My new Booq Bag...

So I recently acquired a new laptop which of course means I needed (wanted?) a new laptop bag. Yeah, I could have just got a new sleeve for one of my older bags, but they never fit perfectly, and a $100 investment to protect a $1500 device is never a bad thing. That said, finances are ... okay but tight, and $100 investment this time, had to mean a $100 investment, and not something that was "about $100" which is Alycin-speak for $175.

I always head over to SF Bags, Tom Bihn and Timbuk2 and work my way down. They are three of the best laptop bag designers, have been at it for years, and really have things down pat. SF Bags was a bit out of my price range, and Tom Bihn just didn't have exactly what I was looking for. Timbuk2 almost got a sale with the large discount on the Timbuk2 Mink Blogger, but I just didn't want a backpack style bag for my laptop. Really nice fabric, very roomy interior though, and for $97.50, a steal for a quality bag from Timbuk2.

So I made my way through the usuals - Incase, Kensington, Brenthaven, Targus and other brands. Just to common, plain and boring. It'd be like buying a BMW 3 series, and the low end 325 at that - sure, it's a luxury brand, but you now have something that seemingly everybody has.

So I found my way to Booq - another higher end maker of bags with a series of bags custom tailored to the exact size of the MacBook Pro line. Arriving tomorrow (and just discontinued - I got lucky), I picked up the Taipan Slimcase Small, in Brown.

Booq, as you can see has left a lot of room for your gear. What's nice is it's only 13x10x3 and weighs 1.2lb - not bad for such a voluminous bag. Not pictured in the left, of course, is a MacBook Pro.

Rather than giving you a pocket with room for a sleeve (or room for jiggling laptops), they gave a separate compartment. Pictured on the right is that pocket, perfectly sized for the MacBook Pro, with a supremely padded compartment, and a separate zipper. Not only that, it's a YKK zipper, a premium zipper brand that's so notable it's worth mentioning by name! (Disclosure: I had never heard of YKK before hand, but it seems to be quite notable).

It also features a water resistant exterior, and Booq's terralinq system, which is a metal serial number embedded in the bag which is registered with them. They will help a good Samaritan find you and return your lost bag, on the off chance that you both leave your bag somewhere and it finds it's way to a good Samaritan.

Did it meet the $100 criteria? You betcha, at a svelte $69.95, less a 10% discount, plus $8 FedEx shipping.