Any carrying case recommendations for my T41P? I was thinking about ibm's... either the $50 or the $100 leather one. Is the leather one that much better? Any third party recommendations?

Thanks,
Ryan

The IBM Nylon seems to be pretty good. Here's an earlier thread on the same subject:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=433

I got a Kensington Contour Slim, it was about $40. The non-slim version is around $50, they're both really nice cases.

www.kensington.com

After sifting through the earlier thread and looking at weights, I may buy the Crumpler bag today. I will be watch for further guidance before making the purchase.

Id definatly go with the crumpler, i bought the IBM nylon and wasnt very happy with it, its just too big and it doesnt have enough room, it has one hugh compartment for a laptop and other than that there isnt much. We sell crumpler bags where i work so i decided to buy one of the Roll-O-Notes bags and it works perfectly.

These Crumpler bags look a little odd.. why are they so much better? Is there any better place to buy them than the Crumpler website?

Thanks,
Ryan

Does anyone have or will soon have experience with the new Expander bag on IBM's site?

I gave a T42 on the way to me. Crumpler recommended the Wack-O-Phone for 15 inch computers. Considering that there may be other items that may have to travel in the same bag, would the Roll-O-Notes be big enough for me?

Killjoy00 -

Yes, they do look odd. My hope is that mine doesn't look like a computer bag and that I will be able to easily tell it from others.

What makes the Crumpler better? I don't know from personal experience. After seaching around the internet they seem to have a rep for good construction and durable materials. They also are lightweight and they are padded.

Yes they can be found elsewhere but I have yet to find one at a significant savings.

I have the extended battery that pokes out too, so I'm looking at the "Very Busy Man" model. Amazon has it for $90.

The whole point of crumpler bags IS that they look odd.. they stand out, and don't look like the old and boring rectangular notebook bag
They're not for business execs! I also like that they have sleeves that match the size of graphing calculators like the TI-89.

Don't go any smaller than the crisp suit though, if you wanna bring multiple blockbuster-size books..

edit: just put up some pictures, for those of you interested - as you see, I've got the extended 9-cell battery too, and it fits perfectly.
http://www.eple.dk/crumpler1.jpg
http://www.eple.dk/crumpler2.jpg
http://www.eple.dk/crumpler3.jpg
http://www.eple.dk/crumpler4.jpg

bought it for 85$ at jandr.com.

The crisp suit looks huge. Is it worth it? How is the size distributed on these... I'm in law school so I'll usually be bringing at least one fairly large casebook with me.

heres a pic of the roll-o-notes with stuff in it, more than enough room for me

http://www.crumplerusa.com/images/produ ... _stuff.jpg

here it is in black/grey that i will be getting

http://www.crumplerusa.com/products/lap ... rn008b.jpg

[quote="akerman"]The whole point of crumpler bags IS that they look odd.. they stand out, and don't look like the old and boring rectangular notebook bag
They're not for business execs! I also like that they have sleeves that match the size of graphing calculators like the TI-89.

Don't go any smaller than the crisp suit though, if you wanna bring muiltiple blockbuster-size books..


I thought that the Wack-O-Phone might work for me because I only want to carry my T42, the adapter, my PDA, and maybe one binder. I'm an engineer and I try to carry as much as I can inside the laptop. If I am mistaken let me know. I'm about to push the "buy" button.

I'll be starting law school in the fall as well and decided to go with the Timbuk2 "Detour" Backpack/Messenger Bag. Its somewhat expensive, but from what I hear about Timbuk2 (as well as Crumpler bags) is that they're worth the price. I like the fact that this particular bag can be used as both a messenger bag or a backpack. Seems like it has plenty of room, but I won't know for sure until it arrives this week

Here's a pic: http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/catalog/categories.t2;jsessionid=54FD310197596355AAEF0A12B01FEC8C?categoryId=9

If you follow this link and buy through ebags.com, you can get 20% off any single item purchase (ANY laptop case). http://www.ebags.com/index.cfm?sourceid=DFZ::00295849000000000000&bfencoded=qIZwQMOFIWnVAcNuBP@v

Happy shopping!

If you don't bring heavy books like me, then the wackophone should be just fine!

UCLAWill - Many many thanks for the link. Hope that I can return the favor some day.

ackerman - Your feedback is appreciated.

I did not start this thread but it has been helpful. I am soon to be the owner of a Crumpler Wack-O-Phone and a T42p.

i also sifted through the last thread and there doesn't seem to be any consensus. there does seem to be a lot of votes for the crumpler or timbuk2 bags. however, my only complaint is that they may not be professional enough for those people that work in a business setting. anyone have any recommendations for those that are looking for non-descript, light, professional, padded, and enough-room-to-hold-a-mouse, bag?

thanks.

tp42card

^^
I use a Kensington Contour Slim, really light weight, enough room for me ot put in all of my stuff, small, pretty padded, and profession looking

well, i WAS going to get the crumpler, then i found out that the company i work for is going to become a Timbuk2 reseller and after looking at the Commute from them and thr Roll-O-Notes from Crumpler, i decided on the Commute. It just seems to have a little bit more room than the Roll-O-Notes and for $50 i wont pass it up

Does anyone have a case that just barely holds the T4x by itself with nothing else? I carry a backpack that holds junk and chargers, but I work on battery all day and would like to have a case with shoulder strap so that I am less likely to drop my ThinkPad (I carry it bare now).

I saw someone at a college recently that had the exact case I am looking for, but alas I didn't think fast enough to ask him the brand.

-darren

www.sfbags.com

look at their sleeves, find the one that fits the thinkpad and you can get it with a strap for a few bux more

try the tom bihn brain bag - www.tombihn.com

<edit> I meant the Tom Bihn Brain Cell </edit>

Great lead. I just placed my order.

Thanks!

-darren

gte240i,

I placed my order with sfbags.com before I saw your post. If the sfbag doesn't suit me I'll try the Tom Bihn bag. I'm real particular about carying cases - I have a graveyard of PDA hip pouches that I tried before I found one that was right.

I'll post a review here when I try one (or both).

Thanks!

-darren

No problem - see my edit above...

Other than to say, obviously the leather cases will be heavier than IBM's nylon bags, I have no comments concerning IBM's bags because I was not able to locate any in the stores I visited. I think you should take the opportunity to examine all the bags that you are considering. Since I did not have the opportunity to inspect any IBM bags, I looked only at third party bags. Isn't it best to see it, hold it , and to put your notebook in it? I tried out a series of third party bags including targus, jansport etc. Like Nabeel, I found that Kensington's Contour Slim works for me . It is a really nice bag - light and well made with room for ac adapter, battery traveling mouse etc.. However, if you plan to carry a lot of books and files then you'll probably need a bigger bag. - but with ThinkPads isn't the objective to travel light ? By shopping around you should be able to find this Kensington Contour Slim case for $40. But if you don't want to camparison shop you can pay the full price $65.99. It is all up to you. Good luck.
Paco

nabeel or paco,

do the 15" kensington contour slims fit your 14 inch tps? looking at the measurements, they look tight especially in the height.

thanks.

Yup, it fits it perfectly. Nice and snug

Darrenf, take a look at this one:

http://www.booqbags.com/Detail.bok?no=67