Mac Bag Review

It’s an iPhone 4 – left handed – cool skin conspiracy I tell you!!!!

brian — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:35:18 +0000

Engadget is reporting that in their latest product testing on the newly released iPhone 4 left handed users seem to be connecting the 3G and wifi antennas that run through the metal band that runs around the rim of the phone; which results in the 3G signal being suppressed. The solution? The same article points out that an iPhone 4 case (skin type) that covers the metal rim resolved the issue. Given that can we expect that every single iPhone 4 sold to a leftie will have a skin or case? Note to skin and case vendors – MacBagReview is now accepting special advertising targeting the iPhone left handed community!

Check out the Ultra skin for the iPhone available from Wrapsol.com

Can You Top This iPad “Case”?

brian — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:00:28 +0000

It’s the story you hear almost every day, right? Man in South Africa wants to surprise his girlfriend with an iPad for her birthday. Only there aren’t any 3G iPads to be had in South Africa at the moment. So he calls a friend in the UK and makes arrangements. But somewhere along the way someone says “Wouldn’t it be funny…” or “wouldn’t she be surprised if…”. The next thing you know there is the girlfriend “opening” her new iPad from its chocolate case. Yeah. An iPad wrapped in some type of food wrap and then encased in chocolate.
Great idea. I don’t know how you top this.

Getting It Right… Phil Baker on Bag Warranties

brian — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:00:29 +0000

One of the smartest people I know who have made the transition from paper to electrons is Phil Baker. His blog “From Concept to Consumer” is part of my regular reading. Phil wrote a great article last month looking at luggage warranties. Now he didn’t cover all the brands that we’d like to see. He also had some help from the folks at Briggs & Riley; a company that really does completely stand by their product and offer one of the best warranties in the business. This article really adds much needed detail if you are considering a purchase and the “lifetime warranty” is going to be worth the cost.

iPad Cases!

brian — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:49:25 +0000

Mac Life magazine has a great article this month talking about different iPad cases. Of the five cases they looked at three were from manufacturers we’ve seen before (Speck, Incipio, and Booq). The list prices ranged from $29.95 (Booq) up to $49.95(HardCandyCases). The best rating (Mac Life rated Excellent) was given to a case (that we’d previously never seen from a company we never heard of) from be.ez. The be.ez La Robe iPad Allure comes in four color / stripe patterns and is described as being good protection and a snug fit. We like that this case features a zipper closure; too many iPad cases are designed to slide your iPad in and out too easily. The downside is that given our look at the bag we couldn’t see any handle and the zipper while sturdy looks massive . The Mac Life review points out that they had concerns the zipper might scratch you iPad.

My Mac Book is foof Proof!

brian — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 21:25:55 +0000

You have to love the sleeves from foof. foof sleeve products for the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and now iPad are hand made and shipped worldwide from Australia. Foof sleeves are sized to be a perfect fit and do not have a zipper or other closure. I’ve got a foofbag for my Mac Book. Keeping the MacBook in a foofbag actually keeps the Mac clean as it literally polishes the case. It is almost a year old now and still fits perfectly.
The workmanship is great. My foofbag is a blue herringbone tweed on the outside and black satin on the inside. Since it doesn’t have any pockets or zipper it slides easily into all the different bags that I use that don’t already have their own sleeve. As per the care instructions I did take it to the cleaners once for dry cleaning and still looks and fits like new.
The foofshop is great. The web site is well organized and maintained. Ordering is straightforward. Currency conversion is available right on the main page so there is no mystery as to what your final order will cost. The foofbag for a MBP costs about $30 USD. Shipping was very reasonable. We highly recommend checking out foof!

The iPad order is in!

brian — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 21:30:28 +0000

Call me a test pilot. Call me a fan boy. I’m now looking forward to reading my New York Times every day on an Apple iPad as opposed to my iPhone.

After looking at a couple of Kindle’s and their 3G capabilities I decided to go the wi-fi only route. I’ve got a great home network and I don’t plan on taking the iPad anywhere else. After looking at the memory choices I decided to go for 64 GB. I’m hoping this will let me save up to 5 days worth of the Times and maybe 3-4 books. The only accessory I bought in that order was the dock.

I’ve started looking at the cases for the iPad and i’m looking forward to April.

Getting your Mac bag under

brian — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:30:26 +0000

With many US airlines now charging fees for checked baggage; more and more people are trying to carry more and more luggage on to flights. American Public Media ’s Marketplace show on National Public Radio had a great story about the problem and one industry groups proposed solution. One thing I never do and never recommend is checking your computer bag with your computer inside. In fact if I am taking a flight that involves travel on a regional carrier or i know I’ll be on a smaller plane I make sure to bring along a good laptop sleeve in the event that I have no choice but to check my bag.

A great reference for airline carry on bag allowances is at the Luggage Online merchant site.

If you travel often and want to place your computer under the seat keep in mind that back packs and briefcases usually open from the top and side so that you can get things back into your bag while it is still under the seat. Messenger bags and those with a flap over the zipper make it that harder to get items in and out while that bag is under the seat. Remember that no matter what you bag is going to be laying with one side down on the floor. Something that I’ve run into several times was a wet floor; and then a wet bag at the end of the flight. I used to place the airline provided blanket under my bag (because you never know where those blankets have been or the last time they were cleaned).

Wearing my iPhone case out

brian — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:55:55 +0000

I love my iPhone. For years before I carried a Blackberry and that was a great cell phone. I now carry a 3GS and it is fantastic. It’s so much more than just a cell phone. I’ve had it for about a year now and I’ve only had one harrowing moment when it shut down badly and didn’t immediately restart. As much as I love my iPhone i really like the protective case that I bought for it; a Case-Mate Vroom Case for iPhone 3G, 3G S (Black)
.

