precautions for the beach & hot & humid areas

Just make sure it doesnt get near water or anything like that. Lots of people use these systems to edit video on the fly and what not (church camps, etc. ) you'll fine using it outside, just be as carefull as you usually would.

Sand + computer = bad.

Water (especially salt water) + computer = bad.

Salt water + sand + computer = really bad.

Unless you're sitting at the pool and out of "splash range", leave the computer in the hotel room.

No, no. if your carefull you will be fine. If you use that logic you couldn't use your systme anywhere. Think - if you were at your house food + computer = bad, etc,etc. If you are carefull and don't plan on using your system while your on a raft you'll be fine.

Problem is: you are not encouraged by apple to use your mbp on surfaces like clothing or a sheet etc. that adversely affect heat management. So you can't leave it in some kind of sleeve, like you can with some iBooks (although a tech told me, he wouldn't to that. It's very dangerous even for iBooks heatwise). When you add direct sunshine and sand and humidity to this, you are really asking for trouble, in my opinion. At least make sure that you put it on a reasonable clean and solid surface (have you thought about scratches from stones etc. yet?). It's probably best to take something like a glass plate with you. Maybe there is a manufacturer for such a travel kit by now.

When you have it in the car, don't expose it to direct sunshine as it might get unreasonably hot (and could get stolen...).

A mbp is definitely not an outdoor computer in any aspect that I can see...

And btw: I actually try to avoid eating near my computer. I think it's reasonable to do that. I'd hate spilling stuff over the keyboard...

They sell things called a chill pad that plug into the usb and push air up on to the system, those work well. Also the sleevs are great , why would they over heart in the sleeve? The system is sleeping.

I didn't mean carrying it around in a sleeve but having it run in a sleeve. There are wrap-around sleeves for ibooks that you never take off. Many people use their iBooks sitting in their opened sleeve. This is not a good idea for a mbp, in my opinion. That's what I meant.

Unless you need to have the laptop at a beach for your work, I recommend against it.

Even with a very bright display, unless you're fully in shade and don't have the bright sand in your field of view, you'll have trouble reading the monitor. Sand is a disaster for those laptops, as is water.

If you must have the laptop at the beach, for example if you're reviewing or editing video as it's shot, you might consider bringing along a table and some kind of umbrella to give yourself shade and shelter. Also, consider bringing along some cardboard to shield the display and your eyes from glare while you work. All that is overkill if you're just hanging out, but if you're on set, it can make all the difference in the world. 🙂

-- Mark

Most importantly...Have FUN. That's what Apple is all about.