Netbooks are tiny.  Finding a stylish netbook case is difficult.  You can generally find sleeves and some smaller bags but sleeves generally fit your netbook a bit tight to fit the power cord too.   If you want a mouse or a few other accessories, you can forget taking just a sleeve. Bolt Bags aims to change this with their new netbook line. Continue Reading

I recently jumped back into the world of netbooks. Mostly I wanted something on which to use Windows 7. So I tried a number of them running the new OS and settle on the Toshiba NB205. A bit of surgery and the diminutive machine now has 2GB of RAM and an SSD drive. It runs rather well and gets 8-9 hours on a single charge. Now if only I had a way to easily carry it since my other bags are designed for much larger notebooks…

Thankfully Skooba has me covered with a new line of bags especially designed for netbooks. The Netbook Messenger Bag has 20 pockets, holds netbooks with up to 10 inch screens and weighs just 24 ounces. At 14×12 x 3 inches in size it is large enough to carry what you need but small enough to travel lightly.

The MSRP of the bag is just $49.95. Details and more images can be found on the Skooba website. The full Press Release follows.

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It is not a so-well-kept secret that I travel quite a bit for my day job. While 2009 has seen a slow down in travel for me, I still will easily make my American Airlines Platinum status for the 4th year in a row. As a reminder to everyone: Airline status is not something to be proud of. It means that you spend too much time on airplanes and that you know exactly which seats and rows have power outlets… but I digress. Since September 11, 2001 the single biggest challenge with air travel has not necessarily been the airlines but the security process you have to go through in order to get to your gate. I’m not complaining – security has kept us from having any significant airline issues since 9/11 – but it can be challenging, especially for seasoned travelers.

Normally when you go through the security checkpoint at the airport you are required to remove your laptop from your bag and put it in a seperate tray in order to be x-rayed amongst the other things you have to removed from your person – shoes, belts, etc. For most this is not that big of a deal but for people who have a lot of stuff in their bag along with their computer, it can take a minute or so to get the computer out of the bag and onto the belt. Meanwhile, the seasoned travelers are tapping their toe behind you waiting impatiently.

To help solve this challenge of travel, Skooba Designs has released a wide range of bags they refer to as their Checkthrough series. This series of bags are approved by the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) for allowing your computer to remain in the bag and be x-rayed. It is a tremendous time saver, especially on those days when the airport security is exceptionally busy. Skooba Designs was kind enough to send me the Checkthrough Roller bag for this review and after several trips with it I have to say it is a winner. Not only does it help you get through security checkpoints but it is a roomy and functional roller bag.

The Skooba Checkthrough Roller Bag

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Gearing up for another treat-filled Halloween?   Last week saw plenty a-brewin’ with the drool-worthy Barnes & Noble Nook eReader (yes, that’s really what it’s called), the Que and the Alex.  Oh, don’t cry for Amazon.  Even as the Kindle gets some real competition this holiday season, Amazon continues to do just fine.

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Skooba Design is looking for the ultimate digital gear-head. Could it be you? Their new “Master of the Digital Universe” contest gives techies from all over a chance to “put up or shut up” as they duke it out for the title. The prizes look amazing!

Among other goodies, the grand prize includes something truly unique the opportunity to work directly with a Skooba designer to create a custom-made, one-of-a-kind laptop/gadget bag, to be handmade by a Skooba craftsperson, only for the winner. As the company says, “as is fitting for the Master, it will be the only bag of its kind in the universe, made to the winner’s wants, needs and specifications. Once it is made, there will never be another.” The grand prize winner will get other merchandise and gadget gift card prizes as well, and may be featured in Skooba advertising and promotional activities. 2 runners-up will receive prize packages as well, and all entries will be included in a “second-chance” prize drawing. The total value of prizes is more than $6,000.

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I. Am. A. Mobile. Computing. User… Period.

I live for converged devices, laptops, netbooks, and data on the go. I’ve got unlimited data on my Smartphone account; and have tethered my laptop to my phone when I need to be online in a pinch. When I travel, I need to take it with me; and when it comes to airport security, I dread the TSA required aerobics and mandatory disrobing… Thankfully, to help make things easier, Skooba Design has created the CheckThrough Backpack.  Let’s take a quick look to see how (and if) this thing makes traveling easier…

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I’ve just received the welcome news that Skooba Design is introducing two new Checkpoint friendly bags to their Checkthrough collection: the Checkthrough Roller and the Checkthrough Backpack. Both are designed so that you can leave your laptop in the bag when passing through Airport security, and both look pretty darn good!

Let’s peek…

Checkthrough Backpack

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I just noticed an email waiting with the title “You’re the first to know”, but because of the mountain of messages I’ve been working through all morning, it took me almost an hour after it was received for me to even see it! Ah well, my email management nightmares are a post for another day.

In the meantime, let me pass on the information telling Skooba Design’s way to end the week “with a bang!”. They are offering 50% off any one order when you use the code HALFCRAZY. This sale is only good until 11:59 pm tomorrow, so if a new Skooba bag is in your list of “want to buys,” you’d better act now!

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Update: This giveaway is now closed. The winners are Heatwave316 and geek4life1986. Oddly enough, there were quite a few entries emailed to me, but the rules were clear – the answers needed to be posted in the comments…

Keep your eye out for even more Gear Diary giveaways coming soon!

It’s been a while since we did a celebrity device guessing game, and it’s definitely time to do one again! The rules are simple – guess which device the famous (or infamous) celebrity is holding by filling in the blanks; submit your answers in the comments below, and we’ll randomly choose three winners from the correct submissions.

