Thinkpads Forum

After lots of deliberating, I just pulled the trigger on my x100e.

Now, though, I want to find a good sleeve for it. I've been seeing a lot of recommendations for the ZeroShock sleeves, but I'm not sure which size would be best for the x100e. I see a lot of people using (and liking) the 12" for their x-series, but I feel like they would be too big; on the other hand, I'm worried stepping a size down to the 11" zeroshock won't fit the laptop with its 6-cell battery. If someone has bought a ZeroShock sleeve for their x100e, can you please share which size you got?

The Lenovo sleeve for the x100e is also an option. Has anyone gotten this? How's the quality?

Thanks!

I'm using the 12" neoprene from my x41 and it fits snugly with that battery.

I've got the Lenovo X100e sleeve. It's... meh. No handles, loose fit, zipper handles easily flop in to potentially scratch the laptop, no outside pocket, etc. makes it not great, though not bad for the $15-18 price I suppose.

The best sleeve IMO (but pricey), is the WaterField SleeveCase which can be bought at http://www.sfbags.com. I did a quick search and they do have a sleeve for the X100e.

I bought one almost 5 years ago for my T43 and one just recently for my X201s. You can probably do a search and see threads from 5 years ago of member's opinions on them.

A friend just got the Caselogic LNEO-10. The LNEO-12 would almost certainly be big enough. It's nice because the handles fold flat, and it has an outside pocket.

EDIT: I had a chance to try my X100e in an LNEO-12 today (this is the one my friend actually bought, not the -10). It is absolutely perfect in every way I could possibly imagine. It fits the X100e perfectly. I'm going to donate my other sleeve to the homeless or something.

Initial D wrote:The best sleeve IMO (but pricey), is the WaterField SleeveCase which can be bought at http://www.sfbags.com. I did a quick search and they do have a sleeve for the X100e.

I bought one almost 5 years ago for my T43 and one just recently for my X201s. You can probably do a search and see threads from 5 years ago of member's opinions on them.

This. A thousand times this. I have one of their sleeves for my X301 and it is very nice and very well made. It is easily worth the price.

Initial D wrote:The best sleeve IMO (but pricey), is the WaterField SleeveCase which can be bought at http://www.sfbags.com. I did a quick search and they do have a sleeve for the X100e.

I bought one almost 5 years ago for my T43 and one just recently for my X201s. You can probably do a search and see threads from 5 years ago of member's opinions on them.

I could not agree more.

I have a Waterfield sleeve for each of my ThinkPads since they first began making these stellar sleeves. The high quality materials, workmanship, design, and perfect fit, more than offset the price in my opinion.

Since sleeves are a "wear item" that sees lots of use, I truly believe they end up being the least expensive compared to the competition. (and _no_ I do not work for them)

I'm just a very happy customer that values my ThinkPads and by using their sleeves my laptops all look as good as new.

The only way they could be the least expensive is if you went through multiple other bags. I've never heard of anyone actually wearing out a laptop sleeve-- has anyone? The Waterfield sleeve looks okay, although I don't see what it offers over the LNEO-12 except a shoulder strap, at extra cost. Otherwise the LNEO-12 looks better to me.

jvarszegi wrote:The only way they could be the least expensive is if you went through multiple other bags. I've never heard of anyone actually wearing out a laptop sleeve-- has anyone?

I carry my ThinkPad to work everyday. I've worn out other brands of sleeves due to broken zippers, poor stitching and the like.

The interesting part is that I never buy bargain basement. YMMV...

We might just subject our gear to a different level of abuse, which might be why I've never had a problem (also carrying my Thinkpads to grad school and work every day, bouncing around with a bunch of books more often than not). In fact I don't recall ever hearing of anyone wear out a laptop sleeve. You are an exceptional individual to have worn out so many, and non-bargain basement at that. They should hire you as a sleeve tester!

Now, since you buy Waterfield sleeves all the time, and you have lots of different-sized Thinkpads (and since you don't stint on the money you likely have a separate sleeve for each one), you must have a truly staggering failure rate on other brands for it to still be cost-effective to buy expensive Waterfield sleeves all the time. IOW it's not the total number of failures, but your high failure rate that can be the only possible support for your proposition that it's actually cheaper to buy the Waterfield bags.

My hat's off to you, sir.

jvarszegi wrote:The only way they could be the least expensive is if you went through multiple other bags. I've never heard of anyone actually wearing out a laptop sleeve-- has anyone? The Waterfield sleeve looks okay, although I don't see what it offers over the LNEO-12 except a shoulder strap, at extra cost. Otherwise the LNEO-12 looks better to me.

And except for the fact the neoprene is surrounded by nylon fabric to keep it from wearing away, the fact that the sleeve you get from Waterfield will be a perfect fit, the fact that it will be better made and the fact they have friendly and helpful customer service.

When I ordered my sleeve (very late at night) I got an email the next morning saying that a different sized sleeve would actually be a better fit for my X301 and asked me if I would like that one instead. I said yes of course and I am glad I did because it is an absolute perfect fit for the laptop.

