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iKraze

macrumors newbie
Jul 29, 2014
15
0
Thule Stravan Attache.

I just recently got the backpack in this line and it is excellent. Unfortunately it lacks the micro fiber lining that the attache and sleeve have, but even so I think it's great.

Looks like a nice alternative, being able to withstand rain is important for me, don't wanna carry a £2000 laptop to get ruined.
 

EOB

macrumors regular
Sep 6, 2014
144
24
Los Angeles
After searching for a leather sleeve bag, and only finding the "picasolab" leather sleevs, I could not justify spending 100+ for a leather sleeve. And having easy access to abundance amounts/colours of leather, I decided to make one for my mid 2014 rMBP 15. Keep in mind I have no experience in any cloth/leather work.

I must say I am happy with my outcome of the sleeve. Best of all this a rare of a kind and no one else has one ;) lol.

Here is my outcome. Still needs a little more work(sanding/glueing). Took me about 3-5 hours to make spread over a week.

photo5_zps9dcb7fd6.jpg

photo3_zps86a00a6a.jpg
 
Last edited:

GadgetComa

macrumors member
Jul 20, 2011
38
47
Many, many thanks to everyone who posted reviews and suggestions. I just bought a 15" Macbook Pro Retina and was struggling to narrow down the choices for a sleeve case. I really did read all 103+ pages of posts! (I am CDO - that's OCD with the letters in the right damn order! :D).

I went so far as to create a rating matrix to evaluate the final few choices and settled on the Brenthaven BX2 Sleeve II (http://www.brenthaven.com/bx2™-sleeve-ii-black). If you like it or any other Brenthaven case, the code BHFAN will save you 10%.

I'll follow up with my thoughts on the case once I get it.

Thanks again, everyone.

- Leon

I'm back! I got the case a little over a week ago; but, due to my aforementioned CDO, wasn't ready to commit yet. I was concerned about my MBP not being adequately protected from the zipper. After reevaluating options and playing with the BX2 some more, I've decided to keep it. Here's what I found:

It's an attractive case. Personally, I like the color combination and the unique shape, which is functional too. The contour at the bottom is due to the corners having extra padding which effectively holds the laptop snugly away from the very bottom of the case - a bit of extra shock protection. It's easy to slip your hand under the handle and grip the bottom of the case, getting a really secure hold on the precious cargo. The faux leather finish looks nice, but you'll notice finger/hand prints due the texture. (Now I understanding the saying 'get your greasy little hands off of my laptop'! :D)
Brenthaven BX2 Sleeve II -1.jpg

It's pretty darn thin too!
Brenthaven BX2 Sleeve II -2.jpg

My initial concern was that it is too easy to scrape the zipper along the MBP while sliding it into or out of the case. Also, there is no lining as a buffer between the zipper and the laptop. Other cases I've seen have the zipper recessed with lining touching the laptop as it moves in and out or the zipper can be held out of the way in some other way.
Brenthaven BX2 Sleeve II -3.jpg

I bought this new MBPr 15" to replace a 2009 MBP 13" which gave up the ghost. So, as a test, I held my breath, clenched my teeth and tried to scratch the old MBP with the zipper. (I told you about that CDO thing, right? ;)). And ... nothing. I barely heard anything and certainly didn't see any scratches. I really, really tried, but just couldn't make a mark. I can't tell for sure, but the zipper appears to be nylon or plastic. It feels solid and smooth, so I'm not worried about durability.

As for not having a buffer between the MBP and the zipper? Well, remember the extra corner padding that's evident from the shape of the bottom of the case? The same corner padding is in the top corners too. The result is, when the case is zipped shut, it holds the laptop extra snug with those padded corners - keeping it far away from the zipper.
Brenthaven BX2 Sleeve II -7.jpg

In this last shot, if you look closely, you'll notice that the padding is touching the bottom of the MBP on the far right corner, but there's a tiny bit of space between the padding and the laptop to the left of the corner. This difference is due to that extra padding in the corners.
Brenthaven BX2 Sleeve II -5.jpg

Bottom line, this case is attractive, slim, and really protects your laptop despite the scary teeth of the not-so-evil zipper.
 

Dundonik

macrumors regular
Aug 20, 2013
135
4
After searching for a leather sleeve bag, and only finding the "picasolab" leather sleevs, I could not justify spending 100+ for a leather sleeve. And having easy access to abundance amounts/colours of leather, I decided to make one for my mid 2014 rMBP 15. Keep in mind I have no experience in any cloth/leather work.

