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Yup, I love my X series. I've been carrying thinkpads everywhere with me since 1996. I started with a Thinkpad 500. Then a T20, and then decided that size was more important and have had several of the X series since then.

As for backups/mailing, I agree with the other posts. SD cards are the way to go, not optical.

One other cool option would be an OLPC if you can get your hands on one.. although the keyboard is sub-optimal for a lot of writing. Same thing with the Eee PC, just not enough quality in the keyboard. The OLPC does have the more waterproof advantage. It also has a daylight readable screen. I wish more laptops had direct-sun readable screens.

I also suggest a good case. Waterfield Designs makes a bunch of really good custom-fit cases for various laptop sizes. A bit pricey, but damn good quality.
http://www.sfbags.com/

It's nothing heavy duty like some of the cases in the article, but it's a very nice and light bag. They have many others so they may have something tougher but this was exactly what I was looking for to keep my laptop looking nice and in good condition.

It's nothing heavy duty like some of the cases in the article, but it's a very nice and light bag. They have many others so they may have something tougher but this was exactly what I was looking for to keep my laptop looking nice and in good condition.

waterfield designs... Enough said...

Doesn't seem to be the topic of the article, but I like their product so much I'll just mention: Waterfield Design makes a terrific laptop sleeve in ballistic nylon with a neoprene inner lining. The construction is great, and they custom-size them to a range of laptops. It's not cheap, but I like the look a lot and it does feel like it can take a fall.

...really nice laptop-specific carrying case/backpack. Plus they're expensive.

Do what I did. Get yourself a nice, generic backpack, and buy a padded sleeve for your laptop to ride in when it's in the backpack. I've got a plain old JanSport schoolbag like I carried through grade school and high school, and a nice Sleevecase from Waterfield Designs.

Well here is a similar thread from December last year - less than a year old.

I found that thread very helpful when considering my own purchase of adequet laptop protection. I ended up getting one from here as a result.

I have two Waterfield SleeveCases (purchased from http://www.sfbags.com/). They come in sizes to actually fit your laptop, and with side loading for regular soft bags, or top loading for backpacks. Your laptop is secure, and the bag doesn't scream "Take Me." The shipment was prompt, and the quality good.

My iBook goes with me everywhere in my backpack when I'm on the job, along with a toolkit and a large soft case full of software CDs. I got a Sleevecase from Waterfield Designs, and it provides pretty good protection. The only thing I'd do differently with my next laptop is place something (like a sheet of felt or something else soft and about the same thickness) between the two halves when it's closed-- the weight of the other items in my backpack presses them together, and the finish around the display bezel has worn off in some spots. It's purely cosmetic, but I'm anal-retentive when it comes to keeping my equipment looking as new as possible.

When you put the iBook to sleep, it does spin down the drive-- you wouldn't be able to tell that it was on at all, if not for the pulsing sleep light. Even though it does spin the drive down, though, the iBook wakes up very quickly-- by the time you've got the screen opened and tilted back to where you like it, the iBook is ready for you to resume typing/mousing/whatever.

~Philly

These guys make some great (albeit pricy) hand stiched laptop cases. Everything I've purchased from them has been top quality and woith every penny.

http://sfbags.com/

This brings us to our new Laptop bags. These bags are much more complex to build, and require substantially more labor, and a variety of very expensive machines we don't have here in our factory.

Well screw that. If they had outsourced it to Canada, Italy, the UK or anywhere else that had real labor laws so I knew my bag wasn't made by an 8 year old who works for $1.50 an hour and works 16 hour days I would say no problem, but let's be honest with ourselves here, China couldn't enforce labor laws even if they wanted to.

My WestField bag came with a hand written (as in, there was an ink smudge after I set a glass of water on it) thanking me for my purchase. My friend called them up and asked if his brand new mini-toshiba would fit and they were honest. They said they made it to the specifications given, but they had never tried it and offered to allow him to try it in their place beforehand.

I want attention to detail, not crap churned out by some underpaid worker who drifts from building bags to shirts to widgets. I want the person that made my bag to be in an environment where if they find a problem, they have the good sense to comment about it and someone has the sense to do something about it.

Frankly, if it requires some fancy hardware to make, I probably don't want it. I mean seriously, if it is that complex then there are far more things that could go wrong. (This applies to textiles mostly... obviously I don't want my CPU to be made by hand :)

That's my rant. Now if I could only get some decent made clothing. Grumble.

