College dorms will find many a student unpacking a host of expensive electronic gear into their dorm rooms every year.
An unfortunate statistic that should be highlighted is that one of the most common campus crimes is theft, with about 38,000 reported incidents.
Between attending lectures and handling other activities, it is not humanly possible to keep an eye out for all the expensive accessories, like a laptop, at all times.
This makes it difficult to understand how to keep the laptop safe in the dorm at all times. In the following section of this article, we have listed some of the ways to keep a laptop safe in a dorm room.
How to keep a laptop safe in a dorm room?
Your dorm room is going to be your home for at least the foreseeable future, so here we give some ideas on how to go about keeping your valuables safe and away from theft.
Tip 1: Get a good quality dorm safe
There are good quality steel safes available in the market that you can purchase and stow away your laptop whenever it is not in use.
These safes are equipped with state of the art locking mechanisms like biometric or electronic locks that make it difficult for intruders to crack the code and get access to your valuables.
These safes are also usually heavy, which will make it difficult for the thief to carry it away unnoticed or without help. For example, SFW123GDC is one of the most popular models by SentrySafe
It weighs 87 lbs and is also fireproof, which is an essential feature for preserving laptop and documents in the event of a fire.
A lightweight alternative that can be easily hidden under the bed is this safe by ECR4Kids.
Tip 2: Keep the safe locked at all times
It goes without saying that if you have invested in a good quality dorm safe, you should ensure that it is properly locked whenever you step away from your dorm room.
Biometric safes are the best bet because it is nearly impossible for a regular thief to be able to crack this sort of safe, which requires your fingerprint to open.
For example, Barska is one of the most reputed suppliers of biometric safes, and this particular model is the most compact and well-suited for dorm usage.
Tip 3: Get a cable lock
If you feel like a safe would be too bulky, you can also invest in a simple cable lock that will help anchor your laptop to a desk or a table and provides a high strength mechanism which is tamper-proof.
For example, one of the most popular cable locks is manufactured by Kensington.
It will help tether the laptop to a sturdy attachment in your dorm room, making it difficult for someone to steal it.
Alternatively, here are some generic tips that will come in handy for keeping the laptop safe in a dorm room.
- Keep your room locked whenever you are out and be careful about handling the dorm room keys.
- Install tracking software on your laptop. For example, Lojack is available for laptop security.
- Some campuses allow registering the safe with campus security, which eases the recovery process in case of theft or misplacement.
There are insurance policies available within which you can choose to insure your laptop.
Summary
Personal security and safety of valuables are a growing concern for most, and there are a lot of safes in the market that will take care of these needs.
These safes also provide the provision for charging the laptop while it is stored inside the safe, and therefore, there is nothing left for the buyer to worry about after investing in a good quality dorm safe.