What's the Best Case for a Laptop?

In short, whatever you want. In long, it depends on where you'll use your laptop, what kind of lifestyle you have, how much you want to spend, and how much you worry about protecting it. There are thousands of different kinds of laptop cases and bags out on the market now, and picking the right one can be difficult.

Where will you use your laptop? Will it only be going from home to the office? Do you travel a lot? Do you live in a sandy and/or wet area? Have kids? Taking your environment into account can help weed out some styles of cases. For example, for a business professional who only goes to the office and home, a briefcase style bag might be best. The computer is unprotected when it's outside of the bag, but the likelihood of something damaging the computer in this case is low. On the other hand, for a college student, a neoprene sleeve or hard plastic case might be best as they give more protection. Some students even use both!

Want a designer case? A lot of major designer brands are making laptop bags now. Laptop bags, as opposed to cases, offer no protection when the computer is outside the bag, and some only offer limited protection inside the bag as well. On the other hand, you can usually get a clear or colored plastic case for less than a fancy bag, and since these "shells" stay on your computer all the time, they offer maximum protection from drops and impact. If you're concerned about being caught in the rain, neoprene sleeves are slim cases your laptop can go into that offer water resistance. (Note: They're not water proof, just resistant.) Sorry there's no clear cut answer for this one, but hopefully using these questions you can narrow your search down reasonably enough that it's no longer overwhelming.

Practical Tip of the Day:
In addition to protecting the outside of your laptop, they also sell screen films to prevent scratches on your laptop's screen and keyboard covers. Keyboard covers help keep liquid and dirt out of your keyboard, the easiest spot for something to enter your laptop. As always, check out reviews for cases and bags online before you buy, and if you're extra concerned, consider either or both of these extra-protectors.