What bag will best fit my netbook with bulky battery?

[amysinger]

Hello, all!
Love my Bihn bags! I recently ordered a netbook-sized Ristretto for my new netbook, not thinking about the 6-cell battery it carries. Turns out, it's a less than sexy fit, because the battery -- which makes a great raised platform for comfortable browsing and typing, plus it lets the netbook run almost 6 hours! -- makes the netbook really thick, but only on one side. So it pouches out the protective compartment and sits kind of off-kilter in the bag.

The hub lucked out and the bag is now his, for his iPad, where it's an exquisitely perfect fit.

Here are pics of what I'm up against:
http://knittyblog.com/images/netbook1.jpg
http://knittyblog.com/images/netbook2.jpg

Measurements:

10.25" wide
7" tall
2" thick at battery side / 1" for the rest of the netbook

In case it matters, this is a Dell Mini 10v.

I'd love some advice on what to get that's Ristretto-like: a bag that will hold it and other things as well as protect it, and not be off kilter because of the stupid-yet-functional battery. I don't suppose Tom is thinking about doing a Ristretto with a little pouch area to hold the battery compartment, while still keeping the rest of the netbook area all lean, is he?

Amy

[Darcy]

Amy,

That's a tough one. We don't have any Ristretto-like bags that will fit the Dell Mini and as far as I know Tom isn't planning on designing any bags to specifically accommodate extended batteries like that.

You could fit the Mini on its own inside of various TOM BIHN bags, but we wouldn't exactly recommend that without some kind protection - and none of our Cache sleeves or Brain Cells would provide what I would consider a good fit.

Did the Mini come with its own sleeve?

[amysinger]

Dells don't come with nuthin, case-wise.

I'm using a Golla case (all-around zipper) now. It's fine for on-its-own carrying, but I like the idea of using some sort of easy in-out case inside a Cafe bag. I may suck it up and get a Ristretto for me, despite the less-than-ideal fit, because it's such a cool bag.

Would it fit in one of the smaller Brain Cells? Maybe the size 5? Would it pouch out enough to accommodate the extra .6 of an inch?

[nikonnut]

Amy,
I have a MSI Wind U-110 and it fits perfectly in a large cafe bag with lots of room for other goodies like text books, a digital camera, iPod, charger and cord,etc. Now, the Wind does come with a very nice padded case but I have no doubt that the large cafe would make you very happy once you find a padded case for the Mini ( a wonderful little netbook by the way). Hope this might help.

Cheers,
Chris

[amysinger]

Okay, after my whinging here, I tried again. After getting over my initial disappointment that the bag [which was never designed to carry a wedge-shaped object] wasn't a perfect fit, I pulled out hub's iPad and slid in my wedgy netbook. It fits. It's not as sexy/tidy as with a slim iPad, but it fits completely and securely, with the flap covering it properly. It means there's more room to store extra stuff in the bag on one side than the other, which is totally workable.

The idea of a brain bag + something else [like a Cafe Bag] might work if I want lots of storage, but what I wanted was Ristretto-like lean, classy portability. So I'm ordering one for myself, and will be very happy with it. I think having the netbook in the Ristretto with the battery facing INWARDS will make it fit nicely against my body, and minimize any distortion of the bag, too.

Once mine's here, I'll post about it with pics. I'm on a big trip soon and am really looking forward to having this bag with me!

[AVService]

Amy
I stick my Panasonic Toughbook T5 in a Brain Cell designed for the Powerbook 12".
The T5 also has the wedge under it and is a 12" touchscreen somewhat bigger than most netbooks but not terribly so.

It fits fine and then I can put the Brain Cell in any other bag,sure it will be OK.
Just a thought.

Isn't this fun?

Ed