There is one reason to me, why the Travel Express beats a lot of cases I’ve used; the case has space for things other than just the laptop itself. Like a lot of other kids these days, I take my laptop to school, to take notes and other write documents. The thing is, I don’t use my computer for absolutely everything, and I’m sure that is true for a lot of other people. Luckily, there is a whole compartment for holding various items, such as documents, chargers, cables, and anything you might need to take with you on a day-to-day basis. Unfortunately, it doesn’t include a pen/pencil holder,  which was a little frustrating to me as I do carry several around with me during school. The Travel Express isn’t just limited to school use though, as I have been using it on my trip to Mexico, and it does exceedingly well at carrying around all the necessary cables that I use on my trip.

As far as protection goes, the Travel Express does a fine job at protecting your MacBook Air for drops, scratches, and other damage to the device to your expensive investment. The laptop itself is separated from the rest of the bag in a more protective compartment, so your other accessories don’t get in the way. The only complaint I have is that the zipper gets quite close to the computer on the case corners, and I’m always worried about getting the corners of my computer scratched on it. That being said, for the most part this case will do nicely to keep your laptop safe.

On the outside of the Travel Express, WaterField has used a slightly bumpy texture, which is actually quite stiff, and doesn’t provide much movement in the case. I’m sure this adds to the protection aspect of the case, which is definitely a good thing. The only other notable design aspect is the colorful band leading around the entire outside shell. I think WaterField could have done a slightly better job at adding to the design, but a necessary sacrifice to keep the cost down. This case is still very eye-catching, and showcases your MacBook Air for it’s sleek design.

The MacBook Air Travel Express by WaterField costs $89 for the 13″ version, and $79 for the 11″, which is quite an investment for a laptop case, but is sure to last the entire duration of your laptop’s life, and most likely longer. It is very protective, good for school, trips, vacations and everywhere else you need to take your MacBook Air. It would make a great gift for anyone expecting a shiny new MacBook Air under the tree this year, and would make a good stocking-stuffer. You can buy this case on WaterField’s website here.

Well, well, well. I think people went pretty much bonkers when Apple announced a mobile hotspot feature for their iPhone devices sporting iOS4.3, and it led us to an important question- How long will it take for the competing phone manufacturers who don’t already offer this feature to follow that path?

According to these leaked slides, not too long for RIM’s BlackBerries line.

As soon as OS6.1 is released (which is expected to have other great features like gifting apps and playing multiplayer games through BBM), you will be able to not only use your BlackBerry device as a mobile hotspot, but also tether it (officially, there are a few third-party tethering apps out there) without having to use Desktop Manager.

The slide above gives us an idea on how the UI will look like. It’s very similar to the currentcConnections UI on the BlackBerry OS6. You’ll have the ability to connect up to 5 devices and manage the hotspot settings from the connections screen.

You can have it auto-shutdown after a certain amount of time to save battery, you’ll have limited bluetooth functionality and won’t be able to connect to an external Wi-Fi network.

You will no longer need to use Desktop Manager or any sort of app on your computer to tether, you can do it right from your phone through either bluetooth, USB, and/or Wi-Fi. Amazing news!

[N4BB]

Robert’s Father, James, unboxes the Sony Vaio Z Series and compares it to the Alienware M11X

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/alienware-m11x

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644569397&parentCategoryId=16154