DIY Macbook Pro Laptop Sleeve

After much debate I recently purchased a Macbook Pro and not an iPad.  For my last laptop, I had a case made out of orange/yellow velour by C.  It was wonderful, but unfortunately a totally different shape than my current Macbook Pro.  So while I was at the fabric store searching for felt to repair the light seals on my Yashica TLR, I picked up some very thick yellow felt.  I’d never seen felt like this before, it seemed just perfect for laptop sleeve as it had a bit of padding to it.  I grabbed some velcro and some thick yellow thread while I was there as well.

Once home I measured out my dimensions and used a rotary cutter and a self healing mat to make the cuts.  I decided to you a carpentry square as it was the right length, however it was hard to keep it from slipping on the felt.  If you’ve never used a rotary cutter before, let me tell you, this is a great invention. So much easier than cutting straight lines with a pair of scissors.

I decided to make the case open on the end instead of on the side like most laptop cases. I figured this way it would be easier to plug it in for charging without taking it out of the case.  All the seams were sewn by hand and then a couple of pieces of velcro were used to keep it shut.

Overall I’m quite happy with this project. The only issue is that the velcro sticks to the felt if you aren’t careful. Besides that, I highly recommend the felt, I may use it to make a camera case or two for some of my thrift store cameras…

iPad vs. macbook pro…

Let me start off by saying if you are looking for an in-depth, hard hitting review of either of these devices, you’re not going to find it here. The following are merely some musings of mine as to the usefulness of both of these devices as it pertains to me. You being a reader of this blog likely share some similar needs/wants so may find this useful.

So, on with the show! Let me just say that I am not an Apple fan boy, I am a recent convert to Apple with an iMac purchase a couple of years ago.  I bought it as I was frustrated with my old desktop (a PC, but it was frustrating due to it’s age, not it’s OS).  While I’m not overly pro either, I do prefer Macs now that I’m used to them, however I do find them a little hard to find my way around as I’ve grown up on PC’s.  I really like the design of Apple products, and the way my computers are used, they are a piece of the room, so design to me is important.

With our upcoming trip to Paris, I needed something to bring with us so we could email home, update our blogs, edit digital photos, skype home, and create books.  We already have an iMac, but this isn’t very portable.

When the iPad was first announced, I was intrigued, but was it a must have? No, I thought I could do without it.  I am a gadget guy. I love my gadgets, and I often NEED the latest gadget (or so I convince myself).  The iPad seemed cool, but it didn’t really blow my mind.  But as it got closer to launch date, and more reviews became available, I was getting swayed.  Then I watched ALL the apple videos on what the iPad could do.  I was hooked. It seemed so useful, no INDISPENSABLE!

Looks like I could do the books with iWork, and skype would work but not with video, editing photos would not work, but updating blogs/email would be a cinch.  The big deal is that we could read magazines (our favourite pass-time) and we wouldn’t waste all that paper.  The iPad also seems like a device that is only going to become more useful as more and more apps are developed for it.  The last thing I thought was upon our return, it would still be useful to have and to use curled up on the couch or in a coffee shop.

Then we have the macbook pro. Why not the macbook? Well I think the pro looks cooler.  This can do absolutely everything we need and more. Not only could it run iWork, but it would be more than capable of running CS3 (preferred by me).  It also has a bigger screen, a keyboard included, and much more storage.  So where’s the trouble? Sounds like the macbook pro is perfect?  Well except that it costs more than double, and upon our return in the fall we don’t really need a laptop.  I guess you could argue that whatever we do with an iPad we could also do with this laptop, but it seems a bit wasteful to me.

After much deliberation, I decided that editing photos was a must so we went with the macbook pro purchase.  I think the laptop could be useful in our future business ventures in design, and will likely find a place in our studio in the fall.  While I still think the iPad is a great idea, I think version 2 will likely be even more impressive. Hopefully a forward facing camera to enable video chat is included.