I must say I am happy with my outcome of the sleeve. Best of all this a rare of a kind and no one else has one ;) lol.

Here is my outcome. Still needs a little more work(sanding/glueing). Took me about 3-5 hours to make spread over a week.

Image
Image

this looks awesome, great job!
 

itsLouieV

macrumors regular
Oct 21, 2010
124
133
Chicago
Incase Icon Pack

Purchased the Incase Icon Pack about 2 weeks ago, this is my first purchase of any incase product, and while i am please by the quality, the Icon pack being their flagship bag definitely needs some serious attention to detail and refinement.

10446004_584612324981100_4945701699384278045_n.jpg


Before going any further, I do wish to disclose that i had tried to change colors a few hours after ordering, however i was sent an email saying that they were unable to facilitate that request and that I was free to try out the grey icon pack and send it back within 30 days if i still wanted the red one. I kept the grey one for 4 days and sent it back, its been a week, waiting for a refund so that i can repurchase, because that is apparently quicker and easier then exchanges (so shipping time + credit card refund processing time + new order/new payment processing time + shipping time = less then a bloody exchange?)

Now, I LOVED the bag, it was great, but there were a few quirks. Being that this was the best bag you can buy from Incase, the zipper pulls were of the worst quality I've ever had on a bag. For heavens sake, the $30 sleeve from them has zipper pulls that are many times better, the City collection has zipper pulls that are much better, these could have been much better. The zipper pulls had started to disform just from 4 days of use. the bag was also missing things like the attached key holder that shows up in their marketing materials as well as 2 different youtube videos. And the bag did arrive with some issues in the zipper sticking

15202858321_30e9a7b506_z.jpg


On the positive side, the bag was incredibly spacious, and seemed to be more durable then most bags I've had. And this Icon pack did have pockets galore. The back of the bag was also made from a firm memory foam like material that was great, and the pockets on either side were also well used.

Not sure if i will be re-purchasing after getting my refund, this entire experience has taken over 12 business days already and that isn't including the time that i had the bag.
 

Angriff

macrumors member
Dec 28, 2013
95
0
Purchased the Incase Icon Pack about 2 weeks ago, this is my first purchase of any incase product, and while i am please by the quality, the Icon pack being their flagship bag definitely needs some serious attention to detail and refinement.

Image

Before going any further, I do wish to disclose that i had tried to change colors a few hours after ordering, however i was sent an email saying that they were unable to facilitate that request and that I was free to try out the grey icon pack and send it back within 30 days if i still wanted the red one. I kept the grey one for 4 days and sent it back, its been a week, waiting for a refund so that i can repurchase, because that is apparently quicker and easier then exchanges (so shipping time + credit card refund processing time + new order/new payment processing time + shipping time = less then a bloody exchange?)

Now, I LOVED the bag, it was great, but there were a few quirks. Being that this was the best bag you can buy from Incase, the zipper pulls were of the worst quality I've ever had on a bag. For heavens sake, the $30 sleeve from them has zipper pulls that are many times better, the City collection has zipper pulls that are much better, these could have been much better. The zipper pulls had started to disform just from 4 days of use. the bag was also missing things like the attached key holder that shows up in their marketing materials as well as 2 different youtube videos. And the bag did arrive with some issues in the zipper sticking

Image

On the positive side, the bag was incredibly spacious, and seemed to be more durable then most bags I've had. And this Icon pack did have pockets galore. The back of the bag was also made from a firm memory foam like material that was great, and the pockets on either side were also well used.

Not sure if i will be re-purchasing after getting my refund, this entire experience has taken over 12 business days already and that isn't including the time that i had the bag.

I'd recommend looking at the Thule backpacks. I got the Stravan one they only sell through Apple but they have a few other models as well. The build quality is top notch and it had a bunch of pockets to stow accessories and stuff.
 

Lukewarmwinner

macrumors 6502
Oct 12, 2012
338
4
I'm looking for a rugged sleeve (preferably a hard case) for my 15" retina. I'm gonna use it in a backpack with some books, so would like it to give more protection from a heavy load than a neoprene sleeve would. I've looked at the ones from Thule which seems to be a great choice, although some suggest that they don't fit the retina and it seems like the sleeves have no padding what so ever

Can you recommend a hard sleeve to be used with and without a backpack?

