About a month ago I have published a review about the Waterfield Sleevecase for my Lenovo X60 tablet here @ mobilityminded. While in that article I elaborated on the Waterfield Sleevecase itself, I wanted to show a comparison of the Waterfield Sleevecase for HP Mini 1000 with a no-name neoprene sleeve from eBaY and discuss my findings about differences in design, user experience and price.

The comparison

The two pictures above show both the Waterfield Sleevecase for the HP Mini 1000 and the eBaY sleeve for the HP Mini 1000 next to each other.Let me start with a brief description of the eBaY sleeve, and compare the Waterfield Sleevecase for the HP Mini 1000 to it later on.

Noname “eBaY” sleeve for HP Mini 1000

The eBaY sleeve is simple in design and is actually vertically oriented to slide in the HP Mini 1000. The sleeve is made of neoprene and is very simple finished with a red ribbon, but there is no velcro or zipper to fully close the sleeve with the risk for the HP Mini 1000 to fall out. There are no additional flaps or compartments in this sleeve, and the neoprene material is about 2 or 3 mm. think so there is not much thickness to cushion impact. Very sharp is the pricepoint of $12,- including shipment.

Waterfield Sleevecase for HP Mini 1000

When you pick up the Waterfield Sleevecase for the HP Mini 1000 on the contrary you immediately feel the difference in used materials. Remark the material hightlights of the Waterfield Sleevecase:

• “Custom-made, domestically produced ballistic nylon exterior.
• 6 mm high-grade neoprene interior.  (We use the neoprene because it is very dense and has much better shock-absorbing qualities than foam.)
• Lead colored Indium trim at the bottom.
• One-inch nylon webbing loop at bottom for users to hold while removing laptop.” [ref04]

Remarkable is double the thickness of the protective neoprene interior, while on the noname eBaY sleeve there also isn’t a protective exterior. The Waterfield Sleevecase in comparison has a ballistic nylon exterior which protects  the Waterfield Sleevecase for the daily abuse we expose  our notebooks and netbooks to.

But not only the difference in materials is noticeable. Also on the functional design there are huge differences. First let me emphasize that the Waterfield Sleevecase for the HP Mini 1000 has a wide opening for easy sliding the HP Mini 1000 in and out the Sleevecase. The noname eBaY sleeve has a vertical entry, but this is “blocked” since the design is like a fixed flap (while the Waterfield Sleevecase has an easy to open flap, creating the easy entry).

In my journey to find a sleevecase with a good custom fit for the Lenovo X60 tablet I could only conclude that Waterfield does an amazing job on this level. Despite the fact that the eBaY sleeve was also particular for the HP Mini 1000, there is unnecessary free space of 2 cm .in wdth and even 3 cm. in the height of the sleeve. On the contrary the Waterfield Sleevecase has a really good custom fit.

Finally one of the best features of the Waterfield Sleevecases is the additional “compartment” on the back. When I use my netbook on the go, it is simply because I want to travel light. In the back compartment I put my Moleskine notebook and a Caran d’Ache Ecridor-series ballpoint and you are ready for a conference, meeting, visit or technology show.

Thoughts and overall conclusions

I hope this article provides a little insight in the differences in quality and price between the Waterfield Sleevecase for HP Mini 1000 and a no-name case a friend of mine ordered over eBaY somewhere in Asia.

The comparison above really shows huge differences both in used materials, as well in functional design. The conclusion on these points is very easy, since the Waterfield Sleevecase for the Hp Mini 1000 outperforms on every single point.

Personally I don’t think this is surprising given the background and experience of the designers. Certainly if ballistic nylon is good enough to be used in bulletproof vests, than it certainly protects my netbook or notebook.

Critics might want to discuss about the difference in price: $12,- for the no-name eBaY sleeve in comparison to $38,- for the Waterfield Sleevecase and 15$ for additional customizations.I will give you my reasoning below.

The HP Mini 1000 is about a $500,- machine, so why would you reduce costs of $40 on the protection of such a great device. Honestly and from my personal experience the Waterfield Sleevecase is worth every dollar more, simply because of the high quality, the excellent design, the level of possible customizations and the used materials.

Summarizing, getting the Waterfield Sleevecase for the HP Mini 1000 or every other netbook, is a rocksolid investment in the daily protection of the device.

Finally special thanks to Julie Strietelmeier from the-gadgeteer.com for the Watefield Sleevecase tip, and to Heidi Marzke from Waterfield Design for the excellent help and fast communication !! Go ahead and find your personalized Waterfield Sleevecase over here !

Reference list

1. MOBILITYMINDED:  Waterfield Sleevecase for Lenovo X60 Tablet (8-cell battery) Review
2. WATERFIELD:  Netbook Sleevecases