I've contended from day one that the Cube is a near-portable Mac, so when I ordered my Cube this month, I contacted Nigel Peck at Willow Design about reviewing one of their very cool Cube carry cases.

Willow makes a wide variety of computer cases and backpacks, most of them designed to carry laptops, but they also make not one, but two cases for the Cube, as well as "luggable" carry cases for both the iMac and even the Power Mac tower machines.

Nigel kindly forwarded one of Willow's N-29 Cube cases, which is the model designed to pack in entire Cube rig, including an Apple 15 in. LCD Studio Display. There is also a smaller model, the NL-26, which holds just the Cube in its peripherals, but not the display.

The N-29 is a rectangular box of fairly substantial dimensions that actually has room for a lot more than just the Cube and its paraphernalia -- the controlling dimensions for the design obviously being determined by the necessity of containing the monitor, which measures 15.8" x 16.1" x 6.7 ". The NL-26 case is considerably smaller.

Internally, there are upper and lower compartments, the latter being subdivided with Velcro-secured partitions that allow the Cube, each speaker, the power supply, and the monitor, all to occupy separate discrete compartments, with another compartment for the mouse and various cords and cables. The Apple Pro keyboard fits into a nylon net pocket in the underside of the case lid with Velcro straps., which leaves most of the case's upper compartment free for whatever other stuff you might want to carry -- possibly a CD-RW drive or even a small printer, CDs, manuals, papers, or whatever.

The N 29 case is made of