Willow Design 14″ iBook Carry Case
Company: Willow Design
Price: $77.00 US
http://www.willowdesign.com
Tucson Macintosh User Group conducts monthly meetings for new and intermediate users, and I am the regular trainer for this class. The club president generously purchased a new 14″ iBook for my sessions, and we needed a way to carry our portable computer back and forth from homes to meetings. Solution: contact Willow Design.
Nigel, head honcho at Willow up in Canada, sent us their product number NL-17: 14″ iBook Carry Case, and we approve of his choice. You can read and see all its specs and features at: http://www.willowdesign.com/NL-17.html
Nemo is not a shoulder bag guy, as demonstrated in our review of backpacks, so it’s taking me a while to become cozy with the briefcase-style iBook case. I’m using the comfortable shoulder strap most of the time, to free my hands, because the heavily padded, fully loaded computer bag is not a featherweight.
iBook is secured with one large Velcro strap inside its snug primary enclosure. After using the secondary compartment for power supply, external mouse, electrical extension cord, and mouse pad, enough space exists for an apple and a bottle of apple juice, but not much more. Additional slip-in spaces hold thin pads of paper at best.
Is it secure? Yes, indeed. Is it stylish? Definitely. Is it durable? Yep, and guaranteed forever. Any complaints? None that I can think of, given my predisposition against this category of case.
Nigel tells MyMac.com:
Since you have got yours, the one improvement we’ve made is to add a second small zippered pocket right at the bottom of the inside of the flap. The end result is that instead of a single zipper for mouse, power supply, etc. you have a slightly smaller pocket for those accessories and a quite small pocket at the bottom that would be appropriate for keys, change, or other small items.
The main benefit of this is that with the larger accessories being lifted up from the bottom of the pocket, it will sit straighter and more “cleanly” even when you have it stuffed full. A small detail but it makes a difference.
Also John, you might enjoy an email we received August 3rd. A guy was bicycling with a Jacques Pack the same as the one you evaluated and ended colliding with a car and being thrown a couple dozen feet and then landing on his Jacques Pack. His email to us was:
Hi.
Just a quick comment on how my Willow backpack saved me, and my Tibook, from serious injury.
I was commuting to work on Tuesday when a car pulled out and did a U-turn in front of me. I tried to turn with him (we were heading in the same direction) but alas, it was all for naught.
I crashed sideways into the car at about 30 kph and launched myself right over his hood, doing a somersault and gently landing right on my backpack (it literally felt like landing on a mattress) and bouncing right up. Other than a scraped / swollen left knee and right shin, I have no other injuries (I was wearing a helmet, but it didn’t even hit the ground) – the backpack, containing my TiBook G4/800 which was asleep, took the brunt of the impact. The backpack looks none the worse for wear (not even a single scratch or tear). The laptop, which was the second thing I checked after my bike, woke right up and was fine..
I can’t say the same for my bike though…
Needless to say, I was very lucky and boy was I glad I had that
backpack on ;-)…
Great product
Chris
I cleaned up Chris’s photographs and put them on our customer comment page. The pack certainly exceeded our expectations of protection,… we’re considering expanding our laptop case line into the realm of personal security devices.
We applaud your company and cases, Nigel.
MacMice Rating: 4 out of 5
A very decent product. Worth the time and investment.
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