BNAT 5

I wondered about this myself. I am thinking that I might fall back to my old reliable but completely disconnected way I did it for BNAT3. Palm IIIc, Palm keyboard, digital camera, and work on it on the flight home. The battery life on the Palm is great when the brightness is turned down and I still have a keyboard to get all my ideas down as quickly as I can type. Then I can just synch my reviews to the iBook, upload the picts, and start working on the web site upload portion that I will complete when I get back to SF. Although I admit having the iBook -there- is very appealing, I am ultimately dissuaded by the battery issue as well (although, if you're lucky enough to get those sweet couch seat in the back, you get an electrical outlet for your laptop).

unless i am on drugs, there is a power outlet in the lobby you will probably be able to use. i could be remembering this incorrectly.

running power in the theater is most likely not going to work (or be okayed) because the walkways need to be kept clear from cords, strips, etc., so we don't end up with waitstaff in our laps.

there's always the option of hibernating, which is what i do when i'm without a plug for an extended period of time.

I get about three hours of battery life on my 12" Powerbook. I'm pretty sure that if I power the thing down during movies, instead of letting it sleep, two batteries would get me through most of the night. Particularly if I charge up a little here and there.

Hm. How's about I promise to bring a power strip? That'll extend the utility of the lobby power outlet.

Yeah, no one should have their laptops on DURING the films... the light from the screens would be annoying as hell... and if I'm paying $40 - $60 (rumored) I sure as hell don't want a laptop monitor two rows down messing up my vision...

-Monki

Oh yeah. No chance in hell I'd have the thing on. At most I'd have it closed and sleeping, but that chews up battery, so... all the way powered off is best.

Didn't at all mean I thought it was even remotely a possibility to keep it on. That would be dorky of me.

Yeah. I think everyone at BNAT knows that our film geek personas come first. For those of use with computer geek personas, too, it's nice to not be 100% out of touch with tech during the night. I may only bring mine out once or twice since I can use my "hip-top":http://www.danger.com to make quick notes occasionaly, and then clear my camera's memory when the CF card starts to slow down..

You WILL be yelled at if you dont close your ibook down between films, trust me, Ive been both yeller and yellee.... hee hee. I dont have a problem if i close my frost ibook down between films. (Then again, its not open between ALL movies, gotta smoke sometimes.)

I got the shit busted out of my TiBook at BNAT3. I wouldn't recommend bringing anything even remotely fragile.

confirmed: it's not 'outlet city', but there are several outlets in the lobby. i imagine there will be at least one on a wall that laptoppers can gather around where they'll be out of the way of the waitstaff and bussers.

important caveat: if you intend to leave your laptop charging in the lobby, unattended, you run a pretty high risk of having it swiped. (not necessarily by a fellow BNATer, but by anyone who might wander in off the street and up to the lobby. there are always lots of folks who wander in who have no idea that the theater is basically closed.)

my advice would be to keep it with you at all times if you really feel you can't get through 24 hours without it. :)

Awesome. I'll bring one or two power strips. Can't hurt, might help.

We have confirmed that there will be NO COMPUTERS ALLOWED at BNAT. this goes along with the camera and video issue, and this is straight from one of the owners.

i don't know what will happen if you show up with your laptop, but my guess is you'll be asked to leave it in your car. i know not everyone realizes there's a no camera rule, and few people will see this info, so spread the word if you're meeting up with or have contact with other BNATers.