Ooble

Don't they usually say "If you are using a portable computer on this flight, please refrain from accessing the CD-ROM drive?" :p

__________________
Me :: You :: Them

Eric the Red

lol.. no. A CD-Rom drive doesn't cause any interference with airplane radio waves. There is a slight chance that it's different with various airlines but it wouldn't be logical. I fly with Air Canada and i love it!

Infinite Recursion

I fly with American Airlines and Delta.... must of them want you to turn off all electronic devices during takeoffs and landings. Mid-air you can use your laptop, etc. I can't remember their cell phone policy, but I'm pretty sure its strict.

__________________
http://jasonpowers.net

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

nnxion

I think they do that because a laptop against someone's head is pretty painful. And cell phones because it bothers people. I'm glad they restrict that, I'd get very frustrated with a person calling during flight. I only fly to far locations (i.e. 6 - 12 hours of flight).

__________________
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for."
-- Socrates

DaWei

I once had to hold over Des Moines when O'Hare closed because of a blizzard. We weren't allowed to use our phones to notify anyone until we had burned off our fuel and landed for de-icing. That was American. A cell-phone is a radio and can interfere with the aircraft instruments. A laptop isn't, unless it's wireless and you're attempting to connect (a futile attempt at any but a short range from an access point).

__________________
Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code.
Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

Indigno

CD-ROMS actually consume more power than a laptop hard drive. I think it's mostly because of how highly inneficient lasers are. So I think you would actually burn your battery up faster using a boot cd instead of your HD.

There is something that you can do, though. I read in a skymall magazine that there is a small generator that you can buy (I think about 100$ USD) that is powered by repeatedly pressing your foot down on a pedal. You can get up to 20 minutes of power for about a minute or so of this. I don't know much more about it, but if it's that much of an issue to you maybe you should check it out .

DaWei

Just make sure they'll let you carry it on a plane without trying to arrest your butt....

__________________
Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code.
Contributor's Corner: Grumpy on C++ Exceptions DaWei on Pointers

Indigno

it was in a skymall, I can't imagine getting arrested for something that's designed for airline passengers

Dameon

Considering the number of items obviously for home use, such as replica swords...

__________________
MD5(sig) = bcef75433db02e9ad9bf81d6f7c5c270

Indigno

I remember the picture showing someone in a plane seat using a laptop with this pedal at his foot