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by Doug Landry
San Francisco-based WaterField Designs is another small firm doing battle with the larger mass-produced laptop bag companies by providing excellent quality, design, and personal service. We're taking a look at practically their entire line of carrying bags for PowerBooks. The Racer-X is a square briefcase-style bag that can carry your 17" PowerBook and a good helping of files or accessories. We checked out their 17" size, but other than the size, they offer identical 12 and 15" sizes. We also are reviewing their small portfolio-style Cozmo bag, which has a similar larger size as well. Last, we took a look at their largest case, the Cargo, a large messenger bag that has plenty of room for anything you need to bring with your PowerBook.
First, we'll address some qualities that all of the bags share. Each has accent fabrics that cover varying amounts of the bags to add texture and color. We especially like the bright taxicab yellow color that's available. The zippers are beefy and the quality of the straps, fabric, handles, and stitching is flawless. We went over every inch of all three of these bags and could not find a single defect, inside or out.
The Racer-X is an angular, square bag with a large, neoprene-lined compartment for your PowerBook that is sure not to scratch the finish. Only the PowerBook is designed to go in this zippered area, which takes up half the bag. The other half is another zippered compartment for cords, accessories, or files. There's several organizing pockets inside this compartment. There's one external open-topped compartment along the back of the bag to place a magazine or a few files.
PBZone Bag Week Review:
WaterField Designs' 17" Racer-X, Large Cargo, and Small Cozmo Bags
Price:
Racer-$139, Cargo-$209, Cozmo-$139
Requirements:
Shoulders and a laptop.
What's Hot:
Exceptionally well made, colorful accents, their unique style
What's Not:
Not much
The bag has offset metal D-rings to which the included shoulder strap attaches. The strap itself has a nice neoprene-bottomed pad to cushion your shoulder and prevent slippage. It should be noted that no additional sleeve or pad is needed to protect your PowerBook when it's in the Racer-X's compartment. As with many of WF's bags, there's a neat design element added--the handle on the top of the Racer-X is a comfortable rubber bicycle grip that complements the overall bag nicely. It
The Large Cargo bag is a messenger bag on steroids. We should mention this bag's unique touch first--the airplane seatbelt buckle that keeps its large flap secure. In addition to looking cool, it's functional; WaterField's website points out that it can be operated with one hand, unlike many other closure options out there.
The Large Cargo has a rigid plastic bottom so it stands up on its own. The main zippered compartment is enormous, with room for your PowerBook, a novel or two, and all the accessories you'd need. There's a diagonal zippered compartment on the outside of the flap which is convienent for car keys, airplane tickets, or anything you need close at hand. Under the flap are two separate additional compartments for storage.
There's a cell phone pocket on the side of the bag and it has a wide integrated, adjustable strap with a removable thick neoprene pad that wraps around the strap with velcro. The Cargo includes a set of sturdy carrying handles as well. You wouldn't necessarily have to buy a sleeve for your PowerBook with the Cargo, but we'd recommend it. WaterField makes horizontally or vertically oriented sleeves that are a thin outer wrapper of neoprene forall sizes of PowerBook available.
At $209, it's certainly not the cheapest messenger bag out there. But for its size and style, the large Cargo is well worth the money. If you don't have a need for a lot of gear with your PowerBook and are sensitive to the price, take a look at one of the smaller Cargo choices.
Last, the WaterField Designs Cozmo is a simple, elegant portfolio case that is designed to carry a PowerBook along with the trappings of your daily work. From the outside, you see a rounded, single compartment case with handles at the top and colored fabric accents at the corners. Each outer side has a thin compartment for paper materials. The interior of the small size we took a look at has room for a 12 or 15" PowerBook in a sleevecase and a few accessories.
The bottom of the case has a hard plastic insert so it stands up on its own better and, like the Racer-X, has offset D-rings with a removable comfortable shoulder strap. The Cozmo is probably the best choice of the three bags if you don't carry a lot of paraphernalia along with your PowerBook.
Each of these three choices is a great case to complement your PowerBook or iBook. From the minimalist portfolio-style of the Cozmo to the huge Large Cargo with the Racer-X inbetween, if you like the style of WaterFields' designs, they have an option for you.
Published by Doug B. Landry and contributing staff. Trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., and others reserved. ©2003 Delta Design. Publishing headquarters is located in Baton Rouge, LA Index version 1.1.2