The Vroom is good protection for the iPhone. It’s thick; easy to grip; and looks like a rubber tire. It has a thick lip around the display that protects my iPhone even when I lay it glass side down. Another reason I like it is that I can get the Vroom case off quickly and instead carry the iPhone in my corporate belt clip type cell phone case. The iPhone inside the Vroom case won’t fit in my belt clip case; it’s too large. Case-Mate is pretty clear about that on their website too. This case was not designed to fit in a holster. Being in a rubber jacket doesn’t make the iPhone very easy to get in and out of pockets.

The other day I noticed that my Vroom case seems to be wearing out. It’s losing it’s black color and starting to turn grey in the corners. Case-Mate warranties all their cases for 30 days but given the price that I paid a year ago (less than $15.00 on Amazon) I’m OK with the protection given the use.

Privacy Screens for Mac

brian — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 21:30:47 +0000

Sometimes when you are working diligently on your computer you’ll look up and swear that someone near by suddenly looks away. To combat all those that don’t look away; the people who insist on looking over your shoulder and trying to see what you’re doing or looking at on your computer; several manufacturers make privacy screens.

Some employers eitehr supply or require that their employees using computer laptops use privacy screens. To understand the business case for computer privacy screens see to Johnny long’s No-Tech Hacking presentation (look at timestamp starting at 15:00) at 2007 ShmooCon. He makes the case for laptop privacy screens by interpreting information from screens he was able to take photos of.

A number of manufacturers make privacy screens for Macs including: 3M, Elago, and Targus. Also look at ShaggyMac.

I’ve used a 3M privacy screen for years. It fits over the screen on my Mac Book Pro and is held in place by small plastic tabs that I attach around the display. I’ve arranged the tabs so that I have two longs tabs on either side of the display and one smaller tab off center at the bottom of the display (to the left of the “MacBook pro” label. This arrangement works for me in that I can easily slide the privacy screen on or off. I keep the screen in my bag and use it all the time when traveling. I always have a supply of eye glass cleaner wipes around to keep the screen (and my glasses) clean.

The privacy screen does work. Unless you are directly in front of the display you see nothing. When a co-worker took a cell phone picture of me working at my computer the screen was dark as if my computer wasn’t on. The screen also keeps on MBP display clean. The only downside is that the display is a noticeably darker with the privacy screen installed. With the screen installed I’ll edit text but i won’t change any colors since everything appears darker.

Brenthaven Duo 15

brian — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:01:41 +0000

The Brenthaven Duo 15 is a black backpack style laptop bag. The Duo’s dimensions are 18” H x 14” W x 8” D (40” around). This bag is constructed out of heavyweight ballistic Nylon outside and satin-like nylon inside. Exterior is black and the interior is black or gun metal grey and this bag comes in that one color scheme. The fabric doesn’t show dirt or dust and wears very well. Overall the bag is very well constructed. All seams are tight. An insert section in the laptop compartment can be removed for cleaning. Otherwise clean up is hand wash with mild soap and hang dry.

The Duo features five pockets: a large lockable, top load laptop pocket; a large top load document pocket with divider; a wide and thin pencil or ID pocket at the top of the front; a good sized front pocket with additional pockets inside; and a wide equipment pocket near base.

As a backpack the Duo features very well padded mesh back and non-removable, well-padded, adjustable shoulder straps. There is a large comfortable handle on the top of the bag. The zippers are all large and clear of any fabric overhang or coverage. The Duo also features a fabric loop on the side of the bag for luggage tag or carabineer. There is a small Brenthaven tag on the side of the laptop pockets and a small Brenthaven fabric tag on the shoulder strap. The front pocket has another Brenthaven fabric tab with the manufacturers phone number and cleaning instructions on the back. Also the gunmetal colored satin-like fabric on the insides of the pockets bears the manufacturers names and logo.

Impressions

The Duo is available everywhere. Brenthaven sells it’s products through many stores and channels. Amazon and eBags pricing are probably the lowest priced stores as they buy in large quantities.

This is a big looking bag that is easy to wear. Given the construction and protection offered when loaded this bag is not light. The backpack straps and mesh back make this bag very comfortable to wear. While not waterproof; nothing inside got wet after walking with this loaded backpack for several blocks in the rain.

The patent pending “Core Protect” system is a great feature. The foam inserts around the laptop compartment can be adjusted to accommodate different sized laptops. That compartment was large enough to carry the computer in a sleeve (for a lighter carry while on travel) or to fit 2-3 magazines. Our Mac Book Pro 15” was very well protected in this bag. The laptop compartment features a lockable zipper.

This bag can stand when being loaded. Laptop is easy to get in and out. The bag was hard to overload. When that document section and the front pocket is too full the zippers won’t close.

The Duo fits well on or behind the seat in the car. Laying it back side down this bag didn’t roll around the trunk of the car. This bag fits easily in airline overhead storage and likely fit well under the seat in front of you. The top loading compartments are handy for getting items in and out when under the seat.

Upside

Upside is that this is probably the best man’s backpack style computer bag on the market today. It offers great construction and protection for a very reasonable price.

Downside

There were a couple of downside points here. First off is that this bag only comes in one color scheme. One color scheme seems to be the Brenthaven way. Another issue is that this bag is very popular. I have attended meetings where three or four people in the room have this same bag. I had a NY Yankees patch sewn to the bag to tell mine apart. Lesson learned is that it would be difficult if not impossible to get this bag embroidered unless it came from the manufacturer during construction.