iLounge

Pro-MacBook Marware protects handrests, bodies

By Jeremy Horwitz

Editor-in-Chief, iLounge
Published: Friday, August 18, 2006
Category: Backstage

We’re already well-familiar with Marware’s support for the iPod family, and as we’ve noted, impressed with the company’s most recent redesigns of its Sportsuit line of cases. This week, we finally got our hands on Sportfolio Deluxe cases for the MacBook and MacBook Pro, which incorporate the best touches from the SportSuits into strap- or handle-carried laptop bags. Marware obviously loves portable Apple hardware, and these new designs show it.

The boldest part of each Sportfolio is the new and cool Orca neoprene front pocket, which showed up in the Sportsuits and really caught our attention. Rather than looking like Spandex, the Orca neoprene is something between matte and shiny, approximating the texture of Orca whale skin, and makes a much nicer visual impression. Black and blue versions are available - our samples were in the more business-ready but less camera-friendly black, which in all candor we’d prefer to carry around for our own use. And three sizes are available, ones made specifically for the 13” MacBook and the 15” MacBook Pro sell for $80 each, while the 17” MacBook Pro’s version sells for $90.

Besides the obligatory zippered laptop pocket, a second pocket in each of the cases opens to reveal a bunch of expandable compartments, each with icons suggesting what can fit inside. One is battery or AV cable-sized, another Apple Remote-sized, a central pocket is iPod, camera, or mouse-ready, while the last is charger-sized. A loop above the central pocket has a spot that lets you attach your Marware and Multidapt clip-garbed iPod case if you prefer to keep your iPod double-encased on the road, and a pass-through hole on the case’s top lets you run headphones from the bag to your ears without opening a zipper. Additional zippered compartments on the inside and outside of the back provide plenty of room for other goodies you might be carrying

Also in the box: Protection Packs ($20) for the 13” MacBook and 15” MacBook Pro. Each includes a microfiber keyboard cover that doubles as a screen cleaning cloth, and a “PVC leather” cushioned adhesive hand rest that’s custom-fit to each machine. The phrase Protection Pack has taken on a dual meaning given numerous complaints of MacBook discoloration around that model’s hand rests, and the glossy shield on that model’s default screens. Marware makes the Protection Pack in white or black for the MacBook, and gray (shown) for the MacBook Pro.