In this article I will have a closer look at the Waterfield Sleevecase for a Lenovo T61p with an extended 9 cell battery.It will not only be an indepth look at the product and its features, but I will also highlight the pre-sales advice and its underlying process.

Waterfield customer pre-sales service

The Lenovo T61p is a very robust and reliable machine, that is stall widely used in corporate environments. In my case it is a reliable workhorse for daily work, and with the extended 9 cell battery I can work during my daily commute without any problem.

SFBags order process

The ordering process and customizations consists of six general steps:

1. Tell us what type of laptop you have
2. Select Orientation
3. Trim Style
4. Add a Flap
5. Add a shoulder strap
6. Add a Piggyback pouch

1.  Tell us what type of laptop you have

The first step in the ordering process is defining the exact laptop model, for which you would like to order the Waterfield Sleevecase. From the pull down menu you can choose the manufacturer, which is in my case Lenovo. Furthermore note the “Laptop not listed? Click here.” link which allows you to choose a manufacturer or notebook that isn’t in the list.

Lenovo is listed, so I can select Lenovo from the pull down menu. As a result a pop-up window with a table of predefined Lenovo notebook options is shown. I couldn’t choose the Lenovo T61p from the table because it is an older machine. Remark the differences in orientation, and the use of a normal vs. an extended battery. On the bottom of the table you can click on … and fill in the form. This form is exactly the same page as the “Laptop not listed? Click here.” like described above.

This is the point where Waterfield customer service kicks in, to help you with some pre-sales advice. Based on the information from the form, you will be contacted to check the measurements of your machine (both in metric and US units, otherwise use the unit converter in Microsoft Mathematics ). After a check double-check loop, you will be provided with the optimal size for the Waterfield Sleevecase. Based on my experience the Waterfield Sleevecase always has a perfect fit. Remark the comparison of a Waterfield Sleevecase for HP Mini 1000 and a no-name netbook sleeve from eBay.

The funny part in here is that Gary, the brilliant mind behind Waterfield and its designs, also helped with the pre-sales advice. So it is not just a single person, but Waterfield Designs consists of a great and knowledgeable team.

2.  Select Orientation

The second step of the ordering process is the selection of the orientation of the Waterfield Sleevecase. You can choose the horizontal or vertical orientation. Since I use a Tom Bihn Empire Builder messenger style bag, I choose for the horizontal option. If you are a hardcore backpack user, you probably would prefer the vertical orientation.

3.  Trim Style

In the third step of the ordering process you can select a leather or an indium trim. In functional terms there is not much difference, so it is a matter of style and personal taste. I simply choose the Lead Indium option.

4.  Add a Flap

In order to fully protect the precious workhorse I chose the option to add a flap to the Waterfield Sleevecase. Another advantage of adding the flap to the Waterfield Sleevecase is the fact that the notebook is that well protected, that you can drop your laptop in a backpack as well (or any other bag). If you use a messenger-style bag you might think about the option not to add a flap so you have easy access to your laptop. However I would go for the optimal protection.

5.  Add a shoulder strap

If you want to travel really light you select the option to add a set of D-rings and a shoulder-strap to the Waterfield Sleevecase. You can  select the option to just add the D-rings, which is my preferred option. For the $5,- it gives you the opportunity to attach a shoulder-strap when needed. In the daily use it is often easy to grab the Waterfield Sleevecase (and the laptop) on one of the D-rings from the bag. Just hook one of your fingers in the D-ring and here you go …

6.  Add a Piggyback pouch

The final step in the ordering process is the option to choose a piggy bag or not. It is simply a small bag, which you could clip onto the D-Rings of your Waterfield Sleevecase. Personally I don’t have a need for this, since I use a Waterfield Medium Cableguy and a Waterfield 7 x 10 to stash away my power adapter mouse and some other accessories.

Waterfield Sleevecase a closer look

The Waterfield Sleevecase for Lenovo T61p is an almost custom build case. Furthermore you will get a Sleevecase that perfectly fits your notebook, instead of a one-size fits all. I haven’t seen many competitive products that take the use of a standard or extended battery into account.

Like I outlined in the review of the Waterfield Sleevecase for Lenovo X60 tablet, the used materials are really durable. The neoprene is really thick, providing excellent cushioning for your notebook. The ballistic nylon is normally used for bulletproof vests, where it now protects your precious machine.

