My company says it's going to go the docking route, so people with laptops will have to take them to and from work every day and dock them to a thin client workstation there, and I admit I don't like that idea at all. Sure a pannier and padded cover ought to work, but I don't think even that would protect a laptop against any sort of crash. It's bad enough wrecking yourself in a bike-car argument. Do you really want the extra hassle of wrecking a laptop as well?