Customer Rave: Robin Leabman

Robin Leabman has to be one of our most interesting customers — he is an actor who moonlights as a contract pilot flying a learjet. Below is an email Robin sent us raving about his Tom Bihn bags. You can find out more about Robin at his Web site.

My nearly six year old Brain Bag helped my
carry my super heavy Gateway laptop for five years,
and as of five days ago, will house my new Powerbook
G4 15″ (for which I just bought a Monolith). I’ve
used my Brain Bag as an easy 2-3 day travel bag when I
do my trips. My Brain Bag has been to Ecuador, Russia,
Japan, the Phillipines, and all over Europe on
charters and air ambulance missions. I take it with
me to movie sets and backstage at my current booking,
a classic play called “Dylan” which is about the late
Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas. I’m co-starring as John
Malcolm Brinnin, who was Dylan’s close friend and
manager in America. The show opened on October 7th at
the Celtic Arts Center in Studio City, CA.

TB Crew | 17 January 2006 11:21 am

I dropped my Powerbook

When customers call and ask how protective the Brain Cell is, I tell them the terrifying experiences that other customers have shared with us. In one incident, a laptop inside a Brain Cell flew out of a car going 25 MPH.

My Powerbook with spooky screen saver
The extent of my experience of my Brain Cell (in Crimson) protecting my 15″ Powerbook was limited to bumping the case against a wall.

That was, until a few nights ago, when attempting to carry my LUX, two bags of groceries, my Brain Cell, with keys in one hand, in the rain (it’s been raining for 28 straight days here), I dropped the my Brain Cell on the sidewalk. In the horror of the moment, it didn’t seem like it actually even just dropped, but propelled itself with determination towards the hard, wet concrete.

As soon as that happened, everything else — the groceries, my LUX — was dropped to the ground and I picked up the Brain Cell, went inside my house, and opened it to survey what damage there might be. Aside from some easily wiped-off dust and particles of other stuff that had been hiding in the keyboard that ended up on my screen (I forgot to put my Laptop Keyboard Cover on), my Powerbook was fine. Not one dent, scratch or rain drop.

Now I can give customers my personal experience with dropping my laptop while it was inside the Brain Cell. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Brain Cell (or the Monolith, its vertical version) will protect everyones laptop in every situation. But it gives me peace of mind when I take my laptop to work and back, on the ferry, bus, or a plane, or anywhere I go.

TB Crew | 17 January 2006 10:37 am

Tom recommends: Trente Sous Zéro

Tom writes:

Thirty Below
Guy Bouchard & Laura Sadowsky run a cool little webstore called “Thirty Below” (“Trente Sous Zéro”), specializing in traditional music from Quebec. As you may know, I eschew almost all other music for the sake of this obscure genre, often to the chagrin of anyone within earshot.
However, if you are curious about what makes me tick (or rather, tap my toes), Thirty Below is the source for La Bottine Souriante, Les Charbonniers De L’enfer, Le Vent du Nord, Matapat — the list goes on and on. They also maintain an excellent listing of festivals, dances, etc. Of course, to attend those festivals and dances, you’ll have to go to Quebec!

TB Crew | 14 January 2006 11:08 am

The First Laptop Bag For The Macbook Pro

TOM BIHN – http://www.tombihn.com – designer, manufacturer and
retailer of laptop bags has created the new Size 4X of their hard-shell
Brain Cell and Monolith laptop cases specifically for the 15.4″ MacBook Pro.
The Size 4X Brain Cell

The MacBook Pro, introduced today by Steve Jobs during his keynote at
the Macworld conference, requires an entirely new size of protective case designed specifically around its dimensions, which include a very thin
1″ height.

Read More…

High-resolution JPEG images:

The Brain Cell in Crimson,
The Brain Cell in Deep Blue,
The Monolith in Steel.

You can pre-order the Size 4X Brain Cell (Shipping February 15th) and
Size 4X Monolith (Shipping February 28th) today.

The Brain Cell (available in eight sizes, including Size 4X) and Monolith (available in five sizes, including Size 4X) laptop cases take laptop protection a step further. Cradled in 8mm thick soft foam padding, the laptop hangs suspended in a 4mm hard corrugated plastic insert that protects from the front, back, and bottom. The sides are protected by dense cross-linked closed-cell polyethylene foam. This offers the toughest protection you can get for your laptop in a case that is still light and minimalist. The Brain Cell will clip securely inside one of our messenger bags or briefcases, be carried on its own, or slip into your current bag. The Monolith is designed to clip inside our backpacks, slip inside your current backpack, or it can also can be carried on its own. The Brain Cell and Monolith are available in five colors: Black, Steel, Deep Blue, Crimson, and Wasabi.

The Size 4X Brain Cell is in production now and available for pre-order today with a ship date of February 15th, 2006. The Size 4X Monolith is available for pre-order today with a ship date of February 28th.