The best bags I've seen are made by Waterfield

-shpoffo

Waterfield is a great company, and they make great products, as far as I can tell. In doing a bunch of research before getting my 17in PowerBook, they looked like the best sleeve makers around. They have a sleeve made just to fit the 17in, with neoprene padding and a nylon shell. And it looks sweet. Very sleek, but with a stylistic touch as well. To some, especially Mac users, looks are very important. I personally don't want my wonder-of-industrial-design laptop sitting in a boring case. Waterfield the company is a small outfit based in San Francisco, and they have great customer service. They even hand wrote a note on the invoice, a small touch that I appreciate in the usually impersonal computer industry. Really, all the little things give it character. The sleeve is not just some random bag, but an accessory that deserves as much thought as any other. They also make specialized carrying cases for iPods and iSights, just as well thought out as the rest of the line.

I'd recommend another SF company WaterField over Timbuk2. Maybe that's because I see Timbuk2 bags all over SF and they just aren't special.

Both companies custom make their bags in San Francisco and the build quality is excellent. I mean strong, durable with no shortcuts. I think the fabric of the WaterField bags is a bit nicer than the Timbuk2's. Plus, they have a really nifty airline buckle thing that always gets commented on by the security screeners at the airport.

They both have a multitude of colors. Timbuk2 is a bit more configurable since they allow you to have 3 colors on your bag. I have the taxi colored WaterField and it is very neat.

The WaterField bag has a neat little sleeve for your laptop to slip into that perfectly fits my iBook (they come in different sizes). So instead of putting your laptop directly into your case, you can put it into a sleeve first that protects it against other objects in your bag. Very handy. Plus it can double as a bag itself.

I have to say that both bags are very roomy for their size. I have the smallest one and it still can fit my iBook, an IBM ThinkPad T30, my umbrella, my wallet, my iPod, my earphones, a cell phone, far too much change, my notepad and whatever other garbage drifts into my bag. Of course, with all this stuff in there, the bag is entirely too heavy (ThinkPad's aren't light!), but that's another problem. :)

With either company you get the satisfaction that you're getting a good quality product made in the US. Of course they are made in San Francisco where the price of labor isn't cheap, but you get what you pay for.

And no, I don't work for either company. I just happen to live within walking distance to them and have gotten sick of the poor build quality of textiles (explain to me why a $80 kenneth cole shirt should have lose threading?)

But then again, I want to be an elitist bastard, so maybe you shouldn't buy stuff from them. :)

Waterfield Designs sleeve. I use it both as a protector to carry my Albook and as a sleeve in my el-cheapo messenger bag.

They are hand made in the USA and tough as nails.

I use one of their sleeve cases in a backpack because it's less obvious that you're carrying a laptop. The gear pouches are good too.

I use one of their sleeve cases in a backpack because it's less obvious that you're carrying a laptop. The gear pouches are good too.

The Waterfeld line from SF Bags is outstanding. The padding is thick gel, the outer and inner covering are extremely well-made (and with a great deal of care), and the person who runs the place seems to take a genuine interest in making sure his customers are happy.

I bought one for my new 12" Powerbook, and couldn't be happier.

sfbags (aka Waterfield Designs) has some really nice, customizable bags.

I use a sleevecase for my powerbook. The sleevecase fits the powerbook like a glove, and does a great job of protecting from bumps and scratches.

Slip the powerbook into the sleeve, and slip the sleeve into a messenger bag (or better yet, a leather version)... Perfection!

sfbags (aka Waterfield Designs) has some really nice, customizable bags.

I use a sleevecase for my powerbook. The sleevecase fits the powerbook like a glove, and does a great job of protecting from bumps and scratches.

Slip the powerbook into the sleeve, and slip the sleeve into a messenger bag (or better yet, a leather version)... Perfection!

Waterfield Designs has some really great bags. I've had both the medium and large cargo bags and I've never had problems with either.

Check out the ultimate guys' company: C.C. Filson. They've began making outdoor gear during the Gold Rush in 1897, and have continued to produce according to their slogan, "Might as well have the best." Their stuff ain't cheap, and it ain't stylish...but it's tough and it's warm. You can't beat Filson quality.

I own the Outfitter coat, with a moleskin liner. My friends have a lot of fun with the fact that I look like a logger, but damned if it isn't the warmest coat I've ever owned. In a year or two, I'll buy the Double Mackinaw Cruiser for a bit of variety. I also own a pair of Filson gloves, and a hat (which gets me more grief than the jacket).

