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high altitude laptop problems?
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hi there, i’m headed to bolivia in the next month for an assignment and read somewhere that the high altitude (15k feet) causes laptops to die. is this true? even with macs? ; )
would appreciate any input from those more experienced in the ways of thin oxygen than I. thanks! susana
by
Susana Raab
at
Sat Feb 23 14:50:37 UTC 2008
(ed. Mar 13 2008)
Washington, DC,
United States
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don’t forget your sunscreen
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It’s not the oxygen… it’s the air pressure. Some hard drives are VERY tightly sealed, and travel to high altitude balloons them out, a wee bit… deforming them enough to interfere with their operation. I have a friend who regularly travels to Colorado, and is out-of-touch (no email) until he takes his PowerBook back below 8,000 feet.
This may or may not affect your machine. I have other friends in Colorado who do not have this problem.
Greg
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yup, it’s the air pressure…but not sure whether you should worry at 15k feet.
I highly doubt that macs would react differently from any other computer – most computers use drives with the same specs.
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thanks very much. i was just joking about the even a mac part! but is 15k less air pressure than 8K? Conrad, why do you think I shouldn’t worry at 15K? I am worried! thanks again.sr
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It has nothing to do with “bulging”, drives are not sealed either. Take a look at any hard drive and you will see a small hole that says “do not cover” or something to that effect. That hole allows air to pass in and out of the drive.
That air is needed to form an air “cushion” between the platter (the disc where data is saved) and the head which skims over the disk as it’s spinning. No air means the head will crash into the disk. The higher the altitude, the greater the risk of it happening. I’ve used my laptop at 14,000 ft on Kilimanjaro with no problems. People use laptops at Everest base camp (~18,000 feet). It works, but I would use it only when I really need it. The more time it is spinning at higher altitudes, the greater your chance of having a head crash.
If you want to spend the money, you can buy a solid state drive (SSD – an option with the mac air) which uses flash memory. No moving parts to worry about here.
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Susana, I was in Bolivia with my powerbook and had zero problems. I also spent time in Potosi. Don’t worry.
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susan – I said that meaning that I’m simply not sure if 15k is a risky elevation or not. it seems to me that enough people are close to that elevation in all sorts of activities that it would be conventional wisdom to not bring a hard drive above XX,xxx feet.
tommy is right from what I have read.
good luck.
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Susana… I live in La Paz, use a MacBook and Cinema Display, and have never had any problems with either (knock on wood).
Also… feel free to get in touch if you need any info about Bolivia before your arrival.
Chao – Bear
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thanks again – everyone for all your responses – i really appreciate it. roberto – wanna grab some mate in la paz? i’ll be mar. 22.
cheers,
susana
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I’ve used my powerbook in Ecuador at 14.800 feet (4500 meters) with no problems. Haven’t tried with my MacBook but I guess you wouldn’t have any problems
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My MacBook died and could only be partially recovered after I went to Tibet last fall (3,000-5,000m), but that may have just been an isolated case. Just make lots of backups; I decided to wait until I got back to the States to do them, which was a stupid decision indeed.
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