Looking for a protective cover to fit an Acer 4501

I'm looking for recommendations on a slim form case, cover, or sheath, since I've decided to order myself a 4501. I plan to take it to school with me, and I already have a fairly roomy backpack. What I want is something to protect the computer while it's in with my textbooks. Ideally it should have a hard or semi-hard shell, and some heavy foam to absorb shock. I don't care about other pockets, straps, etc. It would be nice if the case fit in such a manner that one could use the computer without taking it completely out of the case...in a flip-open kind of arrangement.

I've already seen the...shinza, is it called? It looks pretty good but it isn't made to fit a 15.4" screen (it's made for 15"), it's a soft-ish material, and it's a bit expensive. If you know of a particular model that I might be interested, please post it here! I'm already aware of various manufacturers like Targus and Belkin, but I can't tell on their websites whether any of the models there fit my desires. Some of them look pretty slim-line, but then again they could just be an eighth of an inch of foam and some polyester, which will result in a crushed computer.

Thanks!

 

Dr.Awkward,
I think you might be interested in a case that is showcased on
IntelligentTechnologiesInc.com. The cases are made for each specific model

Karen
Intelligenttechnologiesinc.com

 

Thanks for the tip. However, it doesn't look like your company supports too many sizes of Acer chassis quite yet, although the table-free design is kind of neat. Perfect for field work, I wager. Also, it's nice to see some tablet-friendly designs.

Anyway, my research has turned up a couple of options, if anyone's interested.

www.sfbags.com has a neato sleeve (SleeveCase) made of neoprene surrounded by ballistic nylon. Not a hard-shell model, but there are a few testimonials involving laptops flying from fast moving vehicles and suffering minor to no damage thanks to the sleeve. Pretty darn expensive, but they look really well made.

www.tombihn.com makes a wide line of hard-shell sleeves that are designed with a pocket of air on the bottom, so if you drop the case, the notebook will have somewhere to bounce rather than banging off the bottom of the case. Pretty ingenious, but you have to keep it upright for this system to work properly. They make a horizontal version (for wide bags) and a vertical version (for backpacks). Unfortunately, based on the listed specifications, none of them look like they will fit a 4500 quite right. I've emailed the company with the sizes of the 4500, and if/when they get back to me I'll mention it here. It's also more expensive than the Shinza, but it looks like it's more like what I'm after.

Also, both of these companies make some really neat bags. I recommend that if you're in the market for any kind of bag or case you browse through. Sfbags.com is mostly computer stuff, geared toward Apple sizes, while tombihn.com is a bag maker that's gone into computer cases. Both are American-made, if you're a Yankee who likes to buy US-made products.

I am still undecided, but if tombihn.com tells me that they can fit my laptop, I'll probably go with them. In the meantime, the search continues!

 

Okay, Tom Bihn says they can fit my laptop with a size 1 or size 2. The #1 is a bit too tall, but fits nice & snug on the sides. The #2 is a bit too roomy, but it's about the right height. I'm going with the #1, since it's narrower and more likely to fit nicely in my backpack. Should arrive Friday or Monday. We'll see how well it works, and I'll let all you Acer 4501 junkies out there know how well it will protect your precious computers.