WaterField Designs Laptop Sleeve Case Review

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Introduction

Versatility is an important characteristic to have, whether you are speaking about a person or a notebook sleeve.  If you are looking for a highly versatile sleeve, look to WaterField Designs’ SleeveCase.  Not only does it work as a sleeve that you can slip inside your bag, but can be customized to be a standalone case as well with the durability needed to be your everyday notebook case.  But be ready to pay a hefty sum for what you get.

Design

The SleeveCase is mainly composed of three materials.  The inside is made of shock-absorbing neoprene, covered by tough ballistic nylon.  The bottom has a lead indium trim, which has a checkered pattern to it, giving the sleeve a touch of style.  The outer materials seem highly water resistant.  After I ran it under my sink at full blast for approximately half a minute, I could not detect any moisture in the interior.

Horizontal Sleeve (view large image)

The basic sleeve comes with a Velcro strap that keeps the sleeve securely closed.  However, I feel as if having the strap could pose a bit of a problem.   Because the strap concentrates pressure where it is located, it could cause a bit of extra wear on the notebook on that specific point. However, this is just speculation.

The back of the sleeve has a pouch where you can put slim folders or papers.

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If you look at the pictures above, you will notice a black strip on the bottom of the notebook.  This is a pull tab, which helps you remove the notebook from the sleeve.  This is especially useful since the SleeveCase fits very snugly.  They have custom sizes for every notebook.  If they do not have your notebook in their database, you can send them information on your notebook and they will customize a sleeve to your specifications.

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The padding itself seems to be very good.  The case is almost 1 cm thick. 

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However, because of the padding the sleeve itself feels a bit heavy.  If you own a larger notebook (i.e. widescreen 15” or 17”, you will most likely be unable to squeeze this into the padded sleeve of a laptop backpack.  The sleeve will be too long, making it difficult to zip up your backpack.  It will fit into a standard backpack without a padded sleeve. 

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I do have one gripe with the way this case is made.  The rugged ballistic nylon is sewn into the inside of the sleeve.  Thus, your notebook ends up rubbing up against the rough seam and fabric.  Sometimes I can hear the soft scraping sound of the notebook rubbing up against the sleeve, and it sends chills up my back, knowing that my baby may be getting scratched up every time I take my notebook in and out of the sleeve.

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Customizable Options

What is great about the SleeveCase is that you can get it customized to your specifications.  One of the things customizable options that is actually free is the orientation.  The horizontal orientation (depicted above) is meant for messenger bags.  The vertical sleeve is better suited for backpacks.

Vertical Sleeve with flap and D-rings (view large image)

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The vertical sleeve in the picture also has two other customizable options.  It has the sleeve flap and the D-rings.  The sleeve flap would be my preferred option for the SleeveCase, as it completely covers the top, which would be beneficial in the case of some sort of spillage near the top of your bag/backpack.  Also, it doesn’t add the pressure the central Velcro strap might add.

The D-ring allows for the attachment of two additional accessories:  the shoulder strap and the “piggyback”.   The shoulder strap allows you to use the SleeveCase as an independent carrying case.  The piggyback is a small pouch that can hold your power adapter and other accessories.  Though not pictured, I was able to fit a large power supply and a small travel mouse with some room to spare.

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The Part Where I Crush Stuff

The point of having a laptop carrying case is to have something that can transport your notebook and protect it from bumps and occasionally drops.  So I wondered, does the SleeveCase have enough padding to provide protection against minor drops and bumps like a regular laptop case would?  In order to find an answer to my question, I devised a crude test.  Essentially, I taped 5 polystyrene test tubes inside a plastic bag (to reduce the mess) and dropped a ream of multi-purpose paper (500 pages) on the test tubes with and without the sleeve.  The drop height was approximately 3 feet.

Testing materials: test tubes and paper ream (view large image)

Without any protection, the test tubes were pretty damaged.

Test tube damage without sleeve protection (view large image)

On the other hand, when placed inside the SleeveCase, the test tubes were not damaged at all.  In fact, I dropped the ream of paper on it 3 times, and there still was no damage.

Test tubes with sleeve protection on the left and test tubes without any protection on the right (view large image)

 

Conclusion

The Waterfield SleeveCase is a great sleeve.  It exudes quality with its ballistic nylon covering and neoprene internals. I love the fact that I can just clip on a shoulder strap and convert it into a carrying case if I wanted.  Plus, not many sleeve manufacturers make custom fits for every notebook.  But of course, quality comes at a price.  If you are willing to cough up the dough, you will be highly pleased with your purchase.

Pros:

• It is made to be durable
• Every sleeve is custom fitted
• You can customize the sleeve to your needs (e.g. vertical/horizontal orientation, use just as sleeve or use also as case)
• It seemingly provides adequate padding to protect your notebook.

Cons:

• I don’t like how the seam for the ballistic nylon is on the inside of the sleeve, exposing your notebook to rough fabric
• It is a bit heavy.

