Smart Laptop Bag For Home By Manisha Kanetkar

Smart Laptop Bag For Home By Manisha Kanetkar | Monday | 08/01/2007

According to Belkin's Kannyn MacRae, "80 percent of laptops are used in the home, and of those about 40 percent don't leave the home." As one such laptop @ home user, the idea of a notebook case which is designed to keep your laptop safe as you transport it around the house seemed like a pretty neat idea.
The nice thing about the PocketTop, which sits alongside the SleeveTop and CushTop in the new Belkin Laptop @ Home range, is that it actually doubles as a mini workstation too. This means that you can unzip the bag, pull the lid up and place the whole thing on your lap to work on your computer. The laptop itself sits on two raised bars, so it is raised off the bottom of the case to allow for better ventilation, to prevent it from overheating. Meanwhile, the case provides a comfortable cushion to sit on your lap – this also means your lap doesn't get too hot after an hour or two working on the laptop.

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Then once you've finished working on your laptop, you can zip up the case and leave it on the sofa, without much danger of damaging it when your partner sits on it accidentally later. (This was actually tested, and the notebook came out just fine!) Living in a small apartment without a study or designated workstation, the problem of where and how to store a laptop was very real. The PocketTop was handy as it is sturdy and fairly compact, and acted as a portable workstation which could be tucked under the bed after use.
The bag does not have an over the shoulder strap, only a built in pocket that serves as a handle. This means that once you've got your notebook and charger stuffed in the case, the whole bag can be a bit heavy to carry. However, as it is designed to be taken no further than from the study to the bedroom to the lounge room, this wasn't really found to be a problem. However an extra pocket, or a zippable external pocket would have been appreciated to allow for more easy storage of chargers, USB modems and other common laptop peripherals.
The only other real issue we found with the case, was that when first opened out of the packet, there was a pretty strong new plastic smell that came out of it. But, a good day's airing seemed to do the trick.
Overall this is a smart product that is addressing a gap in the market – not only in the sense of creating a sturdy portable workstation for your laptop at home, but also offering a case that is not in the usual laptop bag colour range (aka black). The PocketTop as well as the CushTop and SleeveTop come in the not-so-boring colour range of grey, bright orange and lime green.