On the backside of the Waterfield Sleevecase there is a convenient storage for some papers or a privacy filter that I use on my screen during the commute time. Remark the slope of the compartment for easy access to your papers.

Overall conclusions and final thoughts

The Waterfield Sleevecase for the Lenovo T61p is a great investment, even for an older machine like the Lenovo T61p. I pack and unpack the Lenovo T61p, and thus the Waterfield Sleevecase several times a day from the Tom Bihn Empire Builder bag that I’m currently using. The Waterfield Sleevecase is a very robust, well build product that perfectly protects your notebook while you are on the go. It allows you to easily switch between a custom laptop bag or a simple backpack that is not primarily designed for laptop use.

Over the past months, you can’t see any signs of wearing out. More in particular I’m using the Waterfield Sleevecase for the Lenovo X60 tablet over 2 years now. An excellent product combined with a knowledgeable staff that consults customers with excellent pre-sales advice is simply a winner ! If you are rocking an Apple MacBook Air, I would definitely recommend to check out the MacBook Air Travel Express case !

Last year I attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but unfortunately I do need to miss one of the best technology shows on the planet this year. Since I’m passionate about Windows Phones and other Microsoft products I didn’t want to miss the Microsoft CES 2010  keynote with Steve Ballmer and Robbie Bach.

While Steve Ballmer announced to the public that the HTC HD2 will become available in the US via T-Mobile in upcoming spring, I was far more excited by an announcement made by Robbie Bach, President, Entertainment & Devices Division @ Microsoft: “Project Natal for Xbox 360“.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFrvHSEQKTU

What is Project Natal for Xbox 360 ?

While the video above of the announcement describes Project Natal for Xbox 360 pretty well, but you might want to look at a Project Natal definition from the Wikipedia page:

“Project Natal is the code name for a “controller-free gaming- and entertainment experience” by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game platform. Based on an add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, Project Natal enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands,or presented objects and images. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360′s audience beyond its typically hardcore base.”

Both the video and the definition shown that Project Natal for Xbox 360 is a complex but very challenging innovation from a technical- and scientific perspective. In the Project Natal video above you can see some behind the scenes with the some Project Natal team members, each having a different professional- and educational  background !! I think this story tells it all …

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tmr8VDqN8

Some concluding thoughts about Project Natal

I used to play with the Atari 2600 “gaming console” as a child, but I have never really played a lot on gaming consoles. However yesterday the little child in me woke up yesterday after I saw the announcement and demo of this technical masterpiece.

Some critics might say that the first steps into a different way of interacting with the gaming console were set by the Nintendo Wii Console. This might be true, but the types of games and “game-richness” on a Nintendo Wii Console totally differ from the types of games on the Xbox 360 or the Sony PlayStation 3. Furthermore the Nintendo Wii Console still requires a kind of controller, despite the form may differ from the traditional controllers.

The Project Natal video above provides some realistic scenario’s which outline the new way of interaction between man and machine. I really like the part where the skateboard is scanned and loaded into the game so the boy can ride his own skateboard in the game, or the steering, clutching and tire changing in the racing game.

I think it is fair to say that Microsoft has developed a great new technology for the Microsoft Xbox 360 with Project Natal. In order to further boost the return on investment (ROI) on this excellent outcome of Microsoft Research, I started to think if there are different applications in other markets within the Microsoft Ecosystem.

I can think of future scenarios where you can control the machines in your kitchen, or interacting with your home electronics or I can even think of scenarios in the car industry. This might sound like future mapping, but I honestly do believe that Microsoft has a powerful technology in their hands with great potential. I hope we can see some results in the future.

“Microsoft tonight announced it would start shipping its Natal gesture and voice controller for the Xbox 360 game console in time for the Christmas holiday shopping season.”

Like you can read in the LA Times article above,  Robbie Bach, President, Entertainment & Devices Division @ Microsoft tonight announced that Project Natal is available for consumers early 2010. In other words this is soon, and I’m definitely gonna see if I can replace the good old Atari 2600 memories with a brand new Microsoft Xbox 360 (Elite) gaming console, of course combined with the Project Natal add-on !!