 

Where to Buy

The Waterfield Design SleveCase can be purchased and customized at SFBags.com

Cost varies based on sleeve size and other factors.

 

Waterfield's stuff is top quality. I don't understand the whole SFBags versus Waterfield nomenclature...most refer to them as SFBags I think. Whatever though.

Great review ejl, I love the drop test you did, that's a 10/10 on the real world example of the type of protection you'll get from a sleeve. Pretend those test tubes are you laptops LCD display and think about the fact a cracked/broken LCD runs about $400 - $600 and you'll understand why a $20 - $50 rugged sleeve might be worth it.

 

Great review! kudos for the real world test too!

 

Wow, interesting drop test. Innovative.

The website says it has internal compartments for holding other things...but I don't see that in the pictures you have. Is that an extra option?

 

Nice drop test, very innovative!

Like you said, it is a bit expensive though. With some extra's it costs about 50 $.

 

Very nice review ejl and I liked the drop test idea...although I don't think your school is going to be happy when they find their test tubes missing. =P
Tim

 

if you are talking about the sleeve itself, the only pocket it has is the one on the back. there isn't an internal pocket....and if there were, it would be a design flaw as the objects would be rubbing into your notebook.

if you are talking about the piggyback, depending on your orientation, it will have one or two interior padded pockets.

these are disposable test tubes. on average, i go through about 500 a week, so missing 10 isn't a huge deal.

 

Is this available in the UK?
if not is there anything similar that someone could reccomend?
The main features im looking for are durability and the ability to turn the sleeve into a bag with shoulder strap

thx

 

according to their website, they ship internationally.

 

I have the vertical sleeve for my Macbook and it's awesome. Not only does this sleeve provide great protection for my laptop, it's also quite stylish imo.

OP, what notebook did you have in your sleeve?

 

No, I wasn't talking about the piggyback. But never mind, because the website is misleading. When you go to http://www.sfbags.com/products/sleevecases/sleevecases.htm, which is the link provided at the end of your review, it has a bunch of images. Most of those images show all kinds of other products Waterfield carries...so I didn't realize that until I really scrutinized the page. It says "click to see more photos of this bag..." but actually it's the sleeve inside other things.

 

the fujitsu n3530

 

This is a great case. I have been using it for my Fujitsu laptop for a year and a half. Customer service is top-notch, and the case itself is made in the USA, which is rare these days.

 

they do ship internationally but it is very expensive to do so... so my orignal question stands, is there a good alternative with the ability to add/take off a shoulder strap?

 

you can check out the brenthaven edge. according to their website, they have distributors in the uk.

 

I'll just have to say, that $20 for shipping and perhaps another $20-30 more compared to some other sleeve is nothing when the quality is this good.

Also, and this is nothing personal, but I think it is bit silly when people buy (very) expensive laptops and then skimp on the sleeve/bag/case/backpack.

To me, SFBags sleeve is crucial.. depending on how much stuff I have to carry with me I can take either a backpack or a messenger pack (both without specially padded compartments) and I'll know that my laptop will be fine.

 

Awesome usability testing!

 

Had one of these for my HP Pavilion 17" laptop. Vertical with flap, piggyback, and strap. Has held up just great. One of the strap hooks broke off (most likely because my laptop is so **** heavy), but I contacted Waterfield, and they replaced it at no cost. I don't like carrying around my HP laptop, but that has nothing to do with the bag/sleeve. The sleeve is great.

So since I had such a good experience with my current laptop, I'm going to get another sleeve for my 14.1" T400 that I should be getting quite soon. It'll be vertical with a flap but no strap or piggyback. I'll make sure to get the D-rings, in case I want to hook up the stuff I already have to it. For a while I was pretty bent on getting a Shinza ZeroShock III for it, but I've finally decided against it. My T400 will have a 9-cell, and it's hard to tell if it will fit in that ZeroShock. I pretty much know (since the Waterfield site explicitly said so) that my T400 with a 9-cell will fit inside a SleeveCase. While the Waterfield sleeve might be a little more thick than the ZeroShock (at least it seems that way from images I've seen), I'm ok with that. It's nothing too bad and it just means my laptop will be a bit more protected.

 

Thread from the dead, lol! Great choice in sleeve selection.

 

is this any good?

 

Yeah. I didn't realize that this thread was that old..

@yontboy: the sleeve is indeed good. one the best you can get, in my opinion.

 

Hey, so has anyone reported scratch marks on their sleevecase?

 

I would like to know as well. sorry for reviving an ancient thread

 

No scratches on my sleevecase yet. Looks the same as when I got it.

 

How is this one compared to the Slappa Sleeve? I'm on the market for a new sleeve.

 

WaterField should be sending mine in a few days for my W870CU. I'll ring back to this thread once I get it.

 

Wow, resurrecting old threads.

Time to find the shovel.