They also sell a terrific laptop bag. Paired with a sleevecase from Waterfield Designs, Filson's bag is the perfect transport and protection for my 12" PowerBook. It's a beautiful thing.

My Christmas list this year includes a Filson blanket. Again, the price is high, but it's matched by the quality and the craftsmanship. This is a winter blanket that can be handed down from one generation to the next -- and in my family's case, it will.

I love Filson, so this is a great opportunity for a plug. Buy their stuff. And order their free catalog. It's the most masculine mail-order catalog you'll find. It's filled with stories like, "Your coat protected me from a bear attack," and, "I was wearing your pants when I fell through the ice, fishing in Alaska, otherwise I'd be dead." Great stuff.

crib

I would check out bags from WaterField Designs. They have the best sleeves for PB's and they have the very best customer service that I have received in my life. I wanted to change an order last minute, no problem, quick response. I wanted to hold an order from shipping and they held it and released it promptly when I emailed. They have very low profile neoprene combined with bomb-proof synthetic exterior that is also soft. My sleeve has lasted for years and it is still as nice as the day I bought it. Oh and did I mention the customer service. You get a hand written note with your product thanking you. I can't say enough good things about these guys. I have continued to look into other bags over the years but they just don't compare to these bags.

Take it from someone who made this decision almost a year ago. The 12" iBook is *much* more durable than the TiBook.

The TiBook is too flexible; if picked up in one hand, it will bend-- in early models, it could bend enough for the battery contacts to lose contact with the battery. The iBook is made to be used by young kids in school, and put up with what they can dish out-- this makes it the ideal machine for a support tech like me who's out on the road all the time. My iBook goes with me everywhere in my backpack. I have no doubts it'd be fine in there by itself, though I did indulge in a padded SleevCase from Waterfield Designs to provide a little more protection. I highly recommend their cases, they ship quickly and are responsive to their customers-- they very quickly made a 'top loader' version of their iBook SleevCase when asked, so I don't even need to take the case out of my backpack, and I still have the 'side loader' model for when I take the iBook somewhere without my backpack.

~Philly

Best PowerBook ever: ??? suggestions ???

I went from a Duo 210, to a 5300, to an iBook 2001.

I loved my Duo, though it was slow and the screen was passive-matrix grayscale, it still rocked. The Duo idea IMHO is one of the most innovative things Apple has ever done, I was sad to see them just drop the product line. There was a very good market for people who needed laptops, preferred to work on desktops when possible, but didn't want to spend big bucks for both. Apple took the simple concept of docking a laptop and ran with it.

My 5300 was okay, it had a nice color screen and was pretty speedy compared to the Duo it replaced. I managed to have few problems with it but took it in for preventive service whenever I read about widespread hardware problems instead of waiting to get hit myself. I bear no ill will towards Apple for it-- thanks to their 7-year Repair Extension Program, I managed to sell the 5300 in 1997, bundled with a RENO CD-ROM drive for over $1100. Most of the proceeds of the sale bought me a Newton 2000, which still runs like a champ.

But I have to give props to the iBook 2001 as Best.... PowerBook.... Ever! Sure, the TiG4 looks cool and the screen is nice. But I'm an integration consultant, so along with something that looked cool, I needed something that was small and built tough. The iBook fits perfectly in my backpack, even nestled in its padded sleeve case (the vertical model sold by these guys, I highly recommend it). Between the iBook's speed and its full complement of ports, I can connect to damn near anything with the right software and occasional USB-to-whatever adapter. Even my Windows-bigot co-workers are impressed with its versatility.

~Philly

I concur.

The iBook is the perfect balance of size and features, with a full complement of ports. I have found it to be the ideal consultant laptop. It fits in my backpack, inside a great padded case, along with my CD case and tool kit. The battery life is sufficient that I can usually save additional weight by leaving the AC adapter at home.

The iBook's ethernet port auto-senses not only speed, but also whether it is connected to a hub or another computer-- no more carrying around a straight-thru and a crossover cable. Throw in DAVE, and there's practically no network I can't hop onto in a matter of minutes to work at a client site. For good measure, I installed Virtual PC and put Windows 2000 on it. The iBook handles it pretty well with sufficient RAM (I have 320MB).

I love it when my clients suppress a snicker when I pull out my iBook, and then I proceed to astonish them by retrieving data from files that their precious Windows machines choke on, thus saving their asses.

~Philly