Review: Waterfield Cargo bag

Posted on Sep 4, 2011 in iPad, Mac, Reviews

I’ve been on the lookout for a new laptop bag for a while. I was recently given a new MacBook Air for work and as my old bag was starting to fall apart and I often cycle to work, I needed something a bit more rugged than most typical commuter bags.

Waterfield bags are designed to be very tough (not surprising as the company was founded by a former bicycle messenger), so I was keen to take a closer look at the Waterfield Cargo bag.

Features

The Waterfield Cargo looks like fairly typical messenger-style bag at first. It has a shoulder strap, front flap and a buckle. But there are ton of nifty design touches that make the bag very practical in everyday use:

• The top zip makes it easy to get stuff from the main compartment without lifting up the main flap
• The interior fabric is a bright colour, that makes it easy to find things inside
• The back pocket is great for your iPad or a folder with papers

Design

This bag looks pretty good, but the design isn’t the main reason you’d buy this bag. It’s a very functional design and it’s“tidy” enough to take into any office, without looking too corporate.

You can also customise the look quite a bit by choosing various trim and colour options.

Quality and Durability

Waterfield state that the bag was inspired by ruggedized bike messenger accessories and it certainly feels every bit as durable as its heritage. The nylon fabric is extremely tough and feels much more durable than the fabrics used on similar products from other well-known manufacturer’s bags I’ve owned.

This is how much I can easily fit in the Waterfield Cargo:

Contents of my bag

As I mentioned at the outset, I plan on commuting by bike quite a bit with this bag, so I want something that can be strapped to the back of a bike rack and withstand a bit of wear and tear. So far, the Waterfield Cargo has been more than up to the challenge: Despite being bumped around on the back of a bike for several weeks, kicked around on the floor of the subway and dragged halfway across Malaysia on my honeymoon, it still looks like new. Any dirt or muck you get on the bag easily brushes off, and all the seams and zips are rock solid.

Bonus Round

There’s a lot to like about this bag, but here are a few extra tidbits I particularly like:

• The strap can easily being adjusted just by lifting an adjustment flap at the side, but it doesn’t accidently lift or slip
• Underneath the front flap are two slim pockets that are almost hidden – perfect for storing your passport or other valuables somewhere hard to access while travelling.
• The interior pockets don’t get in your way, so you can use the space inside the bag to the fullest.
• If you do need extra compartments, the Sleevecase accessory is perfect for documents and laptops (it has two compartments, perfect for a MacBook and iPad), while the Cablepouch is great for all your accessories and cables:

Conclusion

At $189, the Waterfield Cargo is certainly one of the more expensive laptop bags out there. But this Waterfield bag, which was handmade in San Francisco, is extremely well made with high-quality materials used throughout, so I’d argue that the price is more than justified. If you’ve got a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air you’re carrying around, it’s worth investing in a good bag to protect it.

Unlike other messenger bags that I’ve owned, that have all started to fall apart at the seams after a few months of owning them, this bag feels as though it will give me a good few years of use.

The attention to detail and everyday practicality is very obvious — someone really thought about every aspect of this bag while designing it – and it is very versatile, equally useful as a travel bag for longer journeys or as a daily bag for the office.

Overall, highly recommended.

Review: Belkin 7-port USB 2.0 Plus Hub

Posted on Jun 14, 2009 in Featured, Mac, Reviews

Belkin’s latest version of their popular 7-port hub has been redesigned and adds cable management features. This review will take a look at the changes, design and performance of Belkin’s latest offering for USB junkies.

Design

The first thing you’ll notice is the design Belkin has chosen for this hub: Its rectangular shape means it’ll take up less space on your desk than previous versions, while retaining the two top ports –  useful for USB memory sticks and similar devices. The top ports are also spaced out a bit, so you should be able to connect larger USB devices without any problem as well. The device features an attractive white & blue color scheme – quite a departure from the usual gray, black and silver. Belkin also offer a brown edition of the hub, if white’s not your thing.

