Booq Cobra.XM Carrying Case Review

[RonS]

Booq Cobra.XM Laptop Case mini-review (1/6/05)

I ordered the Cobra.XM bag from booqbags.com (http://www.booqbags.com/Detail.bok?no=87) for $179.95 plus $9.22 for FedEx ground shipping. I placed my order on 12/31/04, it shipped on 1/3/05 and it arrived on 1/6/05.

First Impression: My first thought lifting it out of the box was that this is a heavy bag. It weighs in at around 7 lbs on my scale (Booq says it weighs 6 lbs). It's very good looking with ballistic black material and orange trim. And it's extremely well-made... Like a Thinkpad, this thing exudes quality.

Form: This is not a small bag. You could easily use this single bag to travel with a notebook computer and carry some overnight clothes. I have another bag that is just slightly larger (http://www.travelpro.com/WallStreet/wal ... eatur.html), so I know that this bag is "airline friendly" and will fit in the luggage compartments on some commuter planes and under the seat on normal jets. The Cobra.XM includes a high-quality removable sleeve that is made from the same ballistic material (with orange trim) as the main bag. You could use the sleeve on its own without the main bag for quick day trips, etc. The sleeve has large pockets on both sides that Velcro closed, and nice comfortable handles.

Fit: Cobra.XM fits my new 15" T42p, even with the with 9-cell battery, nice and snug. It also fits my Thinkpad A21p and my 15.4" widescreen Inspiron 8600. If you remove the sleeve, you could fit even larger notebooks in the cavernous opening. But without the sleeve, there is minimal padding inside the bag. I can easily slide my Thinkpad into the pockets on either side of the handle. If you're so inclined, this bag can also hold two notebooks (with all accessories) at the same time. I did some measuring and it appears that it will not fit a 17" notebook like the Dell Inspiron 9200.

Function: There are LOTS of pockets. Some are zippered, some Velcroed, and others sleeved. The orange-on-black color looks great when the bag sits open. When I travel, I like to know that I have everything I could possible need with me (that's why I use a notebook as my primary computer). That's definitely the kind of person that this bag is made for. The handle is squishy and comfortable, made from some kind of synthetic leather that won't slip much if you happen to get sweaty palms. There's also a nice wide sleeve for carrying the bag on the handle bars of a normal roller bag. The only annoying thing I've found about this bag is that the side zippers on the center compartments don't zip down far enough to let the pockets fall open. This is because Booq put wide rubber bumpers on either side of the bag. Both of the front and back pockets open completely, however. It would have been nice if Booq included small pockets easily accessable from the outside for a Cell phone, water bottle, spare change, etc.

Summary: This is an excellent carrying case. At nearly $200, it should be. If you're in the market for a top-quality non-roller bag, the Cobra.XM should be on your short list.