I ran into an interesting service by LoJack from their booth at CES. It turns out that LoJack has branched out to helping find you lost laptop. Personally I know I am always carrying my laptop arround and have had mine stolen quite a few times. I am curious to see if this LoJack for Laptops actually delivers on its promise.
They do a good job of implementing the FUD (Fear Uncertainty & Doubt) marketing pitch with pretty powerful stats to back up the need for such a service. According to Gartner your laptop has a 1 out of 10 chance of being stolen this year. According to research they quote a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds. Also the FBI has published a stat that only 97% of reported laptop thefts are ever recovered.
LoJack is promoting a return rate of 3 out of every 4 laptops which is pretty impressive.
Computrace LoJack for Laptops is a theft protection service that tracks, locates and recovers stolen laptop and desktop computers.
Software installed on your computer works behind the scenes to silently and securely contact our Monitoring Center, and if stolen, reports its location using any Internet connection.
Our Recovery Team then tracks your computer’s location and partners with local law enforcement to get your computer back. If your stolen computer is not recovered in 30 days, you’ll receive a full refund for the purchase price of the software.
If your computer is ever stolen
- You file a police report and notify our Recovery Team.
- When your stolen computer contacts our Monitoring Center, it is placed on high-alert and starts calling us every 15 minutes, allowing our Recovery Team to closely track your computer’s location.
- Our Recovery Team provides law enforcement with tracking information and documentation essential for procuring search warrants and leading them to the location of your computer.
- The police recover your computer and return it to you!
The service is reasonably priced at $49.99 and from the demo at the booth it looks pretty cool. I have yet to see if anybody actually gets their laptop back with such a service.
Lavonne Not Registered
Posted: July 14, 2008 at 1:27 PM EST
Berry’s review brings up a point that I have not seen addressed in any review–how much success do LoJack subscribers have in actually recovering their laptop if it is stolen? Can anyone comment on this from personal experience? I just bought a laptop and am considering this product, but I am concerned that they work with local law enforcement to recover it. Maybe I’m too cynical, but I’ve dealt with Chicago police after a break in at my house. From that experience I feel like there is no way in God’s green earth a Chicago cop would put any effort whatsoever in recovering my lousy laptop. Yes, I know LoJack will notify local authorities of the address, etc. But I’m betting that the CPD wouldn’t even return their phone call, but I’d like to be wrong. Has anyone out there had an experience with having a laptop stolen with LoJack? Sorry for your misfortune, but please do share your experience, good or bad.