Best Cases for a Travel Laptop
The advice here has simplified since this was written, largely because bags got better at this job on their own.
A sleeve beats a case. Your bag is the protection; the sleeve stops scuffs and keeps the laptop from rattling against everything else. A hard shell case adds bulk and weight for a threat that mostly does not exist, and it stops the laptop sitting flat against the back panel where you want the weight.
What to look for:
- A snug fit. A sleeve with room to spare lets the machine slide, which is what damages corners.
- A padded back panel in the bag itself, and a laptop compartment that sits against your spine rather than at the front. Weight close to your back is weight you do not notice.
- Water resistance somewhere in the chain. Almost no bag is waterproof. A sleeve that is, or a dry bag liner, costs little and covers the one failure that actually destroys a laptop.
The airport question, which has changed. Checkpoints with modern CT scanners often let a laptop stay in the bag, which makes the old "checkpoint-friendly" butterfly-opening cases largely pointless. Where the older scanners are still in use it comes out regardless of what the bag claims. Do not pay extra for that feature.
And the rule that matters more than any case: the laptop travels in the cabin. Always. Checked baggage handling will find the one impact the case cannot absorb, and no insurance replaces the work.
Part of the guide to gadgets and power.