Laptops in dorms and theft

troubadour · 05-20-2007, 09:54 AM

Will I need to worry about my laptop being stolen when I leave it in my dorm (probably Carman)? And should I get a lock for the laptop?

ses · 05-20-2007, 10:10 AM

If you lock your dormroom. No. Unless your roommate is a klepto.

yapsuper · 05-20-2007, 12:32 PM

It really depends on your floor. Last year, in carman, our floor really bonded (which is actually typical for a floor in carman) and we trusted each other. There was a gamecube/playstation with tons of games just sitting in the lounge 24/7 all through the year. Nothing was stolen. Even people on the other floors generally respected it. We had one incident but we recovered it. As for your laptop, get a lock, but after you get to know who you're living with you'll probably find it's not necessary.

Columbia2002 · 05-20-2007, 12:52 PM

If you have a roommate, get a lock. Your roommate can't be trusted to lock the door.

Quote:

Last year, in carman, our floor really bonded (which is actually typical for a floor in carman) and we trusted each other.

It's not other Columbia students who are going to steal your laptops; it's Columbia staff who have access to the buildings, perhaps friends/acquaintances of other people in the buildings, etc.

yapsuper · 05-20-2007, 01:02 PM

Fair point. Like Columbia2002 and I said, get a lock.

karot · 05-20-2007, 01:43 PM

What kind of lock do you mean? Like a lock for a laptop bag?

yapsuper · 05-20-2007, 02:11 PM

Fair point. Like Columbia2002 and I said, get a lock.

Denzera · 05-20-2007, 06:58 PM

One thing that's very important: on moving day, be PARANOID! More stuff gets stolen on move-in day (both freshman and upperclass moving day) than, practically, the rest of the year combined. this is because it's not nearly as obvious on that day when some random dude wanders into the dorm, as the rest of the year where he'd stand out and get noticed (and videotaped, and reported to the NYPD...) basically, guard your **** CAREFULLY the first two days.

After that, the only people you have to worry about stealing your stuff are your fellow students, who will only do so if 1) you leave stuff they'd like to have lying around in lounges (i.e. video game systems, copies of books, candy/snacks, etc). they won't steal something as big as a laptop, but they might steal your lounge furniture. 2) you're dumb enough to leave it in a truly public place like the student center. this ain't princeton, there are sketchy folk wandering around occasionally, and if you leave your laptop on a table in Cafe 212 and go to the bathroom for five minutes, you run a ~1% chance of having it yoinked while you're away.

Skraylor · 05-21-2007, 12:26 PM

Quote:

After that, the only people you have to worry about stealing your stuff are your fellow students, who will only do so if 1) you leave stuff they'd like to have lying around in lounges (i.e. video game systems, copies of books, candy/snacks, etc). they won't steal something as big as a laptop, but they might steal your lounge furniture. 2) you're dumb enough to leave it in a truly public place like the student center. this ain't princeton, there are sketchy folk wandering around occasionally, and if you leave your laptop on a table in Cafe 212 and go to the bathroom for five minutes, you run a ~1% chance of having it yoinked while you're away.

move out day is just as bad. a friend of mine had his laptop, camera, and cell phone stolen since he left them in the hall in JJ as he was moving his other stuff out.

1) ditto on the lounge furniture stuff, we had 3 chairs stolen from ours (tho someone left a laptop in there for literally a week and it was ok...)

2)depends on the time of day and where you are exactly in lerner. if its after 6pm, i'd say you run a big chance of having it stolen, especially if you leave it in 212 since literally anyone can walk in there