Tom Bihn "Brain Cell" or "Monolith"???
I'm off to PDC in September and will be hauling my 12 inch tablet PC around at the conference. I used to tote my notebook around in a shoulder bag. In the past year or so I switched to a Roots backpack that is extremely practical and a bit more interesting than your typical Targus bag. It's nice but designed for a 15" notebook plus lots of other junk so it is pretty empty with just my tablet, power adapter, and Logitech V500 cordless travel mouse (highly recommended). I would like to have something a little less bulky for the PDC. A notebook sleeve with an optional shoulder strap would be perfect because I could stick it in a backpack or messenger bag for flights and just use the sleeve other times. I have been researching the Tom Bihn Brain Cell and Monolith sleeves/cases. The Brain Cell seems like the better choice since it has an exterior pocket to hold my power adapter (it's tiny). But the Brain Cell closes at the top with a pretty heavy duty Velcro-like fastener (Aplix). I've read that it is quite loud to open, which I'm thinking would be awkward if I wanted to pull out my tablet to take notes during a conference session. The Monolith has a zipper instead of Aplix but it has no exterior pocket for a power adapter. Even though my Centrino powered tablet has exceptional battery life, I'd rather have my power brick on hand if needed. What I really want is a Brain Cell with a zipper instead of Aplix. I think I will call Tom Bihn to see if such a thing exists.
Does anyone out there have other suggestions?