Cable Management

At the end of the device Belkin have included a cable loop made out of firm but rubbery plastic The loop can be adjusted slightly, making it easier to cram all your cables inside. The loop allows you to reduce cable clutter, makes for a tidier look and is useful if you need to route one or two of your USB cables to the front of your desk (e.g. for your keyboard). I’m forever losing the business end of my camera’s USB cable behind my desk, so this feature should prove to be very useful.

Build quality

As expected of a device with this price tag, the build quality is great:  the materials feel very solid and smooth and even the power brick feels less cheap than other generic power adapters. The cable loop material is thick enough to be reass  The only slight issue I encountered: The top USB ports were a little ‘stiff’ at first, making it quite difficult to plug in a regular Apple USB cable. After a few times it did become significantly easier though.

Performance

USB 2.0 obviously has performance rates and limits imposed by the standard itself, so you ask whether performance is an issue at all. Often though, you’ll see reduced throughput if you connect a lot of high-speed devices to a single hub. The 7-port Hub Plus performed tremendously though, even with 2 external harddrives, iPhone, digital camera, Logitech wireless mouse, iMic audio interface and printer connected.

The hub also comes with a power supply. Whilst you can use the hub without power, you’ll need it to use (and charge) devices such as iPhones, iPods or USB-powered harddrives.

Support & Warranty

Belkin offer a lifetime warranty of this device and I was pleased to find a single folded piece of paper with all their technical support numbers in the box. Whilst this may seem like a given, a lot of manufacturers will bury that kind of information of their websites. I don’t expect needing a lot of support with a hub, but it’s still nice to know it’s available.

Conclusion

The hub performs very well and will also help you to reduce some of the cable clutter on your desk. If you have a MacBook, it’s great to be able to just plug in a single USB plug and have access to all of your devices. Whilst more expensive than generic hubs on the market, it’s thought-out form, design and functionality are well worth it.

Recommended

The Belkin 7-port USB 2.0 Plus Hub: RRP $49.95

Support Jetplane Journal and buy the Belkin 7-port USB Hub Plus at Amazon. (Brown edition)

White MacBook now with 2.0Ghz and Nvidia 9400M graphics?

Posted on Jan 21, 2009 in Opinions

The Apple store is currently showing the white MacBook as “new” and shipping with NVidia 9400m graphics – the same chipset used in the new aluminum MacBooks. The speed is now also just 2.0 Ghz, down from 2.1 Ghz previously.

It looks as though Apple has decided to move that model over to the new platform used in all the other current generation MacBooks.

However: the white model retains its Firewire 400 port, which might actually make the “cheap” plastic MacBook more interesting to some customers than the Firewire-less aluminum models.

Apple Store Link

How to Transfer Your Data to a New Aluminum MacBook

Posted on Nov 9, 2008 in Hints, Mac

Since the new Macbooks don’t offer a firewire port, you’ll need to use a network connection to transfer your data from an old Mac to your new Macbook.

Apple has made the process very simple though: the first time you boot up your new machine, you’ll be asked to pick another Mac on your network. I usually connect to my network via wireless LAN, which is a bit slow for large amounts of data, so I just connected my old and new Macbook via an ethernet cable. 

The New, Uncrippled Macbook.

Posted on Oct 16, 2008 in Mac, Opinions

With the introduction of the new aluminum Macbooks, Apple has finally dropped their long-standing policy of offering a “crippled” entry-level Notebooks. For years now the iBooks and Macbooks have been limited in one way or another in order to distinguish them from their “Pro” cousins. 

Whether G3 vs. G4, Combodrive vs. Superdrive, Mirroring vs. Screen Spanning, Plastic vs. Aluminum or Integrated Graphics vs. Dedicated Graphics, Apple’s low-end offerings over the years have always included some kind of “gotcha” to keep them from cannibalizing Powerbook / Macbook Pro sales.