The Size 4X Brain Cell retails for $50.00. The Size 4X Monolith retails for $45.00.

The Size 4X Brain Cell Product Page

The Size 4X Monolith Product Page

Read what our customers are saying about the MacBook Pro, and the Size
4X Brain Cell and Monolith in our forums.

TOM BIHN has been designing, manufacturing, and selling bags for over 13 years – online at http://www.tombihn.com and with a retail location in Seattle, Washington. Our bags are manufactured in Seattle, Washington where we continue to build bags and jobs. We offer unusually attentive customer service and a lifetime guarantee. We use the best quality materials, superior construction and sophisticated design to build our laptop bags.

If you would like review the Brain Cell, Monolith or any of our other products, or have any further questions, feel free to email us at press@tombihn.com or call us at 1-800-729-9607.

TB Crew | 10 January 2006 1:36 pm

Spymac Reviews The Monolith

Excerpt: “The Monolith from Tom Bihn has a hard-shell case that provides extraordinary notebook protection. It closes at the top with a smooth-moving zipper, and has two padded flaps underneath the zipper, giving extra padding and protection at the top of the bag. It has a smooth, soft interior, padded with 8 mm thick soft foam, and stiff sides that are made from 4 mm hard corrugated plastic inserts. Each of these features help protect the notebook from every possible angle.”

Read the full review of the Monolith. Also
check out their review of the Smart Alec.

Spymac

Product Pages: The Monolith and Smart Alec

TB Crew | 9 January 2006 2:06 pm

What do you think Apple will introduce at Macworld?

There are a lot of rumors out
there this year, and I think we’re going to see some new laptops.

What do you think? Which rumored new product or update are you most looking forward to? Any bag ideas or suggestions for the rumored new products? Post in our forums.

TB Crew | 9 January 2006 12:15 pm

Inside Mac Radio on the Super Ego

We sent Sam Levin, a laptop and iPod bag expert, of Inside Mac Radio our Super Ego Messenger Bag for review. Sam does an excellent job of explaining the features of the Super Ego. You can listen to his thoughts on the bag here.

The Super Ego

TB Crew | 21 December 2005 1:29 pm

Customer Feedback and Holiday Shipping Update

Thursday is the last day to place an order for guaranteed delivery on Friday, December 23rd. To receive your order on Friday, we recommend you select UPS Next Day Air ($20.00 – $40.00) as the shipping method. Questions? Email us at inquiries@tombihn.com or call us at 1-800-729-9607.

Below is an email we received yesterday from a customer. Emails like this one really make our day here in the office.

To Customer Service – Shipping department,

Today I ordered a Buzz online, and it was past 2:00 pm PST, past the cutoff time for shipping the same day.

I called the 800 customer number, and a very nice lady (sorry, missed the name), said she’ d talk to the shipping dept. and see what can be done.

Continued after the break.

Well, a few hours later, I get an email, the bag has shipped, and will arrive 12/22 – very, very fast!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY to accommodate a customer, way beyond the call of duty.

May I say, this has spared me quite a bit of embarrassment, as I planned it as a X-mas gift for my wife, and had it arrived too late… well, my plan was to make an imitation Buzz from Trader Joe’s large brown paper shopping bags and stick that under the tree together with a promissory note that it’s just a stand in for the real thing that will arrive shortly. Needless to say, you spared me effort and humiliation. Thank you again, and I suspect I’ll be a repeat customer… hopefully less tardy next time.

Cheers,
T.B.

Those are the customers initials — they don’t stand for Tom Bihn!

TB Crew | 21 December 2005 12:49 pm

Imago Metrics Reviews The Super Ego

“We evaluated the Super Ego under everyday circumstances. The toughness of the fabric was well suited to casual brushes with metal surfaces such as those that might be encountered in a typical commuter, outdoors or light duty professional settings. It fared very well in scuffs against concrete, subway doors,trees, thorns and the usual combatants of the urban village street. To test the protected zippers, we subjected Super Ego to a 10 minute shower- Not a drop of water was discovered inside. Considering the replacement cost of potential content electronics, this was deemed a success- instilling great confidence in its ability to withstand a typical downpour.”

Read The Full Review

The Super Ego

TB Crew | 19 December 2005 2:41 pm

There Is Still Time for Delivery By The 23rd!

December 19th, 20th, 21st: Select UPS 2nd Day Air shipping to receive your order by or on December 23rd. UPS 2nd Day Air rates range from $12.00-29.00, depending on what you order and where you are in the country.

December 22nd: Select UPS Next Day Air shipping to receive your order on December 23rd. UPS Next Day Air rates range from $18.00-40.00, depending on what you order and where you are in the country.

Of course, any time is a good time to get a Gift Certificate for that special person on your list. Gift Certificates are available in amounts of $20, $50, $100, $150, $200, and $250.00. They can be delivered via email or via regular mail with one of our cool plane cards and stickers.

TB Crew | 19 December 2005 2:09 pm