I just want to emphasize that it doesn't just cost extra money just because they are a smaller company and don't make a billion laptop cases a year. They make genuinely higher quality products. Besides, when you spend ~$500+ on a laptop why is it so bad to spend $50 to protect it?

visionviper wrote:And except for the fact the neoprene is surrounded by nylon fabric to keep it from wearing away, the fact that the sleeve you get from Waterfield will be a perfect fit, the fact that it will be better made and the fact they have friendly and helpful customer service.

When I ordered my sleeve (very late at night) I got an email the next morning saying that a different sized sleeve would actually be a better fit for my X301 and asked me if I would like that one instead. I said yes of course and I am glad I did because it is an absolute perfect fit for the laptop.

I just want to emphasize that it doesn't just cost extra money just because they are a smaller company and don't make a billion laptop cases a year. They make genuinely higher quality products. Besides, when you spend ~$500 on a laptop why is it so bad to spend $50 to protect it?

Even if I spend $2000+ on a laptop, I don't want to spend more than necessary on a case. It's just simple buying for value.

I don't think that another sleeve could be a better fit than the LNEO-12 for the X100e. I was shocked at how perfectly it fit.

I can see that having a shoulder strap might be nice for some people (not me, as I always carry my laptop in my work bag). I just don't see a massive advantage wear-wise; after carrying a single sleeve for years I haven't experienced anything falling apart, zippers blowing out etc. This really might be because I exert a normal amount of force on my gear, though.

I don't think the Waterfield sleeves look bad at all. I just don't think they're a good buy, for people who use their gear in a normal way. I just asked another long-time laptop user who carries hers in a sleeve all the time, and she has never had a sleeve fail in any way, and doesn't recall hearing about such a thing from her friends who use laptops either.

jvarszegi wrote:Even if I spend $2000+ on a laptop, I don't want to spend more than necessary on a case. It's just simple buying for value.

Ok, let me ask you this then. Why did you pick the x100e over all the other laptops that have the same processor? The x100 is more expensive than all of them. They all more or less have the same hardware on the inside. The MSI one even has HDMI out, whereas the x100 doesn't have any sort of digital output. The ASUS and MSI ones also have a bigger screen. All of them also come with more ram and a bigger hard drive than the cheapest x100.

So why did you spend more than what was necessary?

visionviper wrote:Ok, let me ask you this then. Why did you pick the x100e over all the other laptops that have the same processor? The x100 is more expensive than all of them. They all more or less have the same hardware on the inside. The MSI one even has HDMI out, whereas the x100 doesn't have any sort of digital output. The ASUS and MSI ones also have a bigger screen. All of them also come with more ram and a bigger hard drive than the cheapest x100.

So why did you spend more than what was necessary?

By saying I don't want to spend more than necessary, I don't mean I would contemplate a paper sack in which to carry my computer (it's a bag, right?). I mean that I don't want to spend more than necessary for a bag that offers the features I need.

So, applying those ideas to my recent laptop choice, my choice makes sense. Processor speed is not a major determining factor for me, since I need to do office-type work and am not a video gamer (the sole exception to this is photo processing, for which I still have an older T60 and a T61). Since I do a lot of typing, I wanted a laptop with a functionally excellent keyboard. Since I do a lot of looking at a screen, I wanted something with a decent resolution for the size, good brightness, and a matte finish. I wanted something small, to fit in my work bag. I wanted something with enterprise-level support. I didn't want to spend a bundle. Etc. etc. etc. I made a choice I have turned out to like very much, as this little machine meets my needs quite well.

Until I see some evidence to the contrary, I simply don't believe that most people would wear out something like the LNEO-12. If they don't wear it out, there is no actual wear-based advantage to something like a Westerfield bag that allegedly, in the eyes of its devotees, wears better. I would also submit that simply lumping in something like the LNEO-12 with all the "off brands" in an attempt to prop up Westerfield bags isn't very convincing to me. Is there evidence this specific bag doesn't wear well?

jvarszegi wrote:I made a choice I have turned out to like very much, as this little machine meets my needs quite well.

Until I see some evidence to the contrary, I simply don't believe that most people would wear out something like the LNEO-12. If they don't wear it out, there is no actual wear-based advantage to something like a Westerfield bag that allegedly, in the eyes of its devotees, wears better. I would also submit that simply lumping in something like the LNEO-12 with all the "off brands" in an attempt to prop up Westerfield bags isn't very convincing to me. Is there evidence this specific bag doesn't wear well?

Well I for one am not lumping Case Logic with "off brands" and I have used Case Logic products in the past (I had a Case Logic bag for my T40 and a Case Logic sleeve-ish type thing for my Eee -- it was actually designed for external hard drives).

And it isn't necessarily that the LNEO-12 will wear out, it is that the Waterfield sleeve will not. Since we cannot predict the future you never know if one day you may accidentally do something that damages your sleeve. The Waterfield sleeve will give you much better protection for these types of things. That is the main reason I bought the Waterfield sleeve. I know that no matter what I might accidentally do, the Waterfield sleeve can take more punishment than the other sleeves I could have gotten.

I'll give the Waterfield bags more of a consideration with my next ThinkPad, which may be in the coming year (for the wife, anyway). In the meantime, after I get my LNEO-12 I will post a picture to show the fit, for anyone who's interested.