One of the neatest laptop sleeves that I have come across comes from Civilian Labs (www.civilianlab.com). Taking a leaf from Steve Jobs, they created a manila envelope-styled padded sleeve for Apple’s MacBool Air. They made the sleeve out of leather and did a very nice job. The design follows the traditional look of a manila envelope, including the red string to seal it. Not wanting to trust an expensive computer to a piece of string, however, Civilian added two snaps to the sleeve, one on each side of the flap. The snaps keep the flap closed and the flap keeps the laptop secure. The string, now more decorative than necessary adds a nice finishing touch to the package and gives your computer the protection of a belt and suspenders approach to closure.
Rob Roy trailer The sleeve, like the old Model “T” comes in any and every color you might want…. just so long as you want black. The cost? $49. The effect? Priceless. I have used the sleeve for a few months now and the first time people see it, they “ooh” ad “ah” over it. I have had several people ask me where they can get one.
The nice thing about the Air Manila is that it provides sufficient protection for your MacBook Air that you ca slip it into almost any brief case, with or without, a padded laptop section and feel confident that your computer will arrive at its destination safely.
One other thing, although it technically does not comply with the TSA requirements for allowing you to leave a laptop in its case when going through X-Ray screening, the TSA people on the line have accepted it at several airports and allowed it to go through.
Copyright 2009, Jeffrey Allen. All rights reserved.