You don’t have to get the exact model number correct when guessing, but you do have to have the correct maker and a close guess on the model.

This time we have some really awesome prizes, sponsored by Skooba Design:

•  First Place – Checkthrough Brief (MSRP $139.95)
•  Second Place – Checkthrough Messenger (MSRP $129.95)
•  Third Place – Skooba Skin (MSRP $29.95)

Take a look at the pictures, submit your guesses in the comments below, and we’ll pick our winners from those with at least 20 correct answers on Sunday May 24th at Midnight CST.

1. Call the cops! Victoria Beckham polices the airport with her monstrously huge Hermes Kelly bag and a ______.

photo courtesy of Just Jared

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Skooba Design is now the exclusive US sales and marketing partner for Proporta. You might be wondering what all the fuss is about, and what’s in it for you; well read on to find out…

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It’s that time again…time for me to recognize all of the wonderful sponsors who believe in and who so graciously support Gear Diary…

I’ll start by mentioning our newest sponsor, LogicBuy. Have you noticed the near daily Gear Sponsored blurbs that Wayne started posting last week? Not to be confused with the GearDeals he has always scoured the net to find, these are sponsored posts pointing you to the deal of the day on the LogicBuy site. We’d like to thank Thai and the gang at LogicBuy for their support, and we hope that you all enjoy some extra savings when taking advantage of their deals.

Next is our original and longest running backer: Skooba Design (formerly RoadWired). Michael Hess believed in this site from the beginning and offered his company’s support. I’ll always be grateful that he took an early interest in us, and I hope that you all will show your appreciation for his leap of faith by clicking his ad and perusing his wares. You can see past Skooba Design / RoadWired reviews here.

Mingo Chui and the gang from PDair have been another longtime sponsor. I’ve been reviewing PDair items for years, and am pleased to take this opportunity to thank them for supporting us. If you haven’t clicked their button recently, then do! Once on their site, you’ll find that PDair has a solution for just about every one of your mobility needs. On this site you will find quite a few reviews of their cases and other products.

BeyzaCases has also been a faithful supporter of this site, and we truly appreciate them! Gear Diary readers have grown familiar with their products over the last few years, but Beyza has been around for quite a while. As Ali, my contact there told me some time ago, “We, as Neta Trades Ltd have been in this business since 1998, but we have started to produce and markeket under our own brandname BeyzaCases in 2004. Untill that time we were only producing our leather Cases for well known brandnames as a confidential contractor. We are still producing for many brands in same way. But since 2004 we wanted to be in this market as BeyzaCases for to share our experience and to show our quality.We are offering competitive wholesale pricess to our clients including fast and free shipment with a Great service. All BeyzaCases products reach our clients with “LifeTime Warranty”.” We have reviewed quite a few BeyzaCases’ branded products on Gear Diary, and you can see those reviews here. You can check out their latest offerings by clicking here.

I would also like to thank all of the companies who have sponsored contests through Gear Diary. Off the top of my head (which automatically means I am forgetting some), these include: HP, Scooba Design, Vaja, HTC, Epson, Speck, Ultimate Ears, BlueAnt Wireless, Astraware, PPC Techs, and so many others are the companies that spice up our usual offerings of news, reviews, and opinion pieces. We truly appreciate them! If your company would like to sponsor Gear Diary through a contest or advertisement, you can find details on how to do so, here.

As a reminder, another way to support Gear Diary is by signing up for a free one-year subscription to any of the Free Tech magazines from the Trade Publication button on the far right sidebar. You can purchase software (as well as hardware accessories) from the Gear Diary Store, and we also have an affiliate relationship with ProClip, makers of almost every in-vehicle mount solution you might ever need.

I would also like to thank YOU for reading Gear Diary, because without your continued support…what would be the point?

The graphic says it all! Skooba Design is offering 20% off all items in their store for the next three days, and any order over $50 gets free express shipping!

Make sure to use the code MOMSDAY to get the 20% discount on your mom’s stuff!

Don’t you hate when you see something go on sale for $69.95 ( 1/2 of what you paid!). I just noticed that my Skooba Laptop Backpack is on overstock sale. I bought mine right at the beginning of summer and used it when I biked all over town with my 15″ MacBook Pro and my work gear securely inside. Now is your chance to pick this up for a steal. The selling point for this backpack is comfort. The back and shoulder straps are fully padded which makes for extremely comfortable usage (crucial if you are going to spend more than 5 minutes with a backpack on your shoulders). More pictures on the next page. Continue Reading

The Checkthrough line of bags have quickly become the best sellers in Skooba’s 10 year history. Just out is a new messenger bag that’s thinner than their first generation check through. In theory bags that meet the TSA standards will allow you to simply unzip, lay flat and sail your bag right through the Xray eyes of security. Continue Reading

The Gear Diary Team is as opinionated and diverse as any I have worked with over the years, both in real life and on the Internet.  So we had to have a discussion on what we each thought were the best gadgets of 2008…

Joel McLaughlin

1. Neuros Link – Soon to be the mother of all set top boxes. With all the support it’s adding, it’s a matter of time where you can get rid of
your cable box.

2. T-Mobile G1 – The birth of a new phone platform. So far, it holds a lot of promise and is starting to deliver on those too.

3. Netflix Player by Roku – Now you can do the one DVD at a time plan and watch all the back catalog with this cheap little box. Continue Reading