Windows

LoJack For Laptops

Posted by on Sep 4, 2007 | One Comment


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Scotty2k from our chat room writes:

My laptop was recently stolen from my car outside my place. I was only out of the car for five minutes while I went inside; I came back out to get the laptop and it was gone. I knew my neighbors were moving in and they were parking right behind my car. When I noticed the laptop missing, I confronted them. They changed the subject. Two weeks later, the laptop was on my doorstep with a note that said: “Heard you were missing a laptop. Is this yours?” I bet they got to the Windows login and gave up, and with no laptop battery power adapter, they were SOL unless they bought one.

You know, today I was out and about running errands. I was streaming live using uStream and EVDO. As I was leaving the parking garage, the attendant saw my MacBook Pro. He sadly mentioned that his laptop was just stolen today, and he has no idea who might have done it. I asked him if he’s using LoJack. His response was basically a blank stare.

After leaving the garage and wishing the attendant good luck, I had to stop at the Apple store to purchase an international adaptor for our upcoming trip to Germany. I happened to see a three-year subscription of LoJack offered for only $99.00. At that moment, I knew I had to buy this peace of mind. With traveling so much, this will make me feel a lot better about having my laptop with me.

LoJack is a software that you install on your laptop, and then register with their site. This is the exact same service that has been helping thousands of people to recover their stolen vehicles for years. LoJack for Laptops is a theft protection service that tracks, locates and recovers stolen laptop and desktop computers. Software installed on your computer works behind the scenes to silently and securely contact the monitoring center, and if stolen, reports its location using any Internet connection.

According to recent research, a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds from coffee shops, college campuses, hotel rooms, and motor vehicles. According to the FBI, 97% of these are never recovered. The LoJack team has successfully recovered three out of four stolen laptops that were covered with their protection. That’s pretty good odds… much better than 97% never being recovered.

I know that the peace of mind alone is worth the cost for me. Have you ever had a laptop or desktop stolen? Did you get it recovered? Do you use the LoJack service? Let me know what you think. I’m interested in hearing your tales.

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[tags]lojack for laptops, laptop security, laptop theft[/tags]

  • a.s.

    so NOT true.

    my car was broken into in San Francisco with the laptop inside a briefcase. The lojack team was notified. I even noticed that the thief logged in early 9am morning the next day. Lojack failed to acknowledge that. For 2 months they kept extending my search, even notifying the San Francisco cops didn’t help. I got my $50 back but what was that worth? Did it give back my $1500 laptop?