First Impressions of the Ristretto: “Magnificent bag and design”

The first reviews of the Ristretto (see the Ristretto here) from customers and external review sites are coming in. Here’s a sampling:

“I received the Ristretto messenger today – the bag is magnificent and the design is brilliant. I am so pleased I had to tell you. Thank you.” — C.

“My Ristretto just arrived a couple of hours ago in my office and I have been playing with it, to the exclusion of the work I should be doing! I got the Olive/Cayenne combination – it is a very striking color combination which I really like.” — rabergnc: read more

“Tom Bihn just sent me their latest and greatest bag to review: The Ristretto Messenger. It is a small bag designed to fit the Lenovo X300, Apple MacBook, and Apple MacBook Air. When the Dell Latitude XT gets here, I’ll see if the XT can fit inside ( fingers crossed). The Motion F5, unforunately won’t fit – it’s a tad too wide. The Lenovo X61, with the 4-cell battery, doesn’t fit in the padded cell, but it does fit quite nicely in the pocket next to the cell. Just from the few moments I’ve had the bag, I’m very impressed with it, but not surprised at the consistent quality that Tom Bihn is known for.” — Rob Bushway, GottaBeMobile — watch a video quick look of the Ristretto over at GottaBeMobile.

The Ristretto: A great vertical messenger bag for the MacBook Air

TB Crew | 28 March 2008 7:01 pm

TOM BIHN Forums: Companion Animal Pictures

TOM BIHN Forum members post pictures of their cats and dogs

You’ll find larger versions of these great pictures in the Companion Animal Pictures thread in the TOM BIHN Forums. We want to see pictures of your companion animals, too: feel free to post!

TB Crew | 28 March 2008 10:57 am

Two months with an Empire Builder & Brain Cell

Read dwa’s review of the Empire Builder briefcase and Brain Cell laptop case in the TOM BIHN Forums.

TB Crew | 27 March 2008 12:43 pm

Random Thoughts of an Engineer: My Tom Bihn Brain Bag Backpack

Random Thoughts of an Engineer: My Tom Bihn Brain Bag Backpack

“In doing my mandatory research, I came across the Tom Bihn Brain Bag. I’ve read almost their entire website, done multiple Google searches for reviews, and even had a buddy who lives in the Seattle area drop by to take a gander at their setup. One thing is for sure, there aren’t very many bad comments out on the web about Tom Bihn’s products.
Mine arrived today. I ordered the Brain Bag (in navy) and a 2S Brain Cell (a sleeve for the laptop) to hold my Dell. All of my research was right on target…I love it.” — Read the full post over at Random Thoughts of an Engineer or see the Brain Bag.

TB Crew | 26 March 2008 5:13 pm

Small Padded Organizer Pouch: Fits the Olympus 730SW

“I just received a small padded pouch yesterday, and I’m really pleased with it. It fits my digicam (Olympus 730SW – exact dimensions are 3.7″ W x 2.2″ H x 0.8″ D) which is roughly the same size as the 120G “classic” iPod. Like Alicia, I got the small size so I could fit the cable in with my camera, and the design of the pouch is such that there’s not much room for the contents to slide around inside. It’s a very good fit.” — read rdowd’s entire post in the TOM BIHN Forums or check out the Padded Organizer Pouches.

TOM BIHN Padded Organizer Pouches

TB Crew | 26 March 2008 5:06 pm

In stock: Ristretto, Horizontal Freudian Slip, Size 4 HBC in Cayenne

Now in-stock:

The Ristretto — a vertical messenger bag with a built-in padded laptop pocket sized for the MacBook Air, 13″ MacBook, and Thinkpad X300. Available in colors: Black/Steel, Black/Olive, Steel/Sapphire, Olive/Cayenne, and Plum/Wasabi.

The Horizontal Freudian Slip — an insert that gives you eleven extra pockets to provide total organization of your files and accessories. Slips inside our ID, Ego, and Super Ego messenger bags as well as our Zephyr and Empire Builder briefcases.

Also:
The Size 4 Brain Cell in Cayenne

TB Crew | 26 March 2008 4:00 pm

New colors: Storm and Pink

We’ve added two new colors of 1000 denier Cordura to our palette: Storm (a slightly pale medium blue color, similar to Pantone® 279) and Pink (like cotton candy, similar to Pantone® 223).

Storm and Pink will be used exclusively for our Clear and Cordura Organizer Pouches (as available: request in the comments field during checkout and, if we have those colors, we’ll make sure you get them) and our Swift knitting bag (Storm/Steel and Pink/Black are available for pre-order and ship late May).

Pictured below: Mini Cordura Organizer Pouches in Pink and Storm.

TOM BIHN Cordura Organizer Pouches in Pink and Storm

TB Crew | 21 March 2008 12:35 pm

Burney’s Legal Tech Reviews: The Brain Cell

Burney’s Legal Tech Reviews – Gadgets for Legal Pros: Tom Bihn Brain Cell Laptop Accessories and Compact Power Strips for Travel

By Brett Burney, Published on June 25, 2007

“I am a dedicated fan of Tom Bihn laptop bags because they are innovative, they exhibit superior quality, and they’re completely manufactured in Seattle, WA. Judging by all the folks I’ve seen struggling with an over-burdened, seam-busting laptop bag, no one gives much thought to what they use to carry their precious computer. But a well-crafted laptop bag can make a world of difference, especially if it’s from Tom Bihn.” — Read the entire review over at LLRX.com

TB Crew | 21 March 2008 11:13 am

User Review: First Impressions of Empire Builder.

“Like many here, I agonised about the Zephyr/EB decision. I plan on using it as a work briefcase, probably not carrying the laptop frequently, but one of my considerations was to be able to use it as a one-bag travel solution. It was probably this that pushed me towards the EB.

So, my impressions – first up, the delivery time was incredible. Ordered Friday evening and arrived 10 days later (on the 2nd Monday after). The postage is expensive (a third the cost of the bag), but this is the quickest I’ve ever received anything from the states.”

Read Abbadon’s entire review of the Empire Builder in the TOM BIHN Forums. Or, take a look at the Empire Builder or the Zephyr.

TB Crew | 21 March 2008 10:47 am

The new Thinkpad X300: fits perfectly in the Ristretto, 6X Brain Cell

The new IBM-Lenovo Thinkpad X300, an ultra-thin 13.3″ widescreen notebook, is a perfect fit in our Ristretto vertical messenger bag.

The Ristretto is a lightweight vertical messenger bag with a built-in padded compartment that cradles your laptop from all sides: top, front, back, and bottom. Seven pockets (not including the main compartment) provide places to organize your pens, power supply, cables, portable mouse, cell phone, iPod, magazines or files.

The X300 is less than 0.73” at its thinnest and starts out at 2.93 lb: the Ristretto is the bag to carry the X300 and its accessories and yours, but not too much else. Available in colors: Olive/Cayenne, Black/Olive, Plum/Wasabi, Steel/Sapphire, and Black/Steel.

The Ristretto. $70. Available for pre-order, ships mid-April.

The Ristretto: A great vertical messenger bag for the MacBook Air

TB Crew | 21 March 2008 10:13 am