Heading away on a business trip or a well-earned holiday? Make a little extra room in your carry-on bag for your Apple notebook! There's good reason why laptops are now out-selling desktops, and why Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro models in particular keep snaring an ever-larger slice of the portable computing pie. Here are some practical traveller's tips on taking to the skies with your Mac in hand.

What to wear...
Begin by using your Mac to help you pack the right clothes! Check the weather at your destination with the Weather Widget that's included in your Dashboard gallery -- it pulls down a seven-day forecast from the AccuWeather.com Web site for almost any city around the globe.

Seat of wisdom
When making your airline booking, nip over to SeatGuru.com and check out the detailed seating plans that cover most airlines and the configurations for specific planes. No matter what class you're flying, there are usually good seats and bad seats, and SeatGuru knows them all!

Here's our own insider tip: on any Boeing 747, a good seat for economy is toward the back of the plane where the fuselage narrows and the 3-4-3 seating configuration becomes 2-4-2. Go for the window seat in the second row of two seats -- on most Qantas 747s these are 71A and 71K. The space in front where there's usually a seat provides a little extra legroom, while the space next to your own seat is good for stowing your backpack in flight, so you can easily grab your notebook without having to squeeze into the aisle to rummage around in the overhead bin.

If you're in business class on a 747, try to get an upstairs window seat -- there are luggage hatches running all along the window that can fit your laptop bag plus other odds and ends.

Power up
SeatGuru also helps you determine which seats have in-seat power for your laptop -- it's not always restricted to the pointy end of the plane -- and, more importantly, what type of power plug they use. This is a vital detail that we've found is totally unknown to some airline call centre staff.

A standard AC outlet is becoming the most popular -- just plug in your notebook's power adaptor and you're good to go. The clever universal socket design accepts most AC plugs including our Aussie ones.

However, many planes are fitted with the proprietary Empower DC jack (including Asiana flights to Asia that are code-shares with Qantas, such as the 777-200 series which have Empower ports for every seat). This requires a special Magsafe Airline Power Adaptor sold by Apple Australia for $89. Just be careful when inserting and removing the adaptor, as many users have complained of a very tight fight with the Empower socket that can leave the adaptor's tip stuck firm when the cable itself is detached.

Boost your battery life
If there's no in-seat power at hand then you'll want to stretch your Mac's battery life to the max. There's not much you can do that Apple hasn't already thought of. Click the battery icon in the menu bar and make sure that the 'Better battery life' setting is selected. You can also dim the display quite a bit further than the level to which it's automatically wound back when running on batteries. Make sure that both AirPort wireless and Bluetooth are turned off, along with the volume (the F3 function key).

Rest and recharge
Even if you've got in-flight power, because there's a limited amount of power available at 30,000 feet, your laptop may not be supplied with sufficient current to recharge the battery while you're using it. It could be enough to work away for hours on end, but when you alight -- especially if you're in transit -- the battery may be only half full.

This is one reason we suggest you stow the appropriate AC adaptor plug in your hand luggage. If you've got a few hours layover and no access to any airport lounge, find yourself a seat near an AC outlet -- look at the base of pillars and corner walls, as well as on the floor at the end of a row of seats (under the last seat), which is where the airport cleaners plug in their gear. Pull out your adaptor and you can charge your notebook while you keep working, playing or just listening to iTunes.

You can also check out the Air PowerWiki, a great online resource where frequent travellers share the location of AC sockets in US and some international airports.

Globetrotters will find Belkin's Universal AC Travel Adaptor (model F8E449au, RRP $30) provides a versatile alternative to juggling several adaptors, one for each destination. Its clever series of slots and prongs fit into the most common types of power sockets in North America, Europe, the UK and Asia.

(And here's another tip: if you need power for more than one device, such as your notebook and digital camera and BlackBerry, don't bother carting around several adaptors. Just pack a double adaptor or a compact AC powerboard. Plug all your Aussie 240V AC plugs into this, and then plug that into the wall using your AC adaptor).

Grab a gadget bag
We know the feeling at the end of a long flight, when you can't wait to get out of that big tin can. But if you're on an international flight and in economy, we suggest you slow down a little when you reach the business class cabin. Keep your eyes peeled for those little in-flight toiletries bags that are handed out to the lucky folk travelling at the pointy end of the plane.

Have a quick glance on the seats, atop the seat pockets and even on the floor. If you see a bag, snatch it up! It doesn't matter if it's still got those cute toiletry items or not, because the bag itself is what you're after.

With their compact design and wealth of little pockets, these are perfect for keeping together all those little bits of tech that you carry around: your iPod, its USB charge/sync cable, a USB flash drive, memory cards, AC adaptor plug and so forth.

In fact, if you find two of these bags left in business class, grab 'em both -- you can always use the spare one for toiletries!