Waterfield Designs' Racer X
Waterfield Designs has the most rugged bags to protect your Mac. In a three part series, we are reviewing the compact and functional Racer X 12. This is a shoulder bag with a soft padded pocket for your iBook or Powerbook, a pack pouch for documents, and a front pocket to hold your entire tech. iPod, PDA, Cds, whatever you need to carry with you.
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At first look, I noticed the handle on the off of the bag is soft and rugged. This is definitely a mans bag. Sorry to single that out, but Waterfield has plenty of bags for the ladies as well. The handle is rubber and has grips around it. There is also an adjustable high quality should strap with a great stretching padding. I also noticed the straps hooks were located on the back and front of the bag. I noticed that when carrying the bag, the modified hook placement helped keep the bag on my shoulder and it did not fall off. The shoulder strap is of high quality and has great metal hooks with a thick strap. Also their toll free number and web address, www.sfbags.com is printed on a small label attached to the should strap, so they are a phone call away.
The exterior of the case is great. You can get the bags in different color schemes. I chose to get taxi. It is the same color as a taxicab, but not too loud. The majority of the bag is black with just a hit of taxi color on the front, and on the inside pocket as well. Another great feature of the outside is a small pocket located on the inside bag close to your body. It is a zipper pocket and allows for access to the inside of a larger pocket. This was a great addition if you want to put memory cards, or Cds in there.
The inside was the best part. The notebook pocket was soft and padded the test notebook really well. Trust me, I dropped this thing, kicked it and everything, even after a few hours of being in the case, the notebook was still warm. Now thats insulation! If you get the notebook area dirty, you can remove the insert via Velcro and clean it. The interior had none of the traits of a surface that would scratch your precious Mac; it was soft as silk. The front pocket was full of taxi color. It was a bright yellow w/ black elastic pockets. The pockets all had loopholes to grip and pull back the pocket. Some companies go crazy and put 20 small pockets, but there are about 10 on each side of the interior and they hold everything from the smallest tech gadgets to a day planner or god-forbid a CD player. The front pocket is even deep enough to transport your power adapter.
If the rest of Waterfeilds bags are half as good as the Racer X, they will get high ratings on my scale. It has style, functionality, storage, and most importantly keeps your laptop safe. This is the perfect bag for weekend trips without the load of other bags. At a great price, you can find out more info about the Racer X and the rest of Waterfeilds bags at www.sfbags.com Check MPG this time next month, when we review another member of the Waterfield Designs family of exceptional bags.