have to let you do so or justify why you can't, and "we want you to" is insufficient. If you want to go in then that's different.
there’s already about 40 desktop PCs that need housing somewhere for remote desktop reasons for other homeworkers.
... and that's a whole other bowl of Olympic-grade stupid.
I've a vango 'planet series' 20ltr 'day pack' that came as part of a bigger backpack... It's just about right for a 14 inch laptop plus a few other gubbins.
I doubt you'd really have an issue if the laptop is solid state, unless you take a tumble.. So you might want to go a tad bigger than 20ltr and put some additional foam inserts in for added protection.
But if it's a work laptop I probably wouldn't bother... Lol
If it were my laptop, I'd go for an inflatable pouch. If it's for work, I would not care. Work laptop sits in a pannier briefcase and suffers high frequency vibrations. Not had an issue.
It doesn’t matter what they want. If you want to work from home then legally they have to let you do so or justify why you can’t, and “we want you to” is insufficient.
In my opinion its very easy for a business to deny a flexible working request by saying there there will be a negative effect on quality, performance or its ability to meet customer demand.
I'm not saying you can't ask and a business must formally consider it but that doesn't mean it will be allowed.
It doesn’t matter what they want. If you want to work from home then legally they have to let you do so or justify why you can’t, and “we want you to” is insufficient.
An employer would find it very easy to justify why they would want their employees to go into the office twice a week. They would be very silly just to say 'we want you to' but they could just as easily say 'for operational and team performance reasons we require you to attend the office twice a week'. Of course if the employee left and was replaced by someone who didn't go in twice a week there may be a case to answer though.
In the old days I’d say make sure it’s shut down so the hard disk is parked, these days with ssd and pretty much zero moving parts you’d be fine.
For a long time now, we’ve only been allowed to access the company network using company hardware - which means we’ll be carting laptops in for a while.
There is talk of us moving to vdi which could potentially allow own hardware again. Progress…
I used to run with mine regularly and never had any issues, before SSDs.
Used to commute xc on a hardtail with it too, bumped my rucksack into the odd tree here and there, and been knocked off on the road with it once as well, it's always been fine.
PC was always tight and protected by spare clothing in the rucksack, rucksack always tight to me with chest and waist straps.
^^ what reasons are those?
We've had approaching two years now of most people working from home. Has this been demonstrably inferior? Have employees failed KPIs?
Going back to an office because you want to is great, I have colleagues who are chomping at the bit to back in. But if you don't want to and there's no need to, you don't have to and employers are breaking the law if they refuse Flexible Working without actual justification.
I'm actually surprised that more companies aren't grasping this with both hands. Suddenly having to only provide office space for [insert random figure I've pulled out of my arse here] a tenth of your workforce rather than all of them is a massive cost saving.
Does work pay for your laptop?
Would you have to pay for a new one if you killed it?
If the answers are yes and then no, i would say get running
I used to do this regularly with an ultrabook before the era of working from home. I used to put it in a waterproof neoprene sleeve for protection from bashes and humidity and shoved that in a running backpack with my change of clothes for the day. The worst bit was changing back into clammy running kit in the evening to run home again.
I’d walk or cycle to save on faff. Padded bags, retention straps, zip locks and foam. Sounds like a lot of hassle for a jog.
If you're in the office 2 or 3 days in a row, just leave the laptop there.
We’ve had approaching two years now of most people working from home. Has this been demonstrably inferior?
In many industries yes, the last 2 years we have seen lower levels of performance. However I’m not sure you can argue what the business did or allowed in a time of a global pandemic should reflect how it structure’s itself long term. And it’s not necessarily about the individual but the effect the individual working from home may have on the overall team dynamic.
I do understand what you’re saying and many businesses including mine are allowing a more flexible approach to where people work and reaping the savings of doing this. I’m simple saying it’s not your right to work at home if your contract says you are based in an office.
I used to do this - really felt better on the days I left the laptop at work!
I used a snowboard backpack which had a full-sized back protector and it was brilliant. No sharp corners poking me in the shoulders, waterproof, no sweat soaking through the back and really supportive of the laptop in a sleeve up against the inside of the back protector. Maybe overkill, but no laptop problems over 4 years.
Wow, didn't know it was now law that you could "toss it off" *cough "work from home" at your own discretion.
This country really is becoming a strange place
Yup.
And Cougar has misunderstood the changes to the law.
what reasons are those?
We’ve had approaching two years now of most people working from home. Has this been demonstrably inferior? Have employees failed KPIs?
Seriously? Generally I respect what you say but that is ridiculous. Yes, working from home can work but, for many people and many businesses, it still is not as effective as being in the same space working together.
In my experience (as a business owner) the only people that think working remotely works are the ones that want to work remotely.
Sounds like a bind, can’t they provide you with a desktop for use when you’re in the office?
We have no desktops. Everyone has a Surface Pro/Elitebook, every office desk has a docking station and screen.
Worked quite well when we were sent home for first lockdown with an hours notice. Now everyone's dining table has a big screen, mouse and keyboard as well!
If the answers are yes and then no, i would say get running
Fpr me it would depend on the hassle factor of setting up the loan laptop (especially since chances are it would be way underpowered) and then the replacement. The number of people whining at me whilst a build takes ten hours would be high and therefore so would my unhappiness.
That said use to cycle on really crap roads with a laptop without issue. I would go for a padded bag and then pretty much forget about it. My guess is it would have a shortened lifespan but not to the extent that unless the company is really slack at replacing the laptops it wont be noticeable for the original user.
Many backpacks/rucksacks have some sort of padding at the back, along with a zipped padded pocket specifically for a tablet/laptop, and are pretty water-resistant for obvious reasons. Put the laptop into a zipped neoprene case, and you’re golden. Actually, doesn’t really need to be zipped, just a slide-in one would probably do.
And Cougar has misunderstood the changes to the law.
Has he? How's that, then?
