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Review: Case-Mate Glovez

Submitted by jcost on Thu, 06/29/2006 - 17:55.

Case-Mate (formerly Case-Ari) introduced their new notebook sleeve line, aptly named 'Glovez'. Since I was impressed by their iPod cases, I couldn't wait to test out their new line of notebook sleeves.

First Impression:
When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. The pictures don't do it justice. To my eyes, it appeared as a printed material, but upon inspection, I realized it's a textured fabric - a perforated nylon.

Casemate Glovez

Most impressive, it has a feel unlike other sleeves I have recently tested. Normally, notebook sleeves are made of a tough exterior that is a tightly woven material. This fabric was very light and felt like it belonged in a scuba or surf shop. Ostensibly, this could be good or bad, I have to say it is definitely unique, and I like it.

Exterior/interior:

The 'Glovez' are lightweight, thin, and attractive. They are offered in Metallic Silver, Mocha Brown, and Phantom Black. The sleeve is horizontal in form factor - which is a nice change from the ubiquitous vert sleeves.

Externally, it is attractively accented with the small Case-Mate logo emblems on the front and side. The external edges of the case are accented with a leather piping that should help prevent tearing, fraying, loose seams, etc.

Your notebook slips inside a smooth neoprene interior. Once inside, fold the flap over to close the sleeve. The flap is held in place by a full length strip of velcro. In fact, if you notice in the picture, you can see a horizontal rectangle that outlines the velcro. I only noticed this in the pictures, and in person, it wasn't immediately detectable, unless you were looking for it.

Ideally, I would like a bit more coverage. On the sides of the case, the flap isn't fully extended to provide 100% coverage; this leaves a bit of the edge of your notebook exposed. This could present a problem if you have anything in your backpack that could potentially be hazardous to your machine (drinks, tools, etc).

Case-Mate has targeted the sleeves to fit the Apple MacBook Pro & PowerBook, however, they should fit most laptops up to 15.4 inches. I tested it with a 14 inch iBook G4, and it did just fine. Additionally, being designed with a horizontal orientation, it will offer solutions for people who want the ability to remove their notebook from a messenger bag without removing the whole sleeve.

Lightweight and scratch-free:

I thoroughly enjoyed using the lightweight and stylish Gloves. They will keep your notebook scratch free, and look great while doing it. Being that they are lightweight, you have to trade some protection for that. The sleeves aren't overly padded, so you should be careful about jarring or dropping your machine. While that is always a good practice, it is even more important to do so when using a thinner sleeve -- you don't want to fool yourself into being totally protected.

As long as you don't throw caution to the wind and start banging your machine around, I have no problem recommending these sleeves - they should do fine in most bags.

Final thoughts:
The Case-Mate Gloves are stylish, lightweight, and feel great. Not only will it help keep your Mac scratch free, it will look great while doing it. Competitively priced at $24.95, they will fit into most consumers budget. Adding to the value, for a limited time, they are even offering free UPS shipping in the United States.

Pros: