The J’tote Afric laptop bag. Fits most 14″ Laptops. Weighs 2 lbs 15 oz and measures 10″H x 14.5″L x 5″W.
I’ve been in search for a laptop bag for about two years now, to not much avail. Admittedly, I shy away from the average laptop bag designs, which feels more catered to the urban warrior than runway chic (see Productdose below for a good review of urban warrior type laptop bags). There were none too many feminine versions of laptop bags to be found, but the ones found were quite luxe pretty. An alternative approach would be to go for an entirely new laptop, one of those I call latté tops, since they fit so nicely on the café table.
Avoiding the square shouldered and adrenaline pumped look of most laptop bags on the market, J’tote offers what I think are some very feminine and chic looking laptop bags for standard sized laptops. In sumptuous purple suede and bold floral print, their Afric laptop bag for example combines good design, function and style with multiple compartments for your laptop, laptop accessories, A4 sized documents, cell phone and D-rings for keys and wallets. Even the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet have noticed the problem and in their March 29 issue come up with a number of suggestions.
However, If laptop bags are too cumbersome and one too many bags to carry, the other alternative could be to perhaps carry the laptop in a large structured tote, such as:
Large totes that transport a laptop with easy chic
From clockwise, top left:
- The B. Fendi Large Chain bag, measures 18.5″ W x 12.75″ H x 4.75″ W
- The Bottega Veneta Tri-compartment tote, 15.5″ W x 10″ H x 8″ D
- The Celine Springbok Large Tote, 18″ W x 10.5″ H x 6″ W
- The Miu Miu Leather matelasse large tote, 18″W x 16″ H x 8″D
Laptops these days are also getting smaller and more mobile promising to redirect functionality, design and style in laptop bags. Originally designed to be a cheap laptop for children, the 2008 launch of the Asus EEE PC promises to be a forerunner to something entirely different. As I see it, this is the first in a new generation of what I call ‘latte laptops’ because they fit easily on the smallest of coffee tables, fully functioning with all accessories attached. And space enough for your latte on the side. With built in web cam, software for skype installed and hooked up to the local wireless hot spot to download your emails, you are fully online in a way that a mobile phone can never accomplish and at almost no money at all.
A mini-PC such as Asus’s EEE PC (left) means a new mobility since it is large enough to actually work with while weighing only 0.92kg. My point with mentioning this here is that this is a cute little thing (and we can just wait for the competitors to come up with something a bit more glam) you can carry in almost any average sized tote / handbag that complements your outfit for the day. Hooking up the mini-PC to a larger screen and a normal sized keyboard when you need is also not a problem.
All this leads to a delicious thought – why not purchase one of these new ‘latte-laptops’ and put money in a new tote instead of an all too urban warrior laptop bag? While I would prefer large totes, large cars, large….most anything, I would definitely prefer my laptop to be small. Who knows, but these latte laptops might become tomorrow’s jewellery complete with diamond studded covers. Just devilish!