Coffee break- no laptop case?
I’m working away in the local coffee bar and see something that I’ve been seeing more and more of lately and it puzzles me. A couple of people was working away at the tables and got up to leave to resume their work day. They each picked up their notebook with the papers they were carrying and headed out the door. Both of them were carrying their notebook naked, no case, sleeve, nothing. I am seeing this done more frequently the past couple of weeks than I have ever seen and I’m wondering why anyone would carry a notebook, especially a full-size one, around unprotective? It’s not safe, it’s not comfortable and if it happened to start raining while they were in the coffee shop they’d be toast. Am I missing something?
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Are you missing something?
Maybe a roof on your coffee shop?
All I want for the thing is a frigon handle. Totegrip is the only simple one I can find but I wonder if the hinges can take the strain???
I don’t even understand why people carry paper in addition to their notebooks, let alone why they lug all that around without a case. That said, I think John in Norway is on the right track; a roof on your coffee shop would help with a sudden rain. :P
Lower price laptop + Cloud computing, maybe?
If I’m just walking to my car to drive to Starbucks, I’ve gone without a case many times. There’s a whole lot to be said for “close the lid and go.”
What changed that in the just the last couple weeks is that I finally sprung for a laptop bag more appropriate for such short trips. Until then it seemed silly to use my (average sized) laptop bag just to walk to the car and a coffee shop.
What’s so portable about having additional pockets and bags to put things in. If you minimize what it is you carry, then you can concentrate more on getting work done.
And better, if you don’t take a power cable with you, then you are making the best use of the *mobile* aspect of your *mobile* device.
Seems pretty smart to me, and I get by with a N95 and Frogpad ;)
Maybe people aren’t quite as parannoyed as you :) I am guilty as charged on this matter, I simply think I have control of both quite easily. *Touches wood* (one day Josh, one day!)
I don’t even own a case for my netbook. To me, that’s one of the great things about these machines.
They’re so inexpensive, I don’t feel the need to spend even more money on a case. Also, a computer as small as my Mini 9 is so light that it doesn’t need a case to be carried comfortably.
I do, however, still use a case for my full sized notebook. It costs too much, and is too heavy to lug around bare handed.
Notebooks aren’t as easily broken as most people think, and bags can add a lot of size/weight. Dropping my macbook air on the floor damaged mostly the floor, and I have a laptop bag sitting on my desk that weighs as much as the computer. Rain isn’t really an issue either – unless it’s actually immersed or you leave it in the rain with the keyboard exposed the water will stay on the outside of the case.
I guess a lot depends on how it is you use the device and how large/heavy it is. For a simple sprint down to the coffee shop, I wouldn’t be taking a case either, since I know I won’t be staying for more time than a full charge would allow.
I recently took a 17″ HP dv7 for a spin. http://lgponthemove.blogspot.com/ It’s big, it’s nice, but not too heavy that I couldn’t carry it in one hand from the desk to the car and back.
My 2133 Mini note? I just whip it under my arm and keep both hands free for coffee and handshakes.
Going on an all-day trip, however, I would probably throw in the laptop bag with a car charger.
I agree with John though, a roof over your coffee shop does help when it is raining. :)
I carry my laptop around without a case to coffee shops and around the office park. While I can’t speak for others, I’ll say that I do so for a few reasons. I’m not so worried about what happens to my laptop – my own personal machine, and even less so for my employer’s machine; Naked is easier and lighter; most laptop bags are too dorky; I live in California, where it rains rarely and lightly.