When I was flying overseas a year ago I was told to keep my paltry laptop off during takeoff. I questioned why and was told that it causes instruments only used in takeoff and landing to fluctuate, but it rarely happened, if at all. So were someone to sneak a flip of the power switch on a laptop during takeoff, most likely the pilots would never know. But hey, this IS airplanes we are talking about. Even a little flucuation is too much for me. Piloting a plane is a precision art, and I would hate to be the one to throw the wrench in the works. One of the more interesting things dealing with this is even getting them on the plane. I had to unpack my carry case, power it up, give the fed type guy a dir listing (he said he had to see words), pull out the battery (I suppose to prove it wasn't a really small battery and a stick of dynamite stuffed in there), etc. Joking about a bomb when boarding a plane is a federal offense too. wtap@mindvox.phantom.com PGP key available upon request.