What needed for MacBookAir13+MacBook Retina15+ThinkpadW701+DellE6330 in Brain Bag

[jeroenp]

I still have my mid 1990s Black Bag (bought two of them, one for a friend, when Tom was still in Santa Cruz), but it was getting old and didn't not fit all my equiment any more, but the Wenger Ibex I tried (got it cheap from my bank here in The Netherlands) was of far less quality than I was used to (:
So: I want to go back to Tom Bihn
(
this is a post about the bag: forum.thinkpads.com • Help Me Decide Which Case!
and a picture https://plus.google.com/109418621512...ts/efQJjaDifep
)

My wife and I are visting New York for 10 days to run the NY Half Marathon and collect some stuff, so this is the right moment to order a new bag.

I'm traveling to clients with a various combination of this:

1- ThinkPad W701 (main workhorse)
2- Dell Latitude E6330 6-cell (client laptop)
3- MacBook Air 13" + incipio shell (Incipio Feather - MacBook Air cases and covers roundup (photos) - CNET Reviews)
4- MacBook Retina 15" + incipio shell

Usualy it is 1+2+4, but sometimes 2+3.

Some questions:

A- What would I need besides the new Brain Bag Brain Bag - Laptop Backpack with a Lifetime Guarantee - TOM BIHN to have either big protection or little protection?
(Note: I don't mind buying a mix of Brain Cells and The Caches so I can pick/choose a combination that matches protection/travel ease)

B- Will a horizontal Brain Cell/Cache fit the Brain Bag and still allow access from the top of my Brain Bag to the laptop without having to remove the Brain Cell/Cache?

C- will a freudian slip fit next to a Brain Cell/Cache in the same compartiment of the Brain Bag?

D- will a Snake Charmer fit on top of the Size 2XXLT Horizontal Brain Cell in a Brain Bag compartiment?

E- how many Camera I-O can be fitted in the Brain Bag?

I think these are the sizes that fit the laptops but:
F - I cannot find one for the Dell, and do they fit the MacBook with incipio shells too?
G - do these actually fit in a Brain Bag?

1- ThinkPad W701: same size as W700
Cache - Laptop sleeve and iPad sleeve. Many sizes for PCs and Apple laptops. - TOM BIHN Size 2XXLT Cache (Horizontal)
Cache - Laptop sleeve and iPad sleeve. Many sizes for PCs and Apple laptops. - TOM BIHN Size 2XXLT Cache (Vertical)
Horizontal Brain Cell - Our Hard-Sided Laptop Case - TOM BIHN Size 2XXLT Horizontal Brain Cell

2- Dell Latitude E6330 6-cell
Not sure; none of the items in Tom Bihn: Find the most suitable case for your laptop match

3- MacBook Air 13" + incipio shell (Incipio Feather - MacBook Air cases and covers roundup (photos) - CNET Reviews)
Cache - Laptop sleeve and iPad sleeve. Many sizes for PCs and Apple laptops. - TOM BIHN MacBook Air 13 Cache (Horizontal)
Horizontal Brain Cell - Our Hard-Sided Laptop Case - TOM BIHN Size 6X Horizontal Brain Cell
Vertical Brain Cell - Hard-sided laptop case. Sizes specifically for Apple laptops and PCs. - TOM BIHN Size 6Z Vertical Brain Cell

4- MacBook Retina 15" + incipio shell
Cache - Laptop sleeve and iPad sleeve. Many sizes for PCs and Apple laptops. - TOM BIHN 15" MacBook Pro Retina Cache (Horizontal)
Cache - Laptop sleeve and iPad sleeve. Many sizes for PCs and Apple laptops. - TOM BIHN 15" MacBook Pro Retina Cache (Vertical)
Horizontal Brain Cell - Our Hard-Sided Laptop Case - TOM BIHN 15" MacBook Pro Retina Horizontal Brain Cell
Vertical Brain Cell - Hard-sided laptop case. Sizes specifically for Apple laptops and PCs. - TOM BIHN 15" MacBook Pro Retina Vertical Brain Cell

Some links for me to remember:

Horizontal Brain Cell - Our Hard-Sided Laptop Case - TOM BIHN Brain Bag (order 1)
Vertical Freudian Slip - Inside a backpack organizer for papers, files, gadgets, and more - TOM BIHN Vertical Freudian Slip (order 1 or 2)
Snake Charmer - Organize and tame your cables with this handy pouch - TOM BIHN Snake Charmer (order 1 or 2)
Annex Clips extra Annex Clip (order 1)
Whistle Sternum Strap Half - Add a whistle to our backpacks or travel bags. Made in USA. - TOM BIHN Whistle Sternum Strap Half (order 1)
Camera I-O - Camera Bag. Use it on its own or inside of our Brain Bag backpack. - TOM BIHN Camera I-O (order 1 or 2)

[Fat Crip]

My head hurts after reading all that!

