Secure/recover a lost/stolen laptop

[Trey22]

I have a huge investment in a DTR gaming laptop. Since I travel a bit for work, losing it or having it stolen is a big fear.

Any recommendations based on personal experience? Something that dials home/takes webcam pics/give GPS location, etc.?

 

[DaveSimmons]

From what I've read, police rarely if ever do anything with that information, and trying to use it yourself can be very dangerous.

You're probably better off investing in a good cloud backup strategy and insurance.

 

[JeffMD]

These days alot of high end laptops support some kind of tracking service in the bios. Its is generally only an ip based tracking because no gps, but super hard to circumvent. The service usually cost money though, you may have better luck purchasing an insurance that deals with theft.

 

[Elixer]

I have a huge investment in a DTR gaming laptop. Since I travel a bit for work, losing it or having it stolen is a big fear.

Any recommendations based on personal experience? Something that dials home/takes webcam pics/give GPS location, etc.?

Laptops should always be on your carry-on bag, and never in the checked in bag. That is the main place they steal them.
That said, you could use a tracking device if you want... like from www.thetrackr.com.
I know a few people using that, and it works, thin in size & small. Of course, you still need a phone or someway to log in to actually track it.

 

[JeffMD]

all those trackers you find in stores are bluetooth based...designed for when you mis place items in your house or to help keep yourself from being separated from your phone. But anything that falls into someone elses possession and out of bluetooth range are mostly gone for good. They have no cellular or gps capability, they simply mark on a map where it was last within bluetooth reach on your phone.

 

[corkyg]

Perhaps one of the best systems is Lo-Jack, formerly known as Computrace. It has been around for years, and many laptop OEMs offer it as part of an initial purchase bundle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoJack_for_Laptops