Thinkpads Forum

What's the best carrying case or sleeve for the 14inch T60? Preferable light and fit to the size (e.g. not too big).

in my opinion, sfbags.com makes the best sleeves, all fit to size. reasonably priced and quick shipping, too.

you will be very happy if you purchase a Waterfield sleeve. Look at sfbags.com

I'm on the lookout for a good sleeve myself.
I found this UK seller of autenthic sleeves(?)
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cyber-Trading- ... ccessories

I havent bought one (yet), so I cant say anything about the quality.

Tucano (an Italian company) makes a 14.1" neoprene sleeve that fits my T60p 14" beautifully. I got mine on Ebay.

They recommend the BF-M model for the 14" T60p...

http://www.tucano.it/ITA/html_esterno/c ... DER_SS.pdf

I just received a Tumi bag as a gift and it is a wonderful business laptop case. They are extremely well made but their price does indicate that

There is a fantastic waterfiled sleeve on sale in the Marketplace from aamsel (long time forum member, a moderator and a trusted seller) for a 14" T60:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=39868

Get it while it is still available!

I'll add another vote for the waterfield. I was so impressed by the sleeve quality I purchased a bag from them as well.

I will chime in with the other Waterfield supporters. If you are looking for a well made, durable, long lasting sleeve to protect your investment, Waterfield cannot be beat. I have several of their sleeves for my various ThinkPads and they all fit very well and provide a level of protection that is hard to find anywhere else.

I spent a lot of time and money on other products before I learned of this company. They offer personalized service and truly care about taking care of their customers. You will not be disappointed.

Cheers...

another vote here for waterfield. great sleeve, great service. i was even able to pick up the sleeve in person because i needed it right away.

i have the horizontal sleeve so that i can use it in a backpack, and not have to take the sleeve out to take out my thinkpad. if you have a choice, i recommend getting the D rings. the other stuff, you can get and add on later.

Waterfield is great. I am brenthaven fan myself. I have a great bag which fits my (soon to be sold) powerbook G4 Titianium and has a removeable sleeve.

I also picked up one of those neoprene sleeves that IBM branded red and black. It fits my 14" T41p perfectly. Thus I will be retaining it for use with whatever T60 I pick up in the next month or so.

www.tombinh.com

Very minimalistic and very good protection.

I swear by my Trager Executive Transporter ( http://tragerusa.com/catalog_laptops.html )
While it has pockets, I also use it occasionally as a sleeve because the pockets are basically "flat" and it has good all around protection. I've had that bag for 4 years, 3 laptops, and it has been all but indestructible. I often carry it in a nondescript Jansport backpack where it sits with the opening on top, which is perfect for airport security checks, and then take it out of the backpack to carry into the conference room. In that configuration I also have extra padding in the bottom of the case, so I don't have to worry much about putting it down. It is a perfect fit for the 14" with 6-cell battery. The 9-cell might fit, but I have not tried so YMMV. The only sign of the very heavy usage it gets is that the black paint on the metal hardware has begun to chip away. Note: I am not associated with Trager Bags in any way.

I can personally attest to the quality and durability of both the Tom Bihn and Trager Bags as I have a couple of each. And while each of these are very nice bags, they do not compare with the incredibly fine stitching, super high quality materials and protection of the Waterfield products.

This is not to suggest that either the Trager or Bihn are less than excellent, it's just that until you have them side by side, there is no way to fully appreciate what goes into a Waterfield. Perhaps the most notable and most influential when it comes to protection is that the Watefield bags are individually sized for each specific ThinkPad model available. If you go to the Waterfield site: www.sfbags.com
you will see when looking under the topic of sleeves, that each case is measured and fitted precisely to the specific ThinkPad model.

I find this makes quite a difference in not only the fit, but protection and the long life of the bag. No loose material means nothing to wear by rubbing in the bag, as well as the laptop not sliding around inside the bag.

It's this very precision that I find so valuable and therefore they deserve the credit for making the best bags.

propellen wrote:I'm on the lookout for a good sleeve myself.
I found this UK seller of autenthic sleeves(?)
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cyber-Trading- ... ccessories

I havent bought one (yet), so I cant say anything about the quality.

Arent these the sleeves everyone here was drooling over a long time back?

