Review: Booq Vyper XS for Laptops

Years ago when Apple introduced the dual USB iBook, the claim was a long five hours of battery life. With the extended life of batteries, came the ability to not worry about plugging in or carrying a power adapter with you. You could just carry only the iBook for multiple hours and still be productive. Case manufacturers saw an opportunity and began to market laptop sleeves. Sleeves provide protection to the exterior surfaces of your laptop as well as additional protection if you put your laptop in a larger case, backpack, or book bag.

High Quality Sleeve

The Booq Vyper Sleeve XS provides functionality and protection for an iBook at an affordable price. A separate model is available for the MacBook. It is made of the same quality high-density foam exterior as other Booq products. The exterior has a nylon feel and appearance. It is somewhat water resistant, with exterior repelling much of the water and not allowing it to soak through to the interior. The interior is almost felt like, but more durable, and provides a soft, scratch free surface to protect your laptop.

The Vyper Sleeve is rigid, so it protects your laptop. Although it is not padded, it does offer pretty good protection against minor bangs and bumps of daily use. It is not designed to protect laptop from a fall, but three 5-inch ridges formed into the nylon may absorb some of the shock if the laptop falls flat on its top or bottom while in the sleeve.

Unlike some of the other sleeves on the market, the Vyper sleeve is zippered and form fitting so the iBook could be used for a short time while still in the sleeve. Laptops do get warm while in use, so be careful of heat build-up while in the sleeve. Booq uses a double zipper that runs all the way around the exterior of the sleeve except for four inches in the rear. The rubberized 4" back hinge is durable. The company’s unique logo used on the zipper pulls and rear hinge give the sleeve a fashionable look, accenting the high tech look of the product.

The only drawback to the Booq Vyper Sleeve is that the semi rigid high-density foam makes the Sleeve somewhat slippery to hold, which could result in a dropped laptop until you get used to it. This is a minor inconvenience. The hinge does act as a grip point.

Great Value

Overall, the Booq Vyper Sleeve is a great value if you are looking to protect your laptop from scratches, dings, dents, and moisture. The older version of the product is a steal at $4.99, while the newer models are 10 times as expensive. Although the protection is not as good as keeping your iBook in a padded laptop case, the Vyper Sleeve, with its glove-like fit is the perfect compliment for the full size case especially when peripherals, power adapters and other items usually carried sometimes become free and may cause damage. The Vyper sleeve combines functionality with a sharp look serving both the student walking across campus or the executive walking to the boardroom.

The entire Vyper line by Booq has pretty much the same features, design and quality with different sizes for each Apple portable. New models are available for the MacBook line, at an increased price of $54.95.

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