Golla Laptop Sleeve Review

by Sarah Meyer

Golla is an up and coming brand name here in the United States. Their mission statement is to blend "lifestyle and technology to create true fashion bags for portable electronics."

I decided to review a 13" laptop sleeve and several music bags and test the mission statement: Are Golla's bags truly unique and useful bags for "generation mobile?"

The Golla Laptop Sleeve Specifications

• Dimensions: approx. 13" x 9.5" x 1.4"
• 100% polyester
• Four design choices

Design and Aesthetics

I reviewed the Picnic 13" laptop sleeve. It's grey with a bursting flower design on the outside. The brand name, "Golla" and their trademark, "Generation Mobile" are printed in orange in the bottom right hand corner.

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The sleeve zips open and the inside is covered in a black neoprene like material. The sleeve is padded all the way around but on the sides the padding is thicker.

On the outside of the sleeve there is a handle for carrying and a Velcro pocket on the back. The pocket is large enough to fit a paper notebook or thin accessories.

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Overall, the sleeve is slim enough to slip into most normal sized backpacks, messenger bags, or even a large briefcase.

Using the sleeve

The 13" Picnic laptop sleeve is a cool looking sleeve and decently padded. The stitching and quality of the sleeve seemed good, no loose or frayed edges. I did have a minor zipper issue; I got it caught on a little piece of fabric but no harm done.

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The main problem I encountered is that it doesn't fit all 13" notebooks, which actually tend to be 13.3".

I tested it on several laptops we had in the office recently. I could not get the Dell Vostro 1310 in without compromising the stitching; the Dell XPS M1330, Asus R1 Tablet and Lenovo Thinkpad X300 (see image below) were all very tight fits.

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The Lenovo Thinkpad X61, which is not a 13" notebook but a 12.1" notebook fit easily. So make sure you double check your notebook will fit, or move up a size.

On that note, Golla makes laptop sleeves in two other sizes: 15.4" and 17". The 17" sleeve only comes in two of the four designs but it was nice to see a 17" notebook product for a change.

The dimensions for the 15.4" sleeve are approximately 14.8" x 11.4" x 1.6" and the dimensions for the 17" sleeve are approximately 16.7" x 12" x 1.9" (I had to change all of Golla's measurements from millimeters to inches hence the approximate numbers).

I also reviewed Golla Music Bags, small cases made for MP3's but that also work for cell phones and thin compact or ultra compact digital cameras (the Golla rep I am corresponding with agreed they can be multi-functional).

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These can be great accessories to go along with a laptop sleeve since you won't be able to fit most devices in the actual sleeve.

Conclusion

The Golla laptop sleeves and music bags are all uniquely designed and in my opinion are unisex. They aren't too expensive, and can be found in on the internet as well as in retail chains.

My one pause in recommending this sleeve would be sizing. Double check the measurements of your notebook against the sleeve dimensions to save yourself the hassle of a return.

Pros

• Several original design choices
• Reasonably priced
• Multiple sizes for larger laptops

Cons

• 13" sleeve couldn't fit all 13" notebooks

Pricing and Availability

Golla Laptop Sleeves and Music Bags can be purchased via retailers worldwide for $39.99 and $19.99, respectively.

Check out the full list for every country Golla Products are available in on Golla's website.

 

Thanks for this review. These sleeves provide a pleasant change fron the normal color schemes.

Are those dimensions external? If so, it would help if you could measure the internal dimensions.

Am I correct that the handle on the sleeve is on the side? This would mean there is a risk of things falling out of the pocket if the sleeve is carried by the handle.

John

 

The internal/external dimensions are virtually identical because it's a neoprene and polyester slipcase/sleeve that can stretch a bit. As you can see from the photo, the X300 is a perfectly tight fit inside the sleeve and that is essentially the maximum internal size (although the sleeve still has some room to stretch in terms of thickness because the X300 is so thin).

The dimensions of the X300 are: 12.4" x 9.1" x 0.73" - 0.92"