Belkin F8E550-CMK Notebook Security Lock, Master-Keyed

I bought this lock knowing it's not top notch quality. It was a good price for what it is. Even the best locks can't deter serious theft, but this one is good enough to discourage casual theft. I'm a grad student at a big university so I have to split my time between lab and the office. This lock gives me enough security to leave it at the cubicle while I'm working in the lab for hours at a time, because now I know some kid can't just walk into the office and snatch it off my desk with zero effort.

We purchased these for the office for employees to use when traveling. Therefore, we wanted a keyed lock since these would be checked in & out by employees (regular travelers have nicer combo locks). Given our parameters, this works pretty well. It's a great theft deterrent (it's a sturdy lock). The metal/plastic piece going into the laptop slot wiggles around in the kengsington slot, but I think it's actually sturdier than it seems. These are easy to operate and come with a pouch. It will definitely work against a casual thief.

This a cheap lock but it does the job I want. I have no illusions that any of those cable locks really protect your laptop. I believe any cable lock can be cut; it's just a matter of how easily it can be done. I lock the door to my office if I'm going to leave for more than 10 mins so I just needed a 10 mins stalling time for any thieves; a cheap lock was enough. I have a HP TX1000 series tablet and it works fine. The little clip cannot come off no matter how much you twist it around. It doesn't look that strong, so if you want a strong lock you'll probably have to pay more.edit: got a new laptop, also works fine with the dm4 series.

I ordered this product and got it quickly, as typical for Amazon. The cable and lock unit look very solid....only one problem....the keys provided in the package do NOT open the lock. In fact, they won't even fit the lock, so it's totally unusable. I called Belkin's tech support line, got a nice customer service rep from a foreign country that didn't speak english very well at all, and he referred me to the Belkin returns website. So here's the thing: Belkin requires you to pay for shipping of returned product, AND requires a deposit for shipping of replacement product. They also indicate that you have no more than 20 days to return the defective product, after which your credit card will be charged the full price for both product and shipping. Ridiculous.

I wish I had researched this more before buying. It's a good lock, seems sturdy, and the parts all feel very solid, but there are WAY too many parts! The lock requires: 1) pivot lock that goes into the computer (which is probably secure, but has a lot of wiggle room which doesn't give me great confidence), 2) the steel cord 3) lock, and 4) key. Way too much stuff to carry around, and too many little parts that could get lost along the way. Wish I spent the extra $20 to get a combo lock that's all in one. The one saving grace is that it comes with a bag to hold all the parts.

You can forget about the "Master-Keyed" part of the description. I ordered ten of these thinking that a Master Key would come with my order. When there wasn't one with the locks, I called Amazon and was told I'd need to order the Master Key from Belkin. Belkin then told me that I can only get a Master Key if I order the locks directly from them. Therefore, I returned the locks to Amazon and ordered them from Belkin. To Amazon's credit, they didn't give me any hassles about the return even though I had to open all of them per their sales rep to make sure there wasn't a Master Key with one of them.

Some Kensington locks do not fit the insert tabs snugly, allowing the tab to be opened slightly and angled out of the K-slot. This product's mini-padlock is not one of these. It firmly keeps the tab closed and the two hooks at maximum width. I would highly recommend one of these, even if you don't buy this particular one rather than get one of the combination models. Many of them change combos spontaneously and for no reason, trapping your equipment. This lock came with two keys, one you can keep on a key ring and the other you can put some where safe, even make copies if you were so inclined.

We have 2 PC's with a large amount of confidential information including HIPAA protected medical information. I thought about encrypting it but it would make the machines too slow and I was terrified of losing the key even with a RA. Just finished my Security+ exam and am very conscious of the wide range of threats. With 2 of these locks I was able to secure the machines to a rack and also prevent intruders from opening the cases and taking the hard disks. Unlikely to happen but a disaster if it does.