My latest was a Larobe with a lot of memory foam, which actually was quite nice. I would prefer a pelican-hard-sleeve-like-thing though if it's out there :)
 

Wayfarer

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2007
1,225
601
Another vote for the Runetz case! Just got mine today and it's absolutely perfect but I'm too lazy to take a picture, so here's a generic one :)
aJWa6EF.png

[link]
 

bonjusa

macrumors newbie
Oct 4, 2014
1
0
I'm looking for a champagne/gold colored hard case for my Macbook Retina 13 2014-model.

Has anyone found a hard case that would fit the new thinner mb retina perfectly? All the hard cases I have seen fit also the older macbook retina models, which means that they can't have a perfect fit for the new one, i suppose.
 

gødspeed

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2009
228
1
Oregon
I bought a Pelican 1495 along with my 15" rMBP. Both should arrive tomorrow. I chose the Pelican, because it's rugged, waterproof, dustproof, even bulletproof apparently. Perfect for toting my shiny new rMBP on documentary film gigs in sketchy places & under adverse conditions.
 

PauseTheMoment

macrumors newbie
Sep 14, 2012
3
0
Weird question. I'm looking for a black case/cover for my 13" rMBP. I saw it on the MTV show Catfish. One of the guys on the show has a black cover for his MBP and I like the look of it...

Any help?

Did you ever find that case you were looking for? I'm looking for the same one. I'm headed out on a trip and I want to pick up a good quality solid black case that completely covers the apple logo.

Anybody out there know a good case for covering up the apple logo on the back of the retina Macbook Pro (mid-2014)?

Thanks in advance!
 

B5Burn

macrumors newbie
Jan 19, 2011
7
0
I picked up the OGIO Renegade RSS 17 about a month ago for University.

LOVE THIS BACKPACK. It has so much storage capacity and the clincher for me was the padded, laptop storage compartment, with a suspended internal sleeve preventing my rMBP from hitting the ground every time the bag is put down.

With the laptop in it's own padded hard shelled section, it still easily holds 3 - 1" binders and a text book or two in the main section, has a massive pocket for ipad or more thin books or magazines. And a huge front lower pocket for pens and stuff. 2 side pockets on each side with a water bottle pocket that zips up and out of the way. Lined, hard shelled tech vault at the top of the bag is nice for glasses, phone... whatever. Padded back, great straps with a pocket for iPhone, mp3 player with a port for headphone passthrough.

Any Q's fire away, I am still trying to find stuff to put in it's ample pockets and storage sections.

Here is a video of the bag I purchased. Has received very good reviews across the board. Heavily compared it to the Thule and another which has slipped from my memory now.

 

MacModMachine

macrumors 68020
Apr 3, 2009
2,476
393
Canada
Purchased the Incase Icon Pack about 2 weeks ago, this is my first purchase of any incase product, and while i am please by the quality, the Icon pack being their flagship bag definitely needs some serious attention to detail and refinement.

Image

Before going any further, I do wish to disclose that i had tried to change colors a few hours after ordering, however i was sent an email saying that they were unable to facilitate that request and that I was free to try out the grey icon pack and send it back within 30 days if i still wanted the red one. I kept the grey one for 4 days and sent it back, its been a week, waiting for a refund so that i can repurchase, because that is apparently quicker and easier then exchanges (so shipping time + credit card refund processing time + new order/new payment processing time + shipping time = less then a bloody exchange?)

Now, I LOVED the bag, it was great, but there were a few quirks. Being that this was the best bag you can buy from Incase, the zipper pulls were of the worst quality I've ever had on a bag. For heavens sake, the $30 sleeve from them has zipper pulls that are many times better, the City collection has zipper pulls that are much better, these could have been much better. The zipper pulls had started to disform just from 4 days of use. the bag was also missing things like the attached key holder that shows up in their marketing materials as well as 2 different youtube videos. And the bag did arrive with some issues in the zipper sticking

Image

On the positive side, the bag was incredibly spacious, and seemed to be more durable then most bags I've had. And this Icon pack did have pockets galore. The back of the bag was also made from a firm memory foam like material that was great, and the pockets on either side were also well used.

Not sure if i will be re-purchasing after getting my refund, this entire experience has taken over 12 business days already and that isn't including the time that i had the bag.

had this bag in mustard yellow , dident last 4 months before it was falling apart.
 
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