So you got your new MacBook (gorgeous isn’t it?) and you really want to carry it with you everywhere. You could throw it into a large, super protective notebook case. The problem is, but that would just weigh you down after Apple was kind enough to shave half a pound from it. You could carry it in a highly protective laptop sleeve, such as the one that I use from Waterfield. It works great and offers a fair amount of protection.

But what if you want to carry a work briefcase and don’t feel like having two different cases? What if you just want to keep your MacBook’s beautiful aluminum body scratch free in the lightest and thinnest way possible? Enter Waterfield’s new Suede Jacket Sleeve.

As Waterfield describes it-

It doesn’t get any thinner than this! The suede jacket sleeve helps prevent scratches and dings on your Mac and the custom sizing plus stretch memory of the ultra suede ensures assigned fit… This elegant, low-profile sleeve slips easily into a briefcase, messenger bag or backpack and helps protect your laptop from the minor bumps and bruises of daily use.

The new suede jacket sleeves are shipping and mine arrived earlier today. It’s typical Waterfield –

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I had a MacBook Air for a few months. In fact, mine arrived the very first day they were out.  I absolutely loved the size and weight of it. Moreover, it was just one beautiful notebook. The problem was, I was away for an extended period over the summer and while relying on the Air  as my sole computer, I discovered that  its limited power and connectivity started becoming an issue for me. I use a lot of voice recognition, do a good bit of video conferencing and have started doing some video editing on my Macs and, quite honestly, the Air didn’t cut it for me.

I sold it on eBay (gotta love eBay!) and picked up a MacBook Pro with a 2.4 ghz processor.

What a difference! What a powerhouse! What a beautiful screen! As a good friend of mine puts it- the thing is a desktop computer in a portable package. I loved everything about it except for the weight. At 5.5lbs I found it to be more than a bit of a pain to carry everywhere with me.  So… knowing that new notebooks were on the way I sold it on eBay for a nice price (I figured it was better to do it early before the price dropped because of the new models) and have been notebook-less for the past few weeks.

I watched the feeds of the ”Apple Event“ on Tuesday knowing that I would be ordering a new notebook by the end of the day. That was when I started bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball.

Which to buy? Which to buy?

The new Pros are beautiful and powerful. Unfortunately they actually add a bit of weight over the previous generation.

The new Airs will have bigger drives and superior graphics but it still maxs out below 2.0 ghz of processor power and 2gb of ram.  Oh, and they aren’t available for another few weeks.

The new MacBooks go up to 2.4ghz, shed a bit of weight, have LED screens and have superior graphics than previous models. Unfortunately, they still use integrated graphics and they dropped the Firewire.

So which notebook just showed up at my house?? Continue Reading

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve probably heard that Apple announced several new models and refreshes of their popular line of MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers. The MacBook seems the most changed with new aluminum casing and beefier video and storage specifications. Turns out all the hype about “carving a laptop from a brick of aluminum” was interesting speculation. Apple is indeed using the manufacturing process that they used to make the MacBook Air so slim - but there doesn’t seem to be any magic aluminum carving potion beyond sharing the same manufacturing process. So far as I’ve seen, these laptops are not Apple’s much ballyhooed margin buster as evidenced by the chorus of complaints about the lack of an expected sub $800 model.

New MacBook’s Announced:
$1299. 13.3″ Glossy Display, 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 160GB HD
$1599. 13.3″ Glossy Display, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 250GB HD.

New MacBook Pros Announced:
$1999. 15.4″ Glossy Display, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA 9400M + 9600M, 250GB HD.
$2499. 15.4″ Glossy Display, 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA 9400M + 9600M, 320GB HD.

Visit Slashgear for one of the first unboxing videos of the new MacBook and MacBook Pro

One of the many conveniences I’ve encountered while owning a MacBook Air has been the ability to slip the ultra-slim laptop into almost any bag for a quick carry solution; this includes larger laptops bags as well as some of my roomier purses. There are times however, when I’ve wished that I had a bag made to specifically transport the Air: something slim, streamlined, but still large enough to carry any peripherals and doo-dads I might need.

Tom Bihn has released just such a bag; similar in style to their Cafe line, the Ristretto Messenger Bag is built with different proportions, and “an interior compartment padded at the front, back, and bottom,” “sized specifically for your MacBook Air, 13″ MacBook or IBM-Lenovo Thinkpad X300.” It is available in several flavorful color combinations including: olive/cayenne, steel/sapphire, plum/wasabi, black/olive and black/steel.

Photos by Kevin

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