Crave

(Credit: Aerovation)

Planning on flying with your laptop on a summer vacation? You should definitely consider a TSA checkpoint-friendly bag. There is no shortage of options, but this new model from Aerovation makes one important change to the typical design so getting away from the checkpoint is even faster.

Most TSA-compliant bags split into two pieces: one side for a laptop, the other for your travel gear. These sides butterfly open letting the notebook sit flat on the security scanner's belt in order to meet guidelines. Once through the checkpoint you have to stop and seal up the two sides.

Aerovation solved this small-but-inconvenient issue on this bag by lining the sides with Velcro. Just grab it by the handle on top and the two sides slap together and instantly connect so they're not flapping around as you run to catch your flight.

This model--the Aerovation CPF--is designed to fit laptops up to 15.4-inch wide-screen sizes and sells for less than $80.

I have not tested or even seen this bag in person, so I can't speak to its quality. Just letting you know it's out there if you're in the market for a fairly inexpensive laptop bag to speed you through airport security.

If it's not a right angle, it's a wrong angle. That's exactly the ethos that has inspired the type of precise, structured and rigidly useful gadgetry that we highlight in today's episode.

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(Credit: Mitemite)

Are you one of those people attached to the notion that news should only be read on paper? Well, here's something to appease your old-timey sensibilities.

Mitemite--a small Spanish company that boasts their "unnecessary" products line--created a laptop bag in the style of old newspapers. Now you can carry your laptop in the Herald Tribune, the La Vanguarda and other publications.

The bag is ideal for anyone who wants to look appropriately snooty while traveling to work. Well, not anyone. The current styles are only made for the Macbook Pro, but anything smaller than 15.4" will fit, too.

There are no compartments, nor any kind of padding to protect your laptop. So what? Take off the handles, place it in your briefcase, and use it as a sleeve. The 'rents will be proud that you're reading the paper every day.

The MetroLite, fully loaded

When I studied abroad in college, my trusty Eagle Creek backpack went with me everywhere. It had just enough room for everything I needed to carry, with lots of little pockets to keep my stuff organized. It was so compact and maintained its shape so well that I never felt like a turtle, even when the bag was stuffed.

The MetroLite Backpack, from Washington-based manufacturer Brenthaven, reminds me of that bag. Its main compartment includes a well-padded sleeve that accommodates laptops up to 15.4 inches (though we were able to carry even a 16.4-inch system). Its front compartment contains tons of little organizer pockets to corral your gadgets and accessories. And the whole bag adds just 4-6 inches to your profile while you're carrying it.

For example, in the picture at right, the MetroLite is loaded with the Sony VAIO FW270 and its AC adapter, plus a letter-size spiral notebook, two magazines, a trade paperback, two smartphones, a wallet, keys, and pens. Even with all that stuff, the bag is about 6 inches at its thickest point--and that bulge could have been reduced with more thoughtful packing.

If you want a backpack that can carry your laptop, gym clothes, reading materials, and lunch, then the MetroLite backpack is not for you. But if you prefer to travel light or regularly commute by bus or train, I think you'll love it. Read the MetroLite Backpack review and let me know what you think.

Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer, ready to go through the X-ray.

Regular Crave readers have seen a steady stream of products unveiled in the months since the Transportation Security Administration issued guidelines for "checkpoint friendly" bags, which let you zip through airport security checkpoints without removing your laptop.

Eager to see how manufacturers would tackle the new product category, we obtained a handful of bags--from the huge Mobile Edge ScanFast Backpack to the tiny Solo Netbook Mini--for real-world testing. At first we were concerned that TSA agents wouldn't know about the new bag designs and would make us remove our laptops anyway. But we carried several of these bags on business trips and cruised through the checkpoints without incident.

So, if you're a frequent flyer or shopping for one of these bags, check out the latest checkpoint-friendly bag reviews.

Few tasks in life approach the horror that is modern commercial air travel. Arguably the most dreaded aspect of which is the infamous security checkpoint, where one's person and belongings are poured over, with a curiously particular attention paid to shoes, liquids, and naturally, laptops. There are two certainties to life on the checkpoint line: a TSA employee will repeatedly implore people on the line to remove their laptops for a solo trip down the X-ray machine conveyor belt; and that you'll inevitably get stuck behind some guy who forgot to take his laptop out, thereby holding up the entire grim procession as he fumbles with his bag.

The Targus Zip-Thru laptop bag

Frequent travelers cheered when, several months ago, the TSA announced a series of guidelines for building a checkpoint-friendly laptop bag, one which could zip through the X-ray machine with a laptop inside. The sticking point, apparently, was that people always had a lot of junk sitting in the same pocket as their laptops, and the screeners needed an especially clear view.

