This little carrier gets used more frequently than any other bag in my collection, despite its rather severe limitations.
It gets used a lot (almost daily) because it’s my way of taking my computer to the coffee shop for an hour or two of “co-working.” My battery lasts far longer than that, so there’s no need to carry a power adapter. I forgo a mouse, too, and rely on the trackpad.
I love certain aspects of this case and hate others.
On the plus side, it provides great protection for my Mac. The sleeve is very well padded, the exterior is fairly stiff, and a zipper seals the unit inside. I’m not going to test it, but I’m pretty sure my Mac would survive a drop onto a concrete sidewalk inside this case.
It’s also sleek and reasonably good-looking. The exposed red liner on one side is a bit superfluous, but I wouldn’t be embarrassed to show up at a board meeting with this case. I expect it would work well with similarly sized Ultrabook PCs and large tablets.
On the minus side…
First, there’s no handle, shoulder strap, or any other way to hang onto it. You can hold it in your hand or tuck it awkwardly under your arm. Juggling this case, a cup of hot coffee, and your phone or wallet, is possible but decidedly risky.
The lack of any handle or strap also makes it a less than ideal choice for long carries. It’s fine for car to office or office to conference room, but on a twelve block hike carrying it might prove to be a bit much.
The other problem with this case is its utter lack of storage, despite being about two inches thick. The outside pocket (where the red is visible) is very tight. You can insert a thin manila file folder, but it will stick out. That looks cheesy and the file will get dog-eared.
There’s a small zippered pocket inside that might hold, say, a few business cards or a folded note.
Two small, very tight pockets could hold a few more business cards, or, with some pressure, a passport. A wider zippered compartment could hold a few sheets of paper if you could shove them in without crushing them.
The operative word for all of the supposed “storage” is tight. These compartments seem to be more for show than for effective use.
Most significantly, there’s no secure place for a file folder or two, logical accessories for, say, a lunch meeting. The only option is to stick a folder in the middle and bring the halves of the padfolio together.
If you do this, the folder fits nicely and doesn’t stick out. The catch is that you are relying on friction to keep everything in place. Chances are your important contract won’t slide out the open sides, but it’s a bit unsettling to put a folder in with no real barrier to the outside. Using a zipper to attach the halves would have provided secure storage for files, loose papers, etc.
The last oddity relates to the small zippered compartment. Not only is it so small and tight as to be useless, but the zipper pull tends to gouge anything it touches, like the legal pad or any papers you stick in the middle.
Conclusion. This is an attractive solution for protecting your laptop and carrying pen and paper. Use it for nearby meetings, a jaunt to the coffee shop, or any time you want your laptop with you for a short time. Lack of handles and near-zero storage make it impractical for anything else.