WaterField Designs - page 3

It’s pretty much a forgone conclusion that any time we review a bag or case by Waterfield Designs, we’re going to love them. The San Francisco based company is such a maestro at stripping a cow to its bones then stitching the tanned hide up into a premier laptop or tablet case that dishing out an enthusiastic review of yet another one is starting to feel like a matter of course.

So it’s with a profound sense of relief that I can report that Waterfield Design’s CitySlicker MacBook case is the worst thing anyone’s ever made, ever. That includes the Fred series of movies. Scotch-taped together from what appears to be a beef jerky flavored Fruit Roll-Up, the City Slicker….

*snicker*

Sorry, I couldn’t keep a straight face. Just kidding! The CitySlicker is an awesomely stylish protective case for your MacBook Air that can double as a very streamlined laptop bag or attache case. Oh, and it also makes a pretty awesome lap desk. It’s just as good a product as any that Waterfield has ever made. But it’s definitely not for everyone.

Believe it or not, Black Friday has already come and gone. Pretty soon the Christmas season will begin, and we’ll mark this midwinter festival by getting together with friends and family and continuing to drink and eat far too much.

Meanwhile, we also buy gifts for those same friends and family members, whether they want them or not. Luckily, we’re here to help, and if you follow our festive advice, your gifts just might make it into the “wanted” category.

From now until Christmas, Cult of Mac will be putting together holiday gift guys full of ideas for the special ones in your life, no matter what their interests or your budget. Today, we’re looking at gifts for Mac lovers (not Mac fighters).

Believe it or not, Black Friday has already come and gone. Pretty soon the Christmas season will begin, and we’ll mark this midwinter festival by getting together with friends and family and continuing to drink and eat far too much.

Meanwhile, we also buy gifts for those same friends and family members, whether they want them or not. Luckily, we’re here to help, and if you follow our festive advice, your gifts just might make it into the “wanted” category.

From now until Christmas, Cult of Mac will be putting together holiday gift guys full of ideas for the special ones in your life, no matter what their interests or your budget. Today, we’re looking at gifts for the good gentleman in your life.

The iPad Mini is here, and it is lying naked and vulnerable on your desk/bed/lap/passenger seat. And that’s ok, because today is all about tweaking and configuring your settings, installing apps and seeing which of your pants have back pockets big enough to carry it (don’t sit down!)

But what of tomorrow? Soon you’ll start searching for cases, speakers, docks and other accessories for the latest tiny addition to your family, and that’s where we come in. Yes, you can use most of your iPad and iPhone accessories with the new Mini, but here are some add-ons which work particularly well with Apple’s littlest tablet.

Man-bag. Murse. He-purse. Call it what you like, but you need one. Finally men in the U.S are following the European example and carrying their day-to-day gear in a bag instead of stuffing it all into a wallet, and then jamming that into a back pocket.

Cameras, iPads, iPhones, chargers, e-books and — yes — even wallets need a place to go, and what follows is our roundup of the best bags to put them in.

And who knows? Maybe one day your adult males will stop wearing baseball caps and shorts and start dressing like grown-ups instead?

Here at Cult of Mac, we love showing off what’s in our gadget bags. It’s like a ritual: first to meticulously pack your bag with all the gear you could possibly need to get through the day, but then to empty it out, arrange it neatly and present it for the scrutiny and admiration of your fellow computer geeks.

We love seeing what’s in people’s gadget bags, so we’re throwing a contest in partnership with one of our favorite bag makers, Waterfield Designs: show us what’s in your current gadget bag and if you impress us, you could win one of three amazing new gadget bags and sleeves for your Mac, iPhone and iPad!

Here’s how to enter Cult of Mac’s “What’s In My Gadget Bag?” contest!

It seems a tad unfair to be reviewing Waterfield’s Daily Outback Tote in the height of summer. Mid-July on the East Coast is particularly unforgiving toward large, leather items. When the entire city seems to be melting, the last thing you want on your sweaty arm are two handles of thick, sumptuous hide.

But while the Outback may not be best when paired with seersucker, it would look incredible holding a thermos and a stadium blanket come fall. And an extra wool sweater. And an iPad. A few books, a picnic, and a pair of gloves, even. Oh, didn’t you know? The Outback can hold everything. It’s a contemporary interpretation of Mary Poppins’s carpet bag.

Laptop bags are all well and good, but sometimes, they just can’t fit what you need to carry: groceries on the way home from work, a change of clothes for the gym, a picnic lunch on a nice day or a bag of books you picked up on the way home. And while a well-made laptop bag might be very fashionable on a man, on a lady, it might not be nearly as chic.

One of our favorite bag companies, Waterfield Designs, has just outed a new bag that address both issues: the Outback Tote. And it’s a beauty.

Of the many keyboard options available to the iPad-toting traveler, one that is often forgotten is Apple’s own aluminum Bluetooth keyboard. It is light, tough and slides easily into a bag. But if you want it to last more than a few trips, you should probably use a case.

This last weekend I did what every good Englishman should do and returned to Blighty to get drunk in the name of the Queen. And as I figured there might also be some work to do, I packed my keyboard in Waterfield’s $29 Keyboard Slip case.

“Nice murse,” the supercilious toad said, burrowing his chin into his neck pouch.

Believe it or not, some people still carry around laptops. Sure, those laptops are ultra-thin MacBook Airs, but they’re laptops nonetheless, used in ignorance of the real future of portable work — the iPad paired up with a Bluetooth keyboard.

Still, we don’t judge you luddites out there. And to prove it, we bring you this sleek little sleeve made just for your MacBook Air. It’s called the City Slicker, and it comes from SF Bags in San Francisco.

If you make anything but iPad cases, you’d be a fool to announce a new product on the same day as an Apple keynote. So, it’s a sign of how smart the folks over in San Francisco-based Waterfield designs are that they held off announcing their new bag until now. It’s a smart little waxed canvas number called the Muzetto Outback.