The first two TSA-approved bags we've looked at are the Targus Zip-Thru and the CODi Phantom CT3. TSA-approved is a bit of an overstatement--the bags follow publicly available TSA guidelines, which call for either a single-item sleeve case, a butterfly-style bag, or a tri-fold bag--all of which must provide for a distinct laptop compartment, with no additional pockets, and no room for anything other than your laptop. The TSA itself does not certify or otherwise approve the final products.

The CODi Phantom CT3 laptop bag

Both the Targus and CODi bags are butterfly-style, with a laptop-only half and a second compartment for your AC adapter, keys, iPods, papers, etc. The Targus bag splits in two with a zipper, while the CODI has two plastic clips and a patch of Velcro.

Both were reasonably functional, corporate-style laptop bags--not for the fashion-conscious, to be sure. But at $255, the CODi bag was more than twice as expensive as the essentially similar Targus model. And therein lies the basic problem: no matter how closely a bag maker follows the published guidelines, the agents at the security checkpoint are under no obligation to let your laptop pass through in even one of these bags. In fact, we suspect many TSA employees aren't aware of the new bag designs (remember the problems they had earlier this year with the SSD hard drive in the MacBook Air), and are just as likely as not to make you remove your laptop anyway, defeating the purpose of having a special laptop bag in the first place.

(Credit: Tom Bihn)

In August, the TSA started allowing travelers who use laptop bags designed to certain specifications (see below or visit the site) to pass through security scanning without pulling the laptop out of their bag. I don't believe for a second that this will stop screeners from making you remove your laptop, but here's hoping.

Manufacturers, of course, took advantage of the new regulations to release bags that meet the requirements. (You probably needed a new bag anyway, right?) Computerworld rounded eight of them up to see which bag would not only zip you through security, but not leave longing for pockets, padding, and Velcro closures.

Prices ranged from $49.95 to $225 with its favorite being the $220 Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase, winning for the bag's "good looks, expert pocketry, and three hinged compartments that fold up into a compact case."

(Credit: TSA)

A laptop bag made entirely of recycled plastic water bottles.

(Credit: Uncommon Goods)

Since your laptop is spewing hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide emissions into our atmosphere every year, why not help make up for that by toting it around in a bag made of recycled materials?

A mosquito net-based messenger bag.

(Credit: Three Stone Steps)

Fortunately, in the case of these stylish totes, "recycled" doesn't mean reusing a burlap sack. There's a lot of creativity out there when it comes to materials from which to make laptop carriers.

The penguin/rooster bag from Uncommon Goods above for instance, is made completely from recycled water bottles. Each yard of polyester material for the bags is made from 18 bottles. The carrier 12.5 inches by 15.25 inches and costs $48.

The Fellini Pannolini Large Messenger takes used camping gear like tarps and mosquito nets and incorporates them into a carry-all. The outside is recycled mosquito nets, the inside is used tarpaulin for a waterproof lining. At $75.00 each, you get a choice of blue, copper, green, silver, or yellow.

When open, it's made to look like an unfurled leaf.

(Credit: Career Bags)

The Leaf Laptop Bag is taking the "green" angle a tad more literally than the rest. While the exterior is made of recycled microsuede and the interior of recycled polyester, the bag's flap is made to look like a leaf. The outside is designed to look like a plant's veins, and when opened it's meant to resemble an unfurled leaf. It fits a 15-inch or 17-inch laptop, but this green bag will cost you some serious green--it's $270.

Though the Recycled Newspaper Bag came out last year, I still had to mention it. I put it on my Christmas list this past holiday, and lo and behold, it was actually wrapped up and waiting for me under the tree!

Old news becomes new.

(Credit: Hip and Zen)

I can attest that it's sturdy, looks good, and fits both my 13-inch and 17-inch notebooks comfortably--though not at the same time. And its made by Conserve, an NGO that creates jobs for women in India.

For more great resources for recycled goods like these bags, see the Great Green Goods blog.

The ScanFast laptop bag--backpack version.

(Credit: Mobile Edge)

Hey, we're ready to cheer anything that can move travelers through an airport security queue faster--and a new line of "checkpoint friendly" laptop cases by Anaheim, Calif.-based Mobile Edge falls under that rubric. Owners of the ScanFast bags don't have to dig their computers out of their cases. Airport screeners can X-ray the machine while it's still inside.

The bags come in briefcase, backpack, and messenger-bag styles; all are compliant with Transportation Security Administration guidelines. The collection is set to launch in late summer, with a tentative price range of $79.99 to $99.99.

The ScanFast bags, of course, aren't the first entry to the speed-security-lines genre. Among other offerings, there's the LapStrap, a laptop case that's essentially all strap and no bag.