Buzz Question

[moriond]

As far as keeping papers in expensive plastic folders from Levinger is concerned, I use cheap manilla file folders from Staples or Office Depot, and they work fine, too.

I have not bought anything from Levinger for a while, and am surprised to hear that they are selling plastic file folders. If they were selling file folders at all, I would have expected them to be made of polished walnut.

I also use manilla file folders, and these particular file folders were bought some time ago. This may not come up as an issue for you, but in addition to my 12" PowerBook, I was carrying a paperback text book sufficiently large (about 9.5" x 10.8" x 0.9") that while the book fit easily into the Buzz, folders and papers placed on top of it would often have their corners come close to the zipper.

I'd also be carrying papers turned in for grading, and these were often a mix of looseleaf sheets and pages torn out from sprial-bound notebooks, as well as neatly typed or printed pages. Anyway, using a manilla folder the corner of the folder would get dogeared and bent. Especially since these were a motley assortment of pages, with an open file folder paper edges could spill out too close to the edge of the zipper. Maybe there's some way of making the inner piping along the zipper edge flatter so there is less of a problem. The closed plastic file meant that the paper edges could never spill out, and the fact that there was a closed plastic corner kept the edge of the file from being bent and dog-eared.

I don't know whether you can see from the picture, but the translucent plastic is actually pliable, so unlike other plastic folders I've seen, this isn't brittle and lasts a long time. Another bonus of the translucent, double-sided pockets is that I could easily see graded homeworks and quizzes (old assignments that weren't picked up), and turn to the right side. (But this has nothing to do with using this with the Buzz).

Probably, other people won't need this information -- when I'm not using a textbook quite so wide, tall, and of a minimum thickness it never comes up, and it doesn't matter what folder I use for papers. I agree that many of the Levenger products are overpriced and not particularly well designed (especially many of the things they custom build), but occasionally there are nice stationary products. We probably spend entirely too much time in these forums obsessing over minor design solution details! Sorry for the long explanation.

And yes, I think that it would be difficult to design a corner pocket at the bottom of the Buzz that would work well with all laptops.

[teresa]

Hello all,

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. In summary, it looks like there might be some interest in having a Buzz available with no divider as long as we continued to offer the version that has it. I did notice the other day that if it hadn't been present, it actually would have been able to hold my shoes and clothes after I changed at the gym. Of course, since I own a 12" Powerbook that I normally carry with me, I will stick with the current version. The removable divider was an interesting idea but seems like it would be difficult on the production end and if we were to go that route, some people would not be as interested in getting a Buzz. What seems to be the most popular design idea is to have some type of non-bulky extra padding at the bottom. I would say I agree with this suggestion as well. Sometimes I find myself setting my Buzz on the ground a little harder than I intended and that would definitely help. I also wouldn't mind seeing some sort of system for taking up the extra length of strap.

The transparent colored folders are very cool. Thanks for the suggestion! That seems like a good solution for when you have loose papers in an otherwise fully loaded bag.

Thanks again everyone for your enthusiasm and input. Please keep em coming!

[shenkin]

Of dogeared folders and removable key fobs

I'd also be carrying papers turned in for grading.... Anyway, using a manilla folder the corner of the folder would get dogeared and bent.

I always thought that's what they were for. :-) Hopefully, some of the papers got dogeared, too. That makes students think you might actually have read them.

By the way, I thought of something else I like about the Buzz but forgot to mention: Thank you for making the stupid, useless key fob removable.

[slinstar]

I always thought that's what they were for. :-) Hopefully, some of the papers got dogeared, too. That makes students think you might actually have read them.

By the way, I thought of something else I like about the Buzz but forgot to mention: Thank you for making the stupid, useless key fob removable.

you also can protect your papers in those lovely, free UPS/Priority Mail/FedEx cardboard envelopes, as long as they aren't too big to fit in the Buzz

add a rubber band and they're almost fail-proof.

[shenkin]

More colors for Buzz

I remembered one more thing I wanted to suggest. Other than the all black (which I purchased), all the color options were, umm, garish. I would have liked a black-and-steel-grey alternative, or something else other than all black, but subdued.