The Incipio Feather you have on your MBP 13", how well does it fit? Particularly at the sides of the base part? I have two one on my machine and a pink one on my daughter's. mine is a really sloppy fi, Ruth's is better but I can't find anything better.

[jeroenp]

My head hurts after reading all that!

Duh, I thought I sent a reply here, but somehow I goofed up.

The Incipio Feather you have on your MBP 13", how well does it fit? Particularly at the sides of the base part? I have two one on my machine and a pink one on my daughter's. mine is a really sloppy fi, Ruth's is better but I can't find anything better.

On the MacBook Air, it fits nice. But I head from various people that on the MacBook Pro Retina, it varies.

I'm waiting for my MBPR one, and a Tom Bihn response (:

Will get back here when everything has arrived and I've used the bag for a while.

Hope your head is fine.

--jeroen

[Fat Crip]

Thanks. May be they are getting their act in order at last! I'll be replacing my MBP later this year, but haven't decided on another MBP or the 13" Retina. I really want a larger hard drive than the 250GB I have now.

[Beau]

Not sure if you've already received the email I sent, jeroenp, but I figured I should respond to your post anyways just in case the other forum members were curious.

(By the way everybody, since this is my first meaty post and I haven't yet properly introduced myself, I'm Beau. I've been working at TOM BIHN for several months now and I'm really looking forward to getting to know everybody in the forums-- though I'm sure I've already spoken to a good number of you through email or over the phone!)

To begin, I figured I should get the less-than-delightful news out of the way: while your ThinkPad W701 will fit best in a 2XXLT Horizontal Brain Cell, neither that Brain Cell nor the Vertical Cache in 2XXLT will be able to fit in the Brain Bag. However, the 2XXLT Horizontal Brain Cell can still be used standalone, with or without a shoulder strap (we have 3 different versions). On the brighter side, the Brain Bag can still accommodate the other 3 laptops you carry all at once, even if each laptop is stored in a Brain Cell (although only two Brain Cells would be able to attach to the interior of the bag).

Here are the corresponding Brain Cell/Cache sizes for your laptops that would work best with the Brain Bag:
-Dell Latitude E6330: size 4 Vertical Brain Cell (check out this video to adjust the interior sling should your laptop end up sitting a bit too high: Adjusting the Tom Bihn Brain Cell - YouTube) or 4Z Vertical Cache
-13-inch MacBook Air: 6X Horizontal Brain Cell, 6Z Vertical Brain Cell, or Horizontal/Vertical Air13 Cache
-15-inch MacBook Pro Retina: 15" MBPR Vertical Brain Cell or 15" MBPR Vertical Cache

Depending on how snugly each laptop fits in the Brain Cell/Cache, you shouldn't have any trouble accessing them with their relative protective element still in the bag (even with the Incipio case on the two MacBooks, since they're pretty thin). With a single Brain Cell or Cache in one of the main compartments, you can easily fit a Freudian slip too.

Since the Camera I-O takes up a substantial amount of space within the Brain Bag, you can fit a maximum of two in the bag, placing one in each main compartment. With two Camera I-Os in the backpack there won't be room for much else other than maybe a couple Snake Charmers, similarly, with one in each compartment. I tested it out, and you could carry two Brain Cells/Caches in one compartment, and a Camera I-O in the other.

[jeroenp]

This is going to be a long post. I try to do my research well.

Not sure if you've already received the email I sent, jeroenp, but I figured I should respond to your post anyways just in case the other forum members were curious.

Yup, got that too. Thanks!

(By the way everybody, since this is my first meaty post and I haven't yet properly introduced myself, I'm Beau.

Welcome at the forum (:

To begin, I figured I should get the less-than-delightful news out of the way: while your ThinkPad W701 will fit best in a 2XXLT Horizontal Brain Cell, neither that Brain Cell nor the Vertical Cache in 2XXLT will be able to fit in the Brain Bag. However, the 2XXLT Horizontal Brain Cell can still be used standalone, with or without a shoulder strap (we have 3 different versions).

Standalone use of Brain Cell is not an option: the Thinkpad W701 needs to be in the backpack.

You indicate that neither the 2XXLT Horizontal Brain Cell nor the 2XXLT Vertical Cache fits in the Brain Bag.
But what about the 2XXLT Horizontal Cache? Does that fit in the Brain Bag?

Do you have other backpacks that will fit any of the 2XXLT Brain Cells or Caches?

Or might the size 2XL Brain Cell almost fit the W701, and fit inside the Brain Bag?

You guys surely know to hide interior dimensions of the Brain Bag, and find the PDFs of Cells/Caches hard to open.
Here is the list with comments on what information is missing:
- Interior/Exterior Dimensions of Vertical and Horizontal Caches (the page title indicates "Interior/Exterior Dimensions of the Vertical Brain Cell", but the content indicates they are dimensions of the Caches)
- Interior/Exterior Dimensions of the Horizontal Brain Cell
- Interior/Exterior Dimensions of the Vertical Brain Cell

On the brighter side, the Brain Bag can still accommodate the other 3 laptops you carry all at once, even if each laptop is stored in a Brain Cell (although only two Brain Cells would be able to attach to the interior of the bag).

The point is that in the combination of usage, it is always Dell + one Mac, and most of the times a W701 too.
So it is never 2 Macs + Dell.

BTW: What happened to the Monolith? Spymac Reviews The Monolith - TOM BIHN Blog: We make travel bags in Seattle, Washington. Or was that the old name for the Brain Cell?

Here are the corresponding Brain Cell/Cache sizes for your laptops that would work best with the Brain Bag:
-Dell Latitude E6330: size 4 Vertical Brain Cell (check out this video to adjust the interior sling should your laptop end up sitting a bit too high: Adjusting the Tom Bihn Brain Cell - YouTube) or 4Z Vertical Cache
-13-inch MacBook Air: 6X Horizontal Brain Cell, 6Z Vertical Brain Cell, or Horizontal/Vertical Air13 Cache
-15-inch MacBook Pro Retina: 15" MBPR Vertical Brain Cell or 15" MBPR Vertical Cache

Depending on how snugly each laptop fits in the Brain Cell/Cache, you shouldn't have any trouble accessing them with their relative protective element still in the bag (even with the Incipio case on the two MacBooks, since they're pretty thin). With a single Brain Cell or Cache in one of the main compartments, you can easily fit a Freudian slip too.

That sounds great. Thanks.

Since the Camera I-O takes up a substantial amount of space within the Brain Bag, you can fit a maximum of two in the bag, placing one in each main compartment. With two Camera I-Os in the backpack there won't be room for much else other than maybe a couple Snake Charmers, similarly, with one in each compartment. I tested it out, and you could carry two Brain Cells/Caches in one compartment, and a Camera I-O in the other.

Great.
Please let me know the answers to the questions in between the quotes and let me know you to make such a special order so it can arrive EARLY next week in NYC (that way, I can try the stuff before we leave NYC after March 21st)

Here is some more research I did:

The Thinkpad W701 is 410mm x 310mm x 47mm
(IBM specifies it a bit less high as they omit the rubber feet: Detailed specifications - ThinkPad W701 and W701ds)

It should fit these:
-Cache.Size 2XXLT, Vertical, Black
-Cache.Size 2XXLT, Horizontal, Charcoal
Brain Cell Horizontal-Size 2XLT - Black

But since there is no place on the site that lists the *interior* dimensions of the Brain Bag comparments, you cannot figure out which fits.

So I compared the product pages with the PDF for Cache/Cell dimensions to get started

* means dimensions are missing.
. means dimensions are there.
- means product is missing.


Caches from Cache - Laptop sleeve and iPad sleeve. Many sizes for PCs and Apple laptops. - TOM BIHN
Interior/Exterior Dimensions of Vertical and Horizontal Caches

.Size iPad, Vertical, Black (On Backorder Until Late March)
.Size 1, Vertical, Black
.Size 2M, Vertical, Black
.Size 2S, Vertical, Black
.Size 2XL, Vertical, Black
.Size 2XXLT, Vertical, Black
.Size 3S, Vertical, Charcoal
.Size 4Z, Vertical, Black
*Size 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina, Vertical
.Size 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina, Vertical, Black
-Size 5, Vertical, Charcoal
*Size 6Z, Vertical, Black
.Size Netbook, Vertical, Black
.Size Air13, Vertical, Black
-Size Air11, Vertical, Black

