Many people have invested a lot of time and money into their laptop, but did not consider the importance of protecting their investment with a quality laptop bag. The advantage to having a laptop versus a desktop computer is the portability the laptop provides the user. You can take your laptop with you on a plane, in a subway, in your car, to the doctor’s office, to work and home, without missing a beat. The portability comes with a price though, and that is learning to protect the laptop while traveling. This is an easy thing to do when enough time and research is spent in picking out the perfect laptop bag.
If the wrong bag is picked, not only do you risk damaging your laptop, but there might be any number of problems that you run into without even realizing they were potential problems. For example, if you are a commuter, the need for a padded shoulder strap is necessary, otherwise after long stretches of carrying a laptop bag on your shoulder, the v guard gas geyser strap tends to dig into your shoulder. This can be quite uncomfortable, especially when you are trying to run to catch a train or make sure you make your flight in time. Another example, if you tend to take a lot of extras with you like file folders, small electronic devices, magazines, notebooks, cds, etc, soon you may realize there is no room for what you need to carry with you on a daily basis. If you don’t take into account the amount of space allotted to the laptop and padding around the laptop area, and how much space is allocated to extra storage, then you might find yourself running into this very problem. Without the proper research, these seemingly small problems become daily nightmares each time you use your new laptop bag.
Your laptop bag should be durable, and should survive a minor bump or spill. What good is a laptop bag if one minor incident breaks the bag apart, spilling all of your contents, including the laptop? When a laptop takes a serious fall, there is a high probability that the hard disk will not survive the crash. One way to avoid this potential catastrophe is to buy a leather bag. Leather is very durable and can survive many bumps. Minor tears in the leather can be mended, keeping the structural integrity of the laptop bag. Not only is the bag durable, but leather is stylish as well, so you will look fashion conscious. If leather is too pricey for the budget, try nylon as a cheaper alternative.
Making sure your laptop bag is waterproof is very important. If you purchase a leather laptop bag, then even if it is not waterproof, you can buy a water repellent spray that you can apply yourself to the leather bag. (Just make sure to apply the spray in a well ventilated area. I prefer to spray it outside. ) This water repellent spray is available in many shoe, furniture and luggage stores. If you did not choose leather, then make sure you look at the specs on the bag to confirm the water resistant feature. Unfortunately, liquid does damage laptops, so making sure to keep it away from the laptop is very important.
Some laptop bags do not offer adequate padding around the laptop area. Some offer no padding at all. Make sure to research how much padding will be around the laptop, and also make sure the padding surrounds the entire laptop. If you can get a strap to hold the laptop in place as well, that is a plus. The padding is what is going to protect the laptop from any drops or bumps while in transit. Even when storing the laptop, the padding will protect the laptop from items that might fall on it or from children that might roughhouse near the laptop. Padding on the shoulder strap is important as discussed above. This will protect your shoulder when carrying the case for long stretches of time, such as when traveling on a subway or when hiking to the airport gate or standing on the airport security line.