Don't take it to the Sahara or any desert! Especially during the windy season; dust will kill it deader than... well, dead.
If you do bring it, make sure you're confident with its security and safety or you'll spend too much time worrying about it. Make sure it has a padded sleeve if you don't like bags that look like they contain a laptop, (I like my "waterproof" timbuktu) and a waterproof backpack/carrier- its protection against the elements is easier to feel confident about than its protection from the dodgy guy in the bus station. (I'm dealing with my laptop in an unusually wet season abroad.)
You will also have to take it everywhere with you if you are staying in budget hotels with questionable door locks or a hostel with multiple-bed rooms.
Also, if the country doesn't have ATMs, it's not going to have hotspots, but you might find it useful and cost effective to write out long emails on your laptop and then sending them from an internet cafe via a portable USB harddrive (do you know what I mean- I momentarily forget what they are called).
Good luck!