.Size iPad, Horizontal, Black
.Size 1, Horizontal
.Size 2M, Horizontal, Charcoal
-Size 2S, Horizontal, Black
.Size 2XL, Horizontal, Black
.Size 2XXLT, Horizontal, Charcoal
-Size 3S, Horizontal, Charcoal
.Size 4Z, Horizontal, Black
*Size 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina, Horizontal
.Size 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina, Horizontal, Black
.Size 5, Horizontal, Charcoal
*Size 6Z, Horizontal, Black
.Size Netbook, Horizontal, Black
.Size Air13, Horizontal, Black
.Size Air11, Horizontal, Black

Horizontal Brain Cells from Horizontal Brain Cell - Our Hard-Sided Laptop Case - TOM BIHN
Interior/Exterior Dimensions of the Horizontal Brain Cell

.Size 1 - Black
.Size 2M - Black
.Size 2S - Black
.Size 2XL - Black
*Size 2XXLT - Black
.Size 4 - Black
.Size 4Z - Black
.Size 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina, Black
.Size 5 - Black
.Size 6T - Black
.Size 6X - Black
.Size 6Z - Black
*Size 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina, Black
-Size 2XLT - Black

Vertical Brain Cells from Vertical Brain Cell - Hard-sided laptop case. Sizes specifically for Apple laptops and PCs. - TOM BIHN
Interior/Exterior Dimensions of the Vertical Brain Cell

.Size 1 - Black (On Backorder Until Early April)
.Size 2S - Black
.Size 4 - Black
.Size 4 - Wasabi
.Size 4Z - Black
.Size 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina - Black
.Size 6Z - Black
*Size 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina - Black

[jeroenp]

What happened to my big reply?
--jeroen

[Beau]

Again, I first replied via email, but thought I'd post my response here just in case anyone else had some of the same questions as jeroenp.

Because the 2XXLT Horizontal Cache has just about the same exterior dimensions of the Vertical version, it won't be able to fit in the Brain Bag either. The absolute largest protective element we produce that will be able to fit in the Brain Bag's main compartment is the 2XL Vertical Cache; the Brain Bag is our largest backpack as well. The 2XL Vertical Cache has interior dimensions of288mm x 418mm x 54 mm and exterior dimensions of 304mm x 434mm x 70mm, which, according to the measurements you provided, will be a bit too small for the ThinkPad W701. Interior/Exterior dimensions can be found under the Specifications section on the Cache, Horizontal Brain Cell, and Vertical Brain Cell product pages.

Interior dimensions of bags can be a bit difficult to determine, as most bags are not square and the top of the Brain Bag's main compartment, in particular, has a curved opening. The best way to determine what will fit in our bags is from the Cache/Brain Cell options that are selectable as add-ons from the product page. Any Cache/Brain Cell that is compatible (for the most part) will be selectable as an add-on from a drop-down menu. But, of course, you're also always welcome to ask us directly.

You're right! The Monolith is actually an an earlier version of the Vertical Brain Cell. It is essentially the same as the Brain Cell in terms of function, though the Monolith had a zippered top closure instead of the Velcro closure that the Vertical Brain Cell has.

Oh, and if you need an order to reach you in NYC by early next week, you should place your order tomorrow, March 7th, before 12pm PST. Then for your shipping option select UPS Next Day Air (for a Monday delivery), UPS 2nd Day Air (Tuesday delivery), or UPS 3 Day Select (Wednesday delivery).

[jeroenp]

Again, I first replied via email

Thanks again. Somehow there seems to be a lag on my forum posts; it looks like it takes at least a day and sometimes more before I can read what I posed.

but thought I'd post my response here just in case anyone else had some of the same questions as jeroenp.

Much appreciated.

I think it is important for you to manufacture a backpack that fits the 2XXLT inserts. I for sure would be interested, and even would pay extra if such a thing was only available "build to order".

Maybe reinstate the "Big Brain Bag" name from the mid 1990s?

--jeroen

[Beau]

We checked into the lag issue you mentioned, but we didn't end up finding anything out of the ordinary. Sorry.

We appreciate feedback, though. Interesting ideas! I'm not totally sure if Tom has any plans in that regard, but I'll let you know if I ever find out he does.

[jeroenp]

We checked into the lag issue you mentioned, but we didn't end up finding anything out of the ordinary. Sorry.

I've reset the cache of my web-browser, if this message appears immediately, then it was Google Chrome doing something ugly.

We appreciate feedback, though. Interesting ideas! I'm not totally sure if Tom has any plans in that regard, but I'll let you know if I ever find out he does.

That would be cool. So far the size is the only thing holding me back from ordering, as all the other things I saw in New York had build quality that will not survive long enough (:

--jeroen

[jeroenp]

Yup: message appeared immediately. So it was the Google Chrome cache.
One thing less to worry about (:

--jeroen