Laptop bags have never anywhere close to what you might call good looking. I equate this fashion conundrum to the Toyota Prius. Sure, it’s incredibly functional but does it really have to look like a 5-year old designed it with a box of crayons and safety scissors? Only in recent years has this idea changed as carrying a laptop to work has become a more common occurrence. With so many laptop bags looking the same on the market, it would really suck if your supervisor picked up your bag by accident and found your selection of “films” on it. Booq seems to have an answer for the generic blahs.
Booq has been making high quality laptop bags that are functional, protective and good looking for years. They are one of the few that do justice to the work of aesthetic genius known as the MacBook Pro. Therefore, I was quite excited to get a Booq Boa Slimcase M to try out.
Specifications
Officially, the Slimcase M fits a 13-15″ Apple laptop or a 11-13″ PC laptop. This means that any current MacBook (white, black, Pro, Air) will fit except the 17″ MacBook Pro. The only reason only smaller PC laptops will fit is due to how the MacBooks are usually quite a bit thinner than their PC counterparts. Slimmer PC laptops might fit but give it a test drive before making any purchases.
- Laptop Compartment: 14.2″ x 9.6″ x 1.25″ (361 x 244 x 32mm)
- Exterior Dimensions: 16″ x 10.5″ x 3″ (406 x 267 x 76mm)
The bag is only available in black with a red interior. No color choices. No material choices. If you don’t like it, buy someone elses bag.
First Impressions
The first thing you’ll notice is that the Slimcase M is a vertical bag, as in your laptop sits vertically rather than horizontally like it usually does in most messenger style laptop bags. The second thing you’ll notice is that the bag is very thin, with enough room for only a thin notebook and not much more.
The Slimcase M is made from black, heavy duty ballistic nylon, which is quite strong, durable and water resistant. It isn’t waterproof so it wouldn’t be a great idea to lug it around in a monsoon but in a light rain, your laptop will stay pretty dry. The price is a tad steep for all this quality though. The Booq Boa Slimcase M retails for about $115.
The strap, (suspended by carabiners) is quite comfortable, though I wouldn’t mind one of those strap pads that you find on most bags. Having said that, whatever can fit inside is so light, it doesn’t really require one but anything to increase comfort is always welcome.
I’m not entirely sure how you differentiate between regular and “high-performance” zippers but the high-performance YKK zippers are smooth and have large, easy to grab toggles. The best thing about the zippers, however, is the way they’re structured on the bag. Rather than having a zipper down the middle, you open the bag somewhat on an angle, which allows you to slip your notebook in without scratching it against the zipper teeth.
The interior is a deep red, which apparently let’s you find things more easily due to the contrast with most of your devices. Unless, of course, all your devices happen to be red.
Laptop Compartment
In addition to the angled zippers, the Slimcase M has a few more features designed to keep your notebook safe and scratch free. The laptop compartment is lined with a soft suede-like material that is quite unlikely to scratch your precious notebook. It’s not as reasuring as the cool faux fur that Incase has been using lately to prevent scratch marks but I’m sure this stuff won’t come off and clog all your ports either.
There’s also a good 2cm or so of solid foam on the bottom of the laptop compartment so an accident drop (from a reasonable height) probably won’t harm what’s inside your bag. The sides of the bag are also pretty thick for added protection.
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Pockets
Despite the overall size, the Slimcase M offers a plethora of slots and pockets. The front flap has a small pouch in the front, which is big enough for a PDA or a MP3 player with some headphones. It won’t hold anything too big though since the material won’t stretch very far.
There is another compartment in the back of the bag, large enough for a standard sized magazine but probably not a book. That means War and Peace is out of the question, but Megan Fox on the Cover of GQ can keep you company.
The interior of the front flap is divided into three sections. The largest pocket is zippered and runs the length of the flap, big enough for a water bottle or maybe a shirt if you don’t mind it getting rather wrinkled.
There’s another pocket just below the zipper and a number of smaller pockets just below that, for business cards and a few pens.
Outside of the laptop compartment is another pocket big enough for a magazine or two and two flapped pockets for your power brick and a wireless or wired mouse.
One thing I really like about the Slimcase M is that it is entirely devoid of velcro on all the pockets. There’s a patch of velcro on the shoulder strap but you will probably never mess with it. I don’t know about you but if you’ve ever arrived late for a meeting or a class and have to open your velcroed bag, it’s horrifyingly loud. Velcro is convenient but has no place on…anything in the 21st century.
Instead of velcro, Booq borrows a trick from the MacBook Pro by using a small set of magnets to keep the flaps closed. Now you might be a little scared to have magnets near your notebooks’s hard drives but they’re relatively weak magnets that only just keep the flaps shut. I’ve been using the Slimcase M for a couple months now and have seen no adverse effects on my MacBook Pro.
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Terralinq
Included with the Slimcase M and every bag from Booq is the Terralinq system; a sort of lost bag return system. On the inside of the front flap is a metal plate inscribed with “If found, please visit terralinq.com” as well as a unique serial number for your bag. If a good samaritan happens to find your bag, they can visit that site to find out how to return the bag to you.
Unfortunately, there are a few flaws with this system. Firstly, maybe it’s just because I have only a sliver of faith in humanity but I really doubt anyone is going to return a bag with a few thousand bucks worth of laptop in it. Secondly, visiting the Terralinq website is a bit confusing with no real indication of how one can start to return a lost bag. Clicking on “Report” brings up the same customer service contact sheet that warranty services or the press use to contact Booq. Shouldn’t there just be a big flashing button that says “I found a bag and I want to return it!”?
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
I generally divide the whole laptop bag confusion into three distinct categories:
- for business (can be worn with a suit)
- for casual use (can be worn with jeans and a t-shirt)
- ugly (cannot and should not be worn at any time, anywhere with anything)
The vast majority of bags falls into category 3 but the Booq Boa Slimcase M fits somewhere in between 1 and 2. I wouldn’t say it is elegant enough to be all business but you also won’t be mistaken for a bike courier.
What more can I say? The Booq Boa Slimcase M Laptop Bag is small, durable and light – fantastic for days that you don’t need to carry much around. Booq does offer larger Slimcases as well as other larger bags. With the Slimcase M, you’ll struggle to fit much more than your notebook, a few bare accessories and perhaps a few documents or a magazine. I wouldn’t recommend it if you need to haul much more than the necesscities but for days when you only need to pack light, there are few better (and better looking) ways to do it than this.
Pros
- Looks great…something you can’t often say with laptop bags.
- Quality of material and build is top notch.
- Plenty of padding, scratch-proofing for your notebook.
- Lots of pockets despite small size.
- Relatively comfortable shoulder strap.
- No noisy velcro!
Cons
- Won’t hold much more than the barest necessities and only fits small and thin laptops.
- A little on the pricey side (but you get what you pay for).
- Terralinq relies on people being trustworthy, not well implemented on website.
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
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Booq Boa Slimcase M Laptop Bag Photo Gallery
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