Modern Buddy

So, I've recently become interested in getting a scooter, and like the Buddy, but the store near me has awful hours and I haven't been able to go look at one yet. My question is, is the pet carrier (wow I'm learning the lingo already :) big enough to hold a 15.4" laptop? I don't know how comfortable I'd be with keeping my laptop in a backpack, or in a box on the back. I'm not greatly worried about storing anything but a laptop+accessories, since I'll only be using the scooter for commuting to/from work; no need to store a helmet or anything like that. Thanks in advance for the help :)

I *THINK* it will, from memory. My old laptop was a 15" and it fit. I'm currently toting a EEEPc, which fits with tons of room to spare.

I have a Blur, which is another scooter that was formerly sold by Genuine, so I'll have to have a Buddy owner answer the question about size, but I do carry a laptop on my scooter and motorcycle so I think I can address some of your concerns.

First of all, a lot of people worry about bouncing around on the scooter damaging the hard drive. This shouldn't be a problem with modern laptops. I've not heard of a case of this happening, so generally speaking your laptop should be okay commuting on the scooter. Thousands do with no problems.

Personally, when I had a larger laptop I kept it in a backpack that was built to carry lap tops. I attached the backpack my topcase with a bungie. The laptop basically rode like a passenger. This set-up worked great. My laptop rode in the topcase dozens of times with no issues.

Eventually I bought a netbook. I keep it in my pet carrier all the time with no issues. I bought an HP with a solid state drive. I will say one of the reasons I bought the solid state drive was because I wanted something more rugged. I was not concerned with my laptop/netbook riding on my scooter, but did want something as rugged as possible for motorcycle camping. And yes, I think that's overkill.

In conclusion, whether it fits in the pet carrier or you have to find another means, your laptop should be fine.

It'd probably fit, but I wouldn't get in the habit of riding with my laptop in the pet carrier. Not so much because of the hard drive, but for the sake of every other moving part, plus the connections between supposedly-non-moving parts. When the engine's running, the entire bike is vibrating. That'll rattle the CD/DVD drive mechanism, jiggle the latch, possibly work internal parts loose, etc. Better laptops are designed to handle bumps and maybe even drops, but most simply aren't designed with that kind of treatment in mind.

By putting it in a backpack, your body will shield it from the bike's vibration, plus it gives you an easy way to carry it when you get off the scoot.

I have to agree; the best way to carry a laptop is in a backpack or messenger bag. Your body absorbs much of the jostling and vibration that goes through the scooter—and there's a lot of it.

ericalm wrote:I have to agree; the best way to carry a laptop is in a backpack or messenger bag. Your body absorbs much of the jostling and vibration that goes through the scooter—and there's a lot of it.

Agreed. Get a good messenger bag or backpack. I use one of the Corazzo bags and it works great. I've also had a Chrome messenger bag that was awesomely waterproof but was more than I needed.

+1 TVB.

I work in IT and wouldn't think it a good idea to carry your laptop in your pet carrier. Assuming you're not going to buy one with an SSD drive, I would get a backback or messenger bag for it (Crumpler makes good bags). Your hard drive isn't the only thing you have to worry about - repeated vibrations can jiggle your lcd cable loose, damage your RAM, etc.

It also gets pretty hot in the "pet carrier".

Have it in a bookbag with a padded laptop section, or in a memory foam case tossed into your back pack.

Having it bang around in the pet carrier will only make the hard drive absorb the shock and bumps and possibly cause failiure down the line.

I have a dell mini 10v I carry in my backpack, although it still gets hit by the bumps, it's safe on me physically. My body, backpack, and the netbook case all absorb any harmful bumps. It still runs great!

retrochick wrote:+1 TVB.

I work in IT and wouldn't think it a good idea to carry your laptop in your pet carrier. Assuming you're not going to buy one with an SSD drive, I would get a backback or messenger bag for it (Crumpler makes good bags). Your hard drive isn't the only thing you have to worry about - repeated vibrations can jiggle your lcd cable loose, damage your RAM, etc.

I'll just throw out there that my EEEPc does 50 miles a day in the pet carrier, and has for the past year. Doing fantastic. Granted it DOES have an SSD, but my previous Dell laptop didn't and it survived in there as well.

It may not be the ideal place to carry it for all of the reasons mentioned above. But it *IS* doable.

Kaos wrote:

retrochick wrote:+1 TVB.

I work in IT and wouldn't think it a good idea to carry your laptop in your pet carrier. Assuming you're not going to buy one with an SSD drive, I would get a backback or messenger bag for it (Crumpler makes good bags). Your hard drive isn't the only thing you have to worry about - repeated vibrations can jiggle your lcd cable loose, damage your RAM, etc.

I'll just throw out there that my EEEPc does 50 miles a day in the pet carrier, and has for the past year. Doing fantastic. Granted it DOES have an SSD, but my previous Dell laptop didn't and it survived in there as well.

It may not be the ideal place to carry it for all of the reasons mentioned above. But it *IS* doable.

Agreed. It is doable but if you have an alternative such as a backpack or bag, I would go that route.

I bring my MacBook Pro (15") to work with me every day in a messenger bag. Not an issue in the slightest.

I'm with TVB as well. Now that I have joined in with a netbook its slightly more tempting, but the thing doesn't way anything and I hardly even notice it on my back.

FWIW, I just bungee my laptop (in bag) to the stock grab bar. Works just fine for me. Saves the pet carrier for my lunchkettle.

Then again, it is not my personal laptop - if anything happens to it, the company repairs it. But I did ride 3 days a week for several months and nothing came loose on the Dell 15".

Best of luck

I've carried by dell latitude D630 in both the top case and in a packpack. I never had a problem with it in the topcase but I have heard of topcases falling off before (not common but scarey none the less) so I now prefer to carry it in my chrome messenger bag or my swiss gear packpack that I got from bestbuy. I really think that either way is fine so long as you have the laptop in a good protective sleeve.