EssexNobby

We're all planning on making a visa validation trip to Brissy this August (God....and DIMIA, willing).

Does anyone have any experience of using laptops on planes ?. I'd like to take my trusty old notebook on the flight, surfing this forum will definitely help pass the time on the monster journey

Are you allowed to take a laptop on a plane and power it up ?. Even if this is the case then what do you do about a power supply (baterries only last 2 hrs ) and more importantly a net connection ?

Are there any airlines that provide a wi-fi connection (802.11b) and if so then do they charge per hour or per Mb for the service ?

Any info gratefully received

Amazulu

You can usually use it during the flight but not during takeoff & landing.
Some airlines have power points for laptops, but most don't.
I don't think Wifi is available on planes yet but I read an article recently that said that it should be available in a few years.

Phoenixuk2oz

Couple of years ago I took mine on hols. Was informed could not use ANYTIME on flight

Airlines may differ or may have changed?

Give yr airline a ring?

Phoenixuk2oz

Wol

NOT during initial climb or descent. The jury is still out on electronic interference but airlines err on the cautious side.

Weird things do happen to the autopilot/instruments but it is rarely possible to correlate them with perhaps dozens of walkmen, camcorders, laptops etc all being switched on & off.

A friend of mine did have a film crew in his cockpit years ago and every time they started the videocorder the autopilot dropped out. But then that was one of the big pro jobs, near the switches and easily correlated.

Most airlines have power outlets for laptops - usually free up front or for a charge elsewhere.

Vegemite Kids

You can use the laptop on flights but not during take-off and landing, but to my knowledge it is not possible to get internet connection, so you can only work from the hard drive. However a collegue of mine did mention recently that he had heard a rumour that Virgin were offering internet connection but only in first & business class but it costs a fortune (No prob if you are on a business trip with expenses but for personal flights ..... ). Dont know if that is true though as he hasnt flown Virgin since he heard the rumour.

Vegemite Kids

Oh, and if you have a longish transit, all business lounges def have internet facilities

EssexNobby

Thanks for info.

Sounds good for a power connection but not so hopeful for a net connection, so no surfing the web. Shame as it would have been an excellent way of burning some of the time away.

paulf

Try Tamazapan

scutterUK

...a daft question, but can't you use a mobile while flying?

if so the laptop can be configured/setup to use the mobile as it's internet connection type thingy.

i've not flown with either before and it's been a few years since i last flew.... (he says justifying his stupidity! )

Vegemite Kids

errrrrrrr, NO, cos you are flying at 35000 feet or so and unfortunately Vodafone and the other network operators have selfishly decided to limit their signals to ground level Cant think why

Some airlines now have facilites to make phonecalls from the plane (either by an inbuilt seat handset or by bringing a handset to you) but of all the flights I've been on that have offered that facility (and I've only ever seen it in Business class, never in economy) it has not been possible to connect to the internet cos of the way the handset is configured.

saraliz

I was recently on a flight (can't remember from where to where) that had handsets built into some of the seats for making phone calls... the handsets were also configured so that you could connect your modem to them. However, the cost was about a bazillion pounds a minute, so definitely not worth it!

CHnJ

http://computers-notebooks-laptops-l...om/sosair.html gives who does what, but I don't know how up to date it is. I'll need to buy a second battery before I go ... it's cheaper than upgrading three of us to the pointy end on QANTAS. Do they give you a dial to set voltage and a handful of power connectors to see which one fits your laptop?

Amazulu

It's possible, remember Sept 11th when passengers on some of the planes were phoning their families. It is banned on all airlines though.

mlbonner

Hi I've just flown back from Brisbane to the UK and we were able to use our laptop (watched DVDs) basically once the plane was cruising, ie: when the seatbelt sign goes off. Economy class on our flight (Thai Airlines) didnt have power or internet connection but Business Class apparently did.
We had a 7 hour transit in Bangkok so charged the laptop back up at the airport!

Wol

No, for two reasons!

One: a mobile, being a transmitter, puts out a hell of a lot more RF energy than a laptop, and is far more likely to interfere with the systems on the A/C.

Two: mobiles are cellular-based, so at 35000' will be picking up many ground stations, and due to speed, changing them every few seconds. The system is not geared up for this and will overload very quickly.