hostels and laptop security

We stayed in hostels in Brasov and Bucharest with lockers and we used our own padlocks. My backpack is completely lockable and I usually just stuff it in there and lock the bag up. Never had a problem all through Eastern Europe or China. We have a cable lock (as mentioned above) but don't often use it on the theory that it probably attracts more attention to our stuff.

yeah, good thinking. I"ll go with a padlock.