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Netbook sleeve – best protection accessories for netbooks

By Andrei Girbea , updated on March 27, 2012

I for one like my netbook to be as clean and sober as possible, thus stickers and skins are not for me. But as i always complaint about how the latest Asus EEE PCs are so glossy and attract fingers and scratches easily, a comment made me understand that a proper skin might be useful, as will protect the case from exactly those problems: scratches and fingerprints. Thus, a tried to see what skins i could find online that would be worth mentioning.

Case or sleeve, what should i choose for my netbook?

Case or sleeve, what should i choose for my netbook?

And since i was here, i also took a look at the netbook sleeves and cases offers. These are most useful when carrying the netbook around, protecting it not just from scratches, but from bumps and other types of more severe damage also.

For example, if you have to travel by plane, i would suggest buying a thick case and stick the netbook in your luggage between some clothes, cause you can never be careful enough when dealing with airport personnel.

Anyway, now that we concluded that such netbook “accessories” are welcomed, let’s see what we can get and how much will they cost us.

First, a couple of netbook sleeves:

  • Be.ez 100764 LA robe Sleeve – can fit any netbook up to 10.2″ , so it’s good for the 10″ Asus EEE Pcs the Aspire One 150 or the HP Mini .  It’s a scratch resistant case made out of black neoprene and comes with 1 year warranty. Will cost you just $19.99 and has a 5 out of 5 mark from real customers on Amazon (so all the ones that reviewed it were completely satisfied).
  • Built NY E-LS10-MDT Sleeve – can fit any netbook between 7 to 10 inches big . So, it’s perfect for every 9″ netbook and can even fit the 6-cell battery Aspire One 150 (with a 10.1″ screen). It will hardly fit the 10″ EEE PCs though, cause they have bigger 10.2″ screens . Anyway, the Built Sleeve comes witha  special design and very good price of just $15 .
  • Belkin F8N037 12″  Sleeve – this is a bigger sleeve that can fit netbooks up to 12″ . It’s made of memory foam so it will shape its interior according to the form of your netbook, offering better shock protection . It’s made by Belkin, and that’s a quality guarantee, and it’s also very good looking. Oh, and it only costs $14.95 (with a hefty 55% price cut from the regular retail price ).
netbook Sleeves: Be.ez, Built and Belkin (from left to right)

netbook Sleeves: Be.ez, Built and Belkin (from left to right)

Then, a couple of cases:

  • Caselogic XNTM-4 Messenger eSling – this must be the best looking netbook case i ever laid my eyes on. It’s not anything fancy, it’s just simple and classic, just as i consider a case should be. It’s a messenger style bag with several different compartments and can easily fit laptops between 7 to 12 inch big.  So, such a bag can easily hold a netbook plus you phone, papers, sun glasses, etc . This case has a magnetic flap closure, but all the compartments are zipped closed independently, so your things should be pretty safe in there. The regular price for such a device is around $70 , but luckily you can get it from here for around half of that. 
  • CaseCrown backpack/messenger bag – this case is multifunctional, as it can be used as a backpack or a standard messenger bag. it comes with multiple compartments, more than the one before, and can store any netbook up to the 11.6 inches versions. Actually, it’s made for the Acer Aspire One Pro, but you shouln’t have any kind of problems fitting other 11.6″ netbooks or smaller. This case also looks quite OK, nithing impressive though, and comes with padded back and interior so it will better protect your device. As for the price tag, you can get this CaseCrown for around 30 bucks, with a 40% discount on this site, via Amazon.
The Caselogic case on the left and the CaseCrown on the right

The Caselogic case on the left and the CaseCrown on the right

As for the skins, we’re tell you about out picks on a later post, as i couldn’t find any interesting designs right now.

Which one of these protection accessories are better for you is just up to your tastes. I for one will definitely go for a sleeve, this one is a must, but I’m not sure I’ll need a case (i already have a laptop bag and i use that one, but that CaseLogic eSling really is a looker) or a skin (i couldn’t find anything interesting and i prefer keeping my device squeaky clean :P). What do you guys think?

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Andrei Girbea, Editor-in-Chief at TLBHD.com. This project was born as part of my search for capable mini-laptops that I could easily lug around to work, and still provide the performance that I'd need on a daily basis. I'm primarily using such ultracompact devices and have been testing them since 2006.

2 Comments

  1. Bron

    November 26, 2013 at 11:58 am

    Hi, just discovered your site and am enjoying reading your reviews and tips! I have a Toshiba NB 550D and am not sure what size sleeve to buy. The screen is 10.1″ but the actual size must be a bit bigger than that. I’ve just moved countries so I don’t have useful things like measuring tape anymore! Have you tested whether this model would fit in the typical sleeve designed/promoted for 10″ netbooks?
    Thanks 🙂

    • Andrei Girbea

      November 28, 2013 at 7:52 pm

      a 10.1 inch sleeve should do just fine, as these things are usually stretchy. You can get something a bit larger if you want, designed to fir an 11.6 inch device, and it would be able to take the power brick as well, if needed.

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