Active Bag for the iBook
Company: Active
Price: $59.00
http://www.activebag.com
Active Bag for iBook is made by a company called Active, based in Italy. When they emailed me wanting a review of their new iBook carrying bag, I must say I was intrigued. Here in the U.S., “Italian Style” really means something. And a carrying bag for an iBook made in Italy sounded just too good, so who was I to refuse?
There are criteria for choosing a computer carrying case. They include size, weight, style, portability, safety, convenience, and protection. Let’s take a look at these criteria in order.
Size & Weight
The Active Bag is a very lightweight carrying bag, and the size is slightly smaller than most other computer bags. MUCH smaller than the one I use everyday for my PowerBook.
Hey, all you have to do is look at the picture above. These are very attractive bags. The colors match all the current iBook colors, but for this review I have the “blueberry” flavor above.
Portability
Here we start running into some problems. While you can carry the bag in a number of different ways, such as attache style, over the shoulder style, and backpack style, I found some major flaws.
First, the snap-on handle is made of a soft leather. While comfortable, I quickly found that once wet, this handle stays wet for hours. I would rather a harder, weather resistant handle.
Next, on the shoulder carrying strap, there is no adjustable shoulder pad, such as on the more popular Targa bags. This is a mistake. Just the nylon strap, with no adjustable cushion, really allows the nylon to chaff your shoulder.
Convenience
The Active Bag offers some pockets to store other items, such as a mobile phone, PDA, etc… There are some problems with these pockets, however (read below) but they are of ample size.
The main flaw with the Active Bag is how the bag opens. Most computer bags open all the way, so you can actually use your computer while it is in the bag. This is a very cool feature of my Targa PowerBook bag. The Active Bag, on the other hand, only open enough to slide an iBook in and out.
Safety
One of the most important reasons to own a computer carrying bag is to insure the safety of the computer it is meant to carry. The Active Bag, while padded, is only done so minimally. Most computer bags I have used and trusted have twice as much padding as the Active Bag offers. The thickness of the padding may allow for a much lighter bag, but it offers less than ideal protection for your iBook.
A computer bag is also meant to keep all the contents in the bag safe from the elements. While the computer itself, as well as the two PDF sized interior pockets, are safe from the elements (such as from a rain storm) all the exterior storage areas offer little or no protection.
The front of the bag sports a zippered storage pocket of ample size. The problem? It is not weather proof. Simple nylon-mesh over padding. The side pocket, the same. And the back flap/pocket storage area is not zippered, with no way to keep it closed.
Worse of all, there is no way to strap your iBook into the bag. You simply slide the iBook in, and hope it does not rattle around much.
Conclusion
While the style of the Active Bag is first rate, the features and obvious design flaws far outweigh the stylish appeal of the bag.
MacMice Rating: 2
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