Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Proporta Asus eee PC Gadget Bag mini review
Proporta kindly sent me one of their eee PC Gadget Bags to take a look at. Chances are if you are looking for a notebook bag to snugly wrap around your new Asus, the majority of usual suspects will not be able to help you owing to the fact the eee PC is much smaller than your average notebook. Proporta, keen to cover all aspects of mobile computing, have come up with a modular and functional design to hopefully suit your needs.
The first thing I will point out with this design is the modular aspect of it. The bulk of the case is made up of a main compartment and two add on compartments to complement this. The main section, which is tailored to the same dimension of this tiny notebook, takes up half the depth of the whole bag and the further two sections take up a quarter each. The two smaller compartments are attached to the main section using a zip and are tethered together with a small strap and buckle. This design lets you remove one or both of these extra sections depending on how much storage space you need!
The main notebook section takes the eee PC with little room to spare although you can dress it up in the neoprene sleeve before squeezing it in, ensuring an even snugger fit. While this was originally designated for the 700 series, my 900 series also fits in when wearing it's slip case... just. Inside this main section is a further small pouch which uses velcro to stay closed and also to attach inside the case. I'm not quite sure of the purpose of this pouch as it makes sense to remove it when the notebook is in place and I also think the use of velcro to attach this inside is a small design flaw; more on that later. There is also an elastic retainer however it is the wrong size and in the wrong location to be used for the main unit so again it seems oddly designed.
The two smaller compartments are ideal for accessories and will easily carry the power charger, mouse, cables and an external hard drive, perhaps more. I would have liked to have seen an internal pocket for storing memory cards or pen drives and I did wonder if this is what the pouch was intended for but if it was, it was poorly realised.
Protection is one of the fundamental aspects of a notebook bag and this model does quite well here. While it is not up to the standard of top end notebook bags, the three main sections have a good amount of padding and are encased in a tough, hard wearing and splash proof material. The only down side to the padding is it does not go round the edge of the compartments. The inside uses a very soft material to protect the contents from scratches which brings me back to the small pouch that is attached inside the notebook section. The velcro used to attach this leaves the rough, hook side on the inside of this compartment and therefore, by design, is very likely to scratch the notebook. This goes against the point of using a soft lining and I'm still unsure why it was designed in this fashion! Thankfully it is easily resolved by using a strip of parcel tape to cover the offending velcro.
Accessibility is very good with zip closures all round and the main section can flip open almost flat if needed to ensure easy access. Also included in all compartments is a rubberised headphone port so you can pass though a cable or even a thin power cord if needed - a handy addition and especially welcome on all sections!
Included with this bag is a detachable shoulder strap that, while not the last word in comfort, is perfectly adequate although surprisingly for a notebook bag, there is no hand strap. While this is not most likely a deal breaker for most, it would still have been a good addition to give the user more options.
So is there anything else I need to point out about this case? Well because the two outer compartments attach to the main section using a zip, with these removed it leaves a zip edge running around the case. I think this looks untidy and I would have preferred these 2 sections to attach using velcro, soft side on the main section of course, and perhaps a strap and buckle to further secure them.
As much as I had some negative points, all in, this is a simple but reasonably well specified, practical bag that is ideally tailored to the diminutive dimensions of the Asus eee PC. A few small design flaws aside, this bag should meet the requirements of the majority of users looking for a small but full featured bag for storage and travelling.
More details can be found at Proporta's website.
The first thing I will point out with this design is the modular aspect of it. The bulk of the case is made up of a main compartment and two add on compartments to complement this. The main section, which is tailored to the same dimension of this tiny notebook, takes up half the depth of the whole bag and the further two sections take up a quarter each. The two smaller compartments are attached to the main section using a zip and are tethered together with a small strap and buckle. This design lets you remove one or both of these extra sections depending on how much storage space you need!
The main notebook section takes the eee PC with little room to spare although you can dress it up in the neoprene sleeve before squeezing it in, ensuring an even snugger fit. While this was originally designated for the 700 series, my 900 series also fits in when wearing it's slip case... just. Inside this main section is a further small pouch which uses velcro to stay closed and also to attach inside the case. I'm not quite sure of the purpose of this pouch as it makes sense to remove it when the notebook is in place and I also think the use of velcro to attach this inside is a small design flaw; more on that later. There is also an elastic retainer however it is the wrong size and in the wrong location to be used for the main unit so again it seems oddly designed.
The two smaller compartments are ideal for accessories and will easily carry the power charger, mouse, cables and an external hard drive, perhaps more. I would have liked to have seen an internal pocket for storing memory cards or pen drives and I did wonder if this is what the pouch was intended for but if it was, it was poorly realised.
Protection is one of the fundamental aspects of a notebook bag and this model does quite well here. While it is not up to the standard of top end notebook bags, the three main sections have a good amount of padding and are encased in a tough, hard wearing and splash proof material. The only down side to the padding is it does not go round the edge of the compartments. The inside uses a very soft material to protect the contents from scratches which brings me back to the small pouch that is attached inside the notebook section. The velcro used to attach this leaves the rough, hook side on the inside of this compartment and therefore, by design, is very likely to scratch the notebook. This goes against the point of using a soft lining and I'm still unsure why it was designed in this fashion! Thankfully it is easily resolved by using a strip of parcel tape to cover the offending velcro.
Accessibility is very good with zip closures all round and the main section can flip open almost flat if needed to ensure easy access. Also included in all compartments is a rubberised headphone port so you can pass though a cable or even a thin power cord if needed - a handy addition and especially welcome on all sections!
Included with this bag is a detachable shoulder strap that, while not the last word in comfort, is perfectly adequate although surprisingly for a notebook bag, there is no hand strap. While this is not most likely a deal breaker for most, it would still have been a good addition to give the user more options.
So is there anything else I need to point out about this case? Well because the two outer compartments attach to the main section using a zip, with these removed it leaves a zip edge running around the case. I think this looks untidy and I would have preferred these 2 sections to attach using velcro, soft side on the main section of course, and perhaps a strap and buckle to further secure them.
As much as I had some negative points, all in, this is a simple but reasonably well specified, practical bag that is ideally tailored to the diminutive dimensions of the Asus eee PC. A few small design flaws aside, this bag should meet the requirements of the majority of users looking for a small but full featured bag for storage and travelling.
More details can be found at Proporta's website.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Asus eee PC 900
Well I managed to get a hold of an Asus eee PC 900 and straight away I am impressed. While the desire to have a larger screen than the 701 was the biggest draw, I was surprised at just how much it improves. I'll document my thoughts here as I try it out and also incorporate it into the reviews I am currently writing on some cases designed for the eee PC.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
eee PC accessory reviews on the way.
I have received some custom sample cases for the eee PC so look out for these reviews in the coming days. I am impressed with the design of these and can see them being popular with a lot of users.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Back this time with the Asus eee PC
After what has been some what of an enforced hiatus due to work commitments, it is time to get this mobile blog back on track. While I am still a regular Windows Mobile user, things have been quickly moving of late and I was on the look out for something highly portable yet still functional to assist me in photography. Ideally, I wanted to use a full OS like Windows due to the applications I prefer and wanted a small notebook form factor. Did I mention I also wanted something cheap since I already had a high powered desktop and notebook as well as PDA and PMP? Enter the Asus eee PC. I have been trialling this device and have been very impressed. I'll share my thoughts on this going forward as well as some accessories for the eee PC.
