Majority Of Brits Happy To Pack Laptop For Holiday

The British love their technology it seems, after a nationwide survey revealed that 92 percent of people believe that taking a laptop on holiday would not cause arguments with their partner or family.

The survey from Softwareload.co.uk also revealed that there are a portion of the population who are workaholics, with one in ten men (9 percent) admitting to working while on holiday.

The online study of more than 2,200 members of the British public was carried out by YouGov and Softwareload.co.uk, Deutsche Telekom’s online download portal for software applications. The survey also found that whenever possible 13 percent of Britons take their laptops on holiday with them.

Tech Toys

Men it seems are the ones that love their tech toys the most, with 16 percent of men taking their laptop away on holiday compared to just a tenth (10 percent) of women.

Just four percent of women admitted to doing a little work on holiday when they take their laptop with them on holiday.

“While holiday is often a time to leave work behind and maybe even switch off the mobile, technology can enhance our holiday time with useful travel guides, language learning and translation apps available for laptops and mobiles,” said Dirk Lebzien, Head of Softwareload. “Our research shows that people are comfortable with their partner bringing their laptop computer on holiday with them, and thankfully few people are choosing work when on vacation.”

But technology hasn’t completely won our hearts and minds it seems, with most of us prefering a good book. Only five percent of Britons said they would choose using recreational software on the laptop (such as educational software) while on holiday over a book.

Last Christmas, a similar survey from the UK mobile phone price comparison website, www.rightmobilephone.co.uk, found that 77 percent of smartphone owners said they would check their smartphones for work puposes over the festive period – two thirds said they would do it on a daily basis.

Top Holiday Tips

Meanwhile, antivirus software provider Eset has put together a list of 13 common sense holiday security tips for those insisting on taking technology away with them on holiday.

The advice starts with what to do before the holiday actually starts. This includes the ‘golden rule’ of updating or installing anti-virus software, backing up data, using encrypted passwords in case a device goes missing, and finally scanning flash disks and USB devices for malware, as portable media are currently the most common carrier of malware. And users are also advised to format any new digital camera flash drives before their maiden use (preferably in the camera rather than PC), as it is not uncommon that new flash cards come with pre-installed malware on them.

Whilst on holiday, users are advised to secure their mobile phones or laptops in a safe place; and to avoid at all costs publicly available unsecured wireless networks. The safer option is to surf the web using their own modem or smartphone, and use a local prepaid card in order to avoid the high data roaming costs.

Another tip whilst aboard is to watch out for data thieves if you are using a PC at the local Internet café, as these in-house computers often run keyloggers that can steal passwords and track data as you type. To this end, users are advised never to use Internet banking services, exchange emails, or access their social network in such places.

Other recommendations include keeping the computer cool, as high temperatures can damage electronic devices; and perhaps create a new email ‘holiday-only’ account, so that if someone steals your email data, the damage will be considerably smaller than if your regular account got compromised.

And the advise doesn’t stop there. Once users return home they should scan computers and phones for viruses, and also scan the camera’s flash card and USB devices; Finally, revert to the regular email account and stop forwarding messages to the “holiday-only” account.