Beach Life and Macs

If your wife's in Trancoso, at least you'll have one very good thing there that's corrosion-resistant!

Hi, Ben. Salt air and salt spray are extremely corrosive to all common metals, including the ones in your computer and related equipment. You will have to expect that all your devices will have shorter lifespans in a seaside environment than they would inland, unless you take precautions so drastic as to make your gear essentially useless to you. Even just a few days' use in a salt-saturated environment will coat all the innards (never mind the outsides) of your equipment with a film of microscopic salt particles that can't be cleaned off and will inevitably shorten its useful life. Because many electronic devices rely on outside air for internal cooling, there is little or nothing you can do to keep outside air away from them, or even outside of them.

If I were you, I would just go ahead and use the equipment, mindful of such elementary precautions as not literally taking the Powerbook to the beach, closing up your house in stormy weather when there's more microscopic spray in the air, and avoiding situations where the equipment will be colder than the surrounding humid air (producing condensation and greatly accelerated corrosion on metal parts).

Just accept that shorter equipment life is part of the price you pay for living at the seaside, use your computer sensibly, and enjoy yourself.