Hotels leave you laptop-free

From...

March 30, 2000
Web posted at: 8:27 a.m. EST (1327 GMT)

by Keith Shaw

(IDG) -- Road warriors are easy to spot. Their shoulders slump to one side because they lug around a laptop while on the road.

If this sounds like you, forget about finding a lighter laptop. For your next trip, have your travel coordinator book a hotel room that has the PCRoomLink system installed. Your shoulder will thank you for it.

Camanco Communications, creators of PCRoomLink, installs the PC and a high-speed Internet connection in the hotel room. When the guest checks into a room, they are granted access to the system. From the PC, the guest can access their e-mail account via a large number of Web-based e-mail systems (including Hotmail, Excite E-mail and Yahoo Mail). Full access to an Internet browser and a number of business partnerships with Web sites allow the guest to find whatever they need, whether it's a new tie from Brooks Brothers or a local guide to the city. There are currently 22 hotels with the system across the country, and Camanco says they plan to have 137 hotels connected within six months and 586 by year-end.

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Guests can also access Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint to work on their presentation, spreadsheets or the latest memo. Need to print? No problem, the document prints to a laser printer at the front desk. Guests can also save their work to the local hard drive and then upload the file to the e-mail account (PCRoomLink also offers a free e-mail account). When the guest checks out, the "my documents" folder is erased, so travelers don't worry about leaving private documents on the hard drive. The cost for this service averages about an extra $15 to $20 per night.

And in case you thought that you could steal the system like you swipe those bathrobes, think again. The computers are physically secured at the desk and at the outlet. If someone tries to remove a computer, an alarm goes off at PCRoomLink's operation center.

Obviously this system might not be for everyone. Workers who need to give live presentations might still need the laptop. But a large majority of workers only need their laptops for checking e-mail or using Word, Excel or PowerPoint while they're inside the hotel room. But if you need to bring your laptop, you can still access the PCRoomLink high-speed network.

I tested PCRoomLink at the Excelsior Hotel in New York and found the system worked as advertised. I was able to download all my e-mail from work and surf the Web to look for a restaurant while I was in town. Access to all three Microsoft programs worked, and I was able to upload my Word document back to my e-mail account with ease. The best part? Surfing around and connecting to e-mail via a T-1 line, instead of the 28.8K bit/sec connection that I normally get with my laptop. And my shoulder felt a lot better when I got home.

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