From: Morgan Aldridge (makkintosshu_at_mac.com)
Date: Sat Oct 29 2005 - 18:36:10 PDT
Just wanted to pass this review of a potential Newton carrying case to
everyone else on the list. Sorry for the length!
I've been using WaterField Designs' iPod Speaker Case (
http://tinyurl.com/77wkm ;
http://www.sfbags.com/products/inmotion/inmotion.htm ) to carry my
Newton 2100 and accessories for a couple months now (picked it up in
August). I was looking for a smaller case that would fit the Newton in
the main pocket plus a couple PCMCIA cards and potentially my cell
phone. I looked at a number of different cases, including WaterField
Designs' Gearpouch ( http://tinyurl.com/7tnsq ;
http://www.sfbags.com/products/gearpouch/gearpouch.htm ), after all,
one of the product shots even shows an older Newton for size
comparison! A company still using a Newton in advertisement shots and
doing all their design and manufacturing in San Francisco can't be all
that bad!
I actually missed the iPod Speaker Case the first few times through
their site, but once I found it I knew it was what I was looking for.
It's got two main compartments (one with accessory pockets) and a slim
outside zipper pocket. The Newton 2000/2100 happens to be a little
smaller (quite a bit slimmer) than the Altec Lansing InMotion iPod
speakers that it was originally designed for, so fits very well in the
main compartment. The second compartment is the same size, yet has
three pockets of varying dimensions hanging off its outer wall which
fit cell phones, iPods, small digital cameras, and the Newton 9W power
adapter quite well.
It's also a well padded bag made from ballistic nylon, so it hasn't
even shown any scuffs from the few times I've dropped it on cement and
my Newton has _always_ remained safe. The inside is made from a bright
yellow material so that you can actually see what's in the bag (imagine
that!) and the walls are nice and soft so that it doesn't scratch
anything. To be honest, I was a little nervous that the yellow fabric
would rub off the rubber coating on my Newton since it's not soft and
fuzzy like the outer walls and pockets. Thankfully, my Newton hasn't
shown the slightest signs of wear.
Most of these points are all mentioned on WaterField Designs' web site,
but one thing that I found to be a great help in everyday use is that
the zippers extend just a little down the side on one end, allowing the
pocket to have a large mouth. It makes it very easy to just open a
compartment up and drop an accessory in or pull another out without
struggling or really even thinking about it. I can even pull out my
cell phone at night, while driving, with ease (though I shouldn't be
driving while talking on the phone).
I tend to keep it slim on a daily basis, so only my Newton, a backup
memory card, an applications memory card, a WiFi card, the 9W power
adapter, and my cell phone are in there. But it's a nice luxury to be
able to add my iPod and Canon SD200 digital camera, as well as a serial
cable and Newton Interconnect dongle in there for trips.
Overall, it's about the size of a CD binder (of the 48-CD variety) and
comes with a basic shoulder strap, but I took that off immediately as I
knew it was going to feel way too much like a man-purse even without
it. However, I wouldn't hesitate giving it a 10 of 10, 5 Newts, or
whatever kind of rating you'd like. As much as I want my Newton to
outlast this case (and I'm sure it'll last much longer while in it!), I
have a feeling it will _long_ outlive my Newton!
Morgan Aldridge
-- morgant_at_makkintosshu.com http://www.makkintosshu.com/ Morgan Aldridge -- morgant_at_makkintosshu.com http://www.makkintosshu.com/ vCard: http://www.makkintosshu.com/downloads/morgan_aldridge.vcf PGP Public Key: http://www.makkintosshu.com/downloads/morgan_aldridge.asc -- This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
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