Can anyone attest to the authenticity?

Petekilla wrote:

propellen wrote:I found this UK seller of autenthic sleeves(?)
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cyber-Trading- ... ccessories

Arent these the sleeves everyone here was drooling over a long me back? Can anyone attest to the authenticity?

I took a careful look these cases. Based on my experience I would say these are fakes. Even though the pictures are not that clear I have 4 of the original IBM cases, and there are distinct differences. The cases pictured are of slightly different shape and appear to have different edging. Notably, the originals were made in the USA, of high quality material and were (to the best of my knowledge) not exported. They were originally for executive gifts, then demand was so high there was a second production run for internal & public sale. It was a one time offer. In addition, It's been a long time since they were made and sold OUT. I have searched extensively every month for the last few years to locate any that might have been sitting somewhere. All to no avail, yet I continue to watch.

As an aside, due to popular demand there was a company in Japan that replicated these somewhat closely. In this particular instance I purchased 10, only to find that while close they were of a particularly loose fit as they were oversize in dimensions. The were also of faux leather as opposed to the OEM models which were of a high quality, soft long lasting leather. The stitching was also different. The interiors were different and the logos were copies.

Cheers....

archer6 wrote:As an aside, due to popular demand there was a company in Japan that replicated these somewhat closely.

Is this Japanese company different from this Taiwanese company, http://www.ideastyle.com.tw/index-product.htm? They also sell their product on E-bay here. I am interested in taking a look at the Japanese-made sleeves if they are different from Ideastyle's sleeves.

Thanks.

spaznrq wrote:Is this Japanese company different from this Taiwanese company, I am interested in taking a look at the Japanese-made sleeves if they are different from Ideastyle's sleeves.

The Japanese company ceased production after just one year. The Ideastyle sleeves look interesting. One in particular. I am going to order a few of these to see what they are like. By the way, thanks for the link to Ideastyle, I had not seen it before.

Cheers...

I just bought a T60 and am sold on buying a Waterfield bag. My only hangup so far is whether or not to buy a case with a flap or not -- would you say it is worth the $15 or so, or is it just kind of useless?

Thanks.

Want a bag? Buy the powersleeve XM from www.booqbags.com. You wont be disappointed. Snug fit with 6-cell batt, streches a bt with 9-cells. Really the best bag imo, though it might be a bit too bulky for some ppl.

Petekilla wrote:

propellen wrote:I'm on the lookout for a good sleeve myself.
I found this UK seller of autenthic sleeves(?)
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cyber-Trading- ... ccessories

I havent bought one (yet), so I cant say anything about the quality.

Arent these the sleeves everyone here was drooling over a long time back?

Can anyone attest to the authenticity?

Hi,

I dont think ever IBM has released sleeves.
So, these are probably fake.
But the feedback on that seller was pretty good, so I bought one.
I'll let you guys know what i think when i recieve it.



propellen

Waterfield Sleeve

propellen wrote:I'm on the lookout for a good sleeve myself.
I found this UK seller of autenthic sleeves(?)
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cyber-Trading- ... ccessories

I havent bought one (yet), so I cant say anything about the quality.

I just recieved this today.
All I can say, is MINT.
Fits like a glove, both 6 cells and 9 cells(!).
Quality is really good.
I highly recommend that sleeve!

propellen wrote:

propellen wrote:I'm on the lookout for a good sleeve myself.
I found this UK seller of autenthic sleeves(?)
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cyber-Trading- ... ccessories

I havent bought one (yet), so I cant say anything about the quality.

I just recieved this today.
All I can say, is MINT.
Fits like a glove, both 6 cells and 9 cells(!).
Quality is really good.
I highly recommend that sleeve!

Thanks for your post, and the link.
Did you have a good purchase experience?
How long after your order did you receive the product?

Thank You

It took 14 days approx for the shippment to arrive.
It was shipped from China, although the seller is located in UK.
I think the delay in shippment was beacuse of the Easter Hollidays.

And yes, I had really good purchase experience. Good communication with the seller, really cheap and mint item.



propellen

propellen wrote:It took 14 days approx for the shippment to arrive.
It was shipped from China, although the seller is located in UK.

Thank you for your quick response and useful info!

Cheers...