We live in a portable or very mobile centric society, we’ve always got some sort of electronic gadget with us to keep us connected at all times. Netbooks have truly made life much more mobile, they’re small and lightweight enabling us to ditch the full size, heavy laptop and still have most of the same functionality. Netbooks have spawned a whole new line of accessories, that bag you’ve got for your laptop is now a bit too big for your netbook, so you’ll need to find another one. As with anything though, not all are created equal, and even though a netbook is rather inexpensive, it’s still an investment that you’ll want to protect, so you’ll need to make sure you get a good quality, functional case for it.
Cocoon Innovations has come up with a very innovative organizational system called Grid-It!. It’s a series of elastic bands of varying sizes in a grid pattern that can be used to secure your stuff when taking it with you. The product I’ve got for today is called the Travel Case and it can hold up to an 11” netbook or laptop inside of it and it features the Grid-It! system inside of it. This case is one of the nicest cases I’ve taken a look at, it’s small but yet with the Grid-It! system inside it allows you to still take quite a bit of stuff with you. Read on to learn about one of the best netbook cases on the market today…
The travel case doesn’t come with any fancy packaging, just a plastic bag and an identification tag:
The case is available in several colors, obviously I got red. The outside material of the case is cloth, it feels like denim or jeans. The outer casing is also very firm, not exactly solid but almost.
On one end are two clips that are used to attach the included strap to be able to easily carry the case with you.
The case is secured with dual zippers that go almost fully around the case, they stop just past the back corners.
Opening the case up we find a soft cloth material inside the top cover and a warranty card along with a layer of elastic bands called Grid-It!. The Grid-It! is an innovative organization system that allows you to securely take most anything with you.
The bottom of the Grid-It! system is a very soft felt like material, since it will be resting on top of you netbook this will protect it from scratching.
Under the Grid-It! is where your netbook goes, and we also find the shoulder strap there. The shoulder strap is adjustable and well made with a padded shoulder piece.
The bottom of the case has four large rubber bumpers or pads that your laptop or netbook will rest upon and it is secured in place with two elastic straps. The straps themselves are soft and should not damage your netbook in any way.
Specifications:
Neutrino 10.1” Netbook with the Travel Case. The case is a bit larger than the netbook, but not by much really, at least length and width, but height is about triple that of the netbook.
The netbook just slides under the straps and is actually held securely in place. The rubber bumpers on the bottom not only offer protection but keep it from moving as well.
The Grid-It! just folds down over the netbook and then you can just add whatever you wish to take with you easily.
Here’s a couple examples of things in the Grid-It! The Grid-It! is very easy to use, it’s just elastic straps after all, just slip what you want in and that’s it. The possibilities of configuration are endless really.
I really like this case quite a bit, it’s small but yet you can take a lot of things with you. The case itself seems very well made, and should offer good protection for your netbook and whatever else you’re carrying.
The Grid-It! system is an excellent idea that works very well. You can fit most anything in there as there are many sizes of straps and they go all different ways. It really does hold everything in place very well.
There are a couple small design flaws though, and maybe one thing I would improve.
The first flaw is that you really don’t know which side is the top. It took me several times opening it to realize that the Cocoon label should be on the bottom left side with the word actually upside down. You would think that the label might be on the top, and right side up or readable, but it’s not.
The next small flaw is the shoulder strap, or not really the shoulder strap itself but the clips on the case. The clips are on alternating sides of the case, one on top one on bottom. Once you attach the strap it does get in the way of unzipping the case, kind of annoying really, but not a big deal.
The improvement I would suggest is to add a small carrying handle to the case as without the strap attached there’s really no way to grab the case and carry it. Using the strap as a handle works, but it’s rather long really, especially if you have it adjusted to your shoulder length.
Overall though it is a great case, and I’ll be using it for some time to come. It’s also nice because it’s small enough to fit inside of a larger bag as well. I’ve got the Tom Bihn ID Messenger bag that I use when I need to take my laptop or netbook and a lot of stuff with me, I can just toss the entire case into the laptop compartment of the bag and go. The Tom Bihn bag does have a laptop carrier in it which comes out, replacing it with the Travel Case fits perfectly and doesn’t add anymore bulk to the bag.
Originally when I saw the price for this I thought it was a bit expensive, but after examining and using the case I find the price is just about right really. The quality of the case is excellent, and the included Grid-It! really adds value to the case. Sure there aren’t any pockets, but you really don’t need them since you’ve got the Grid-It! in there.
Conclusion:
The Cocoon Travel Case is easily one of the nicest on the market today. The included Grid-It! system is unique and innovative allowing you to take quite a bit with you. The case itself is very well made and it should offer good protection for your netbook or laptop and the other things you’ve got in there.
Pros:
+Very well made
+Lots of room
+Grid-It! included for organization
Cons:
-Minor design flaws
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