I'm in the same "carry laptop, hate backpack" boat as you.  One of these days I'm going to make myself a nice looking briefcase for my laptop and other teaching stuff, with some sort of hide-away rack mounting system.  I haven't figured out how to do the mounting yet, and I walk to work this semester, so it's on the back burner.  But one of these days . . .

Any initial thoughts come to mind though? Even if they're incomplete, maybe they could lead our collective thought train someplace interesting.

Right now, barring any new creative ideas, my best option seems to be to stick with the Topeak Disc Explorer (http://www.topeak.com/products/Racks/ExplorerTubularRack_discMount) rack. Use it to carry laptop and the lightest load possible, using the narrowest profile possible.

• Mount the laptop on the top tray, with a small roll on top of that.
• For "panniers" use some small 4"-5" wide army surplus bags, lightened. Also functions laptop as padding in a spill.
• Get other bikepacking-style storage like a frame bag, tail bag, etc and move the bulkier items there

Optionally, I guess the laptop could be mounted in one of the thin panniers, if it could be balanced out weight-wise on the other side.

What are the dimensions of the laptop? What size bike? When are you planning to set off?

The laptop is 325 x 223 x 18 mm (Asus Zenbook Prime).

The bike is a first generation Surly 1x1, 18" (Specs Here: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/surly-specs.html)

I don't know the final set off date, as I mentioned this isn't a vacation, so for good or bad my life is highly variable.

Firstly, I'm a "home free" nomadic. Technomad. Vagabond. Homeless bum. Whatever term you want to use. So, after this bike is setup, I'll be "living" off it for an indefinite period of time... or at least until my KTM can come party.

I have an thin "ultrabook" style laptop (like a bigger Macbook Air) that is essential to carry with me for extended trips, to do work on the road. The challenge here, is fitting that laptop on a lightweight on/offroad touring rig, rather than carrying a small backpack.

Right now there's a rack on the bike, which could be used to carry the laptop in a small hard case, but before going down that road I'd like to tap the creative wisdom of this forum

Instead of the rack, I've thought about trading up my bike for a big frame 29er, where the triangle is big enough to accommodate it safely, but there's two concerns there. Firstly, the cost. Secondly, the bike build is in no small part to do overseas (NZ, AUS, SEA, etc) traveling where 29 tires and spokes might as well be made out of virgin unicorns, so I'm trying to shoot for a 26.

Any thoughts (and especially pictures) are much appreciated!

Thanks!