Hands-On Review--Tom Bihn PowerBook Cases

With the receipt of our new 17" and 12" PowerBook G4's early this summer, we began looking for a travel bag and slipcases that they would fit into. Tom Bihn sent us several of his finest examples, the Empire Builder briefcase, a Brain Cell slipcase sized for each PowerBook and their new Absolute Shoulder Strap (made by OP/Tech of Montana). The Empire Builder is black and charcoal with a neat wasabi (greenish gold) interior. The Brain Cells are black on black. Tom Bihn cases come in a variety of colors that are sure to suit almost anyone's taste.

"The Empire Builder (right) is the result of 3 years of product development and 30 years of bag building experience." according to Tom Bihn. We can sure believe that. It has a unique style, is extremely well-built (Ballistic and Cordura nylon) and weighs in at 3.25 pounds. The front flap is held shut with a 2" side-release buckle and has three pockets: a horizontal zippered pocket to hold CD's or even a CD player; a vertical zippered pocket to hold a cell phone; and a diagonal, open-top pocket for a plane ticket or other flat items. The front flap covers a large pouch that has additional 3-D pockets for floppy discs, a PDA, cell phone, and pens. A nice touch is the snaphook for keys.

The main compartment unzips low on the sides and it has lockable sliders. The front, back, bottom, and sides are padded and stiffened by 1/4" (6mm) closed-cell foam to protect the contents and to maintain its form. Inside the main compartment are three hard plastic file dividers for organizing papers and a snap to keep files from getting damaged. The dividers are easily removed. Extras can be ordered for the Empire Builder for even greater organization. There are also snaps to hold a Brain Cell PowerBook slipcase.

The handles are constructed of Ballistic nylon rolled around high-quality foam. They lay naturally together at the top of the bag. A shoulder strap is an additional option for a heavy load.

Tom Bihn's all-new Absolute Shoulder Strap (left) has a unique patented internal control-stretch system. A soft, durable neoprene pad is combined with a stretchable backing. This ultimate shoulder strap can be attached to the Empire Builder or the Brain Cell. Actually it will work with most computer cases, briefcases or duffel bags with D-rings.

"The Brain Cell (right) takes laptop protection a step further." says Tom Bihn. The PowerBook is surrounded in soft foam padding inside a corrugated plastic insert to create significantly more protection than just foam alone. The top consists of two padded flaps that close with Velcro. There are four snaps on the back for securing it inside of the Empire Builder or other Tom Bihn bags. It's also available without the snaps for standalone use. The Brain Cell has a snap-closing front pocket of heavy-weight stretch mesh to hold a power supply, cables etc., web handles and D-rings for a either the Absolute or the Simple shoulder strap. There's a size for each PowerBook and iBook: Size 1 fits our 17" PowerBook and Size 5 fits our 12" PowerBook G4.

We have used the Brain Cells for over a month now to cart our 17" and 12" PowerBook G4's, as needed, around town. The Braincell for each fits perfectly. The front, stretchable mesh pocket easily holds an AC adapter, modem cable, ethernet cable, video cables and a few CDs but not much more. The pocket on the larger 17" Brain Cell obviously holds a lot more than the one on the 12" Brain Cell. However, some may find it to be a bit unsightly but the mesh is very fine and hide sthe contents reasonably well. We like the internal hard protector in addition to the foam. While it may add an unnoticeable bit of weight, we think it it worth it for the dent/scratch protection that it brings. Our only criticism is that the top opens the wrong way for easy access to the PowerBook when snapped inside the Empire Builder briefcase

We took the Empire Builder briefcase with our 17" PowerBook G4 in a Brain Cell snapped inside on two recent week-long trips by air. The Empire Builder is itself extremely well-built, probably the best we have seen in a fabric briefcase or bag. The stitching is superb. While the zippers are nylon, the slides are metal as are the D-rings. The buckle that holds the front flap is also plastic but very strong and light in weight. Loaded with our 17" PowerBook and other stuff, the 3.25-lb bag topped out at 17.5 lbs. We really like how the handles naturally lay together on top, very handy, and it was easy to carry on our shoulder without slipping. On its side, the Empire Builder fit nicely under the airplane seat in front of us.

The Brain Cell snapped neatly inside the Empire Builder leaving a main compartment area of about 2-3" wide, plenty of room for papers, magazines and other accessories. One criticism, as noted above, is that it would have been easier to get our PowerBook out when going through airport security if the Brain Cell's top opened from the outer edge rather than the inner when snapped in place. It would also be nice to have some 3D pockets for CDs inside the front of the main compartment, protected by the file dividers. We used the mesh front on the Brain Cell for this as well as holding the PowerBook and iPod's AC adapter and cord to keep the outside flap-covered main pocket from getting too bulked out, not ideal for the CDs. We also carry our AirPort Base Station and AC adapter when we travel and both fit in the main compartment along with some magazines and an inch or so of papers.

Our T68i cell phone and iPod slipped neatly into the Empire Builder's flap external compartments as designed. The other miscellaneous stuff fit nicely in the main external pocket covered by the flap. Maybe one of the 3D pockets could be widened to hold system and maintenance utility CDs. The plane ticket pocket was very useful as was the key holder. There's also a thin, water-proofed full-length pocket for sticking a magazine or a few papers on the briefcase's back (body) side.

We were surprised that the Empire Builder came stock without a shoulder strap. However, the optional Absolute Shoulder Strap is clearly the most comfortable shoulder strap that we have ever encountered. It is wide, doesn't flip over like padding that slides on a strap and doesn't accidentally slip off easily due to little underside rubber grips. Our only suggestion is that the padded area could be curved a bit to better fit a human shoulder/hanging bag's ergonomics.

In summary, the Tom Bihn Empire Builder and Brain Cell are excellent. The Absolute Shoulder Strap is outstanding. We found little that we would change (improve) because almost everything had already been thought of and built in. In our opinion, everyone should be really happy with them. Of course such quality doesn't come cheap but its not nearly as expensive as some other specialized computer cases. The Empire Builder retails for $130, the Brain Cell for $50 and the Absolute Shoulder Strap is $25, a total of $205. This investment should last a lifetime, the length of Tom Bihn's guarantee.