Waterfield Designs Sleeve Review

[lfeagan]

Hi all. I just received my Waterfield Designs (http://www.sfbags.com) sleeve a few days ago.

What I ordered:
Sleeve Case, Size 15 horizontal ($39) equpiped with the following options:

1. D-Rings + Suspension Shoulder Strap ( +$18 )
2. Ballistic Flap ( +$15 )
3. Piggyback ( +$22 )

What I have:
IBM Thinkpad T42 with 14.1" screen (2378FVU)

There were two things about Waterfield that particularly appealed to me:

1. Their bags are made in the US (San Francisco) from US made materials, and
2. They had an large array of size choices and that would fit any virtually any notebook perfectly

These two things were very important to me and price was not an issue in particular as I realized I would have this bag for a long time.

Firstly, Gary from Waterfield was very quick in responding to emails and they were great about getting it shipped right out to me. The item arrived quickly by USPS Priority Mail packed neatly inside. I pulled it out and was greeted with a nice note thanking me for my order that was actually hand written and addressed to me.

The fit and finish on the bag is great. It seems to be flawlessly made and the stiching is wonderful. The fit for my Thinkpad with 14.1" screen is just incredible. There is no play in the bag and with my extended battery in the height of the bag is precisely enough to allow the flap to come over as it should properly.

Features
Sleeve:
The sleeve itself is very simple in design. It has the main compartment for holding your notebok and then has a slit type slot in the back for holding a couple of magazines or some papers. If you look at the pictures you can see a small black piece of nylon webbing along the lower edge of the sleeve in the middle. This is to help you pull your notebook out of the sleeve. I find it very helpful as the fit on the notebook is tight. Not so tight that it is difficult to get the notebook out, but there definitely isn't any chance of the notebook moving around much at all inside the sleeve.

Shoulder Strap:
The shoulder strap is really wonderful for a lightweight bag + notebook combination such as this. The strap has something nice which I had not seen before. It actually has an elastic section in the middle of it about 12" in length that acts as a suspension to help cushion your shoulder from the rythmic pulling on it that happens as you walk along. I hadn't seen a notebook bag with this before but was very happy to find it on this. It is something I would look for in a bag if getting another one in the future.

Ballistic Flap:
Without the ballistic flap option on the bag, the top does not get covered up. If you intended to be putting this sleeve inside of another bag, then you would not need or even want this sleeve. However, as I intended to use this bag to carry the notebook around by itself and Lawrence, KS has a lot of rain, I thought I should definitely get the flap to protect my notebook.

Piggy Back:
The piggy back accessory pouch can be attached to the D-rings to add the ability to carry batteries, iPod, cables, or whatever else you want to take with you. It is just long enough to hold an extra main battery and is just tall enough to carry the Ultraslim Bay battery. So, it is sized perfectly as far as I am concerned. It has a mesh net divider inside of it to provide two areas for storing things.

Conclusions
Would I buy this bag again? Absolutely. I have been thrilled with it and think it is great looking. If I decide I want to get a larger bag for carrying other things I will be back at the sfbags site without a doubt and will certainly be getting something from them again.

Thanks for reading the review. Hope it provided some useful information.

Pictures I took are available here:
http://people.eecs.ku.edu/~lfeagan/WaterfieldDesigns/

[dash7540]

Awesome review.

Too bad it was posted after I ordered my Waterfield Sleevecase, but oh well. Nevertheless, it is still a really great case - I'd recommend it to anyone.

[brewt]

I bought a size 6 vertical (lfeagan's one is a horizontal model) for my 2378FVU w/ hicap 9-cell battery, but unfortunately it was an extremely tight fit. Next size up (7) is only available in the horizontal orientation so I'm going to get it exchanged for a size 8. It sort of sucks they don't have a perfect size for a 14" T42 w/ 9-cell battery. Hopefully the size 8 won't be too big.

I *really* like Waterfield's SleeveCase. I've been using a size 5 vertical with my Fujitsu S6010 for the past two years - put it in my backpack along with my text books for school - and it's kept my notebook safe.

Things I like about my SleeveCase:
- Light
- The different sizes fit most notebooks nicely
- Due to its size, can fit in most bags/backpacks (so you don't have to carry a laptop bag that screams STEAL ME!)
- No zippers to scratch notebook
- Enough protection for a light drop (though I haven't dropped my notebook before)
- Can get those extra features lfeagan got (though I find them a little expensive)
- Excellent quality - after two years of use, it still looks like new
- Looks great
- Easy to remove and insert notebook into sleeve

[Plinkerton]

That looks like a nice case. I considered that one, but it didn't seem to have a place for the AC brick, which was something I needed. Looks nice though.

[lfeagan]

Ah yes, I should have mentioned that I got a size 5 horizontal. It fits my 14" T42 with 9-cell battery like a perfectly fit glove. I am considering getting one of their larger bags too, but they are a pretty penny at around 200 bucks and I also do the backback carrying thing so I can't justify the expense right now. But they do look pretty nice.

[rocketman]

I have a Waterfield case, I can attest that Gary is great, very cordial and helpful. The case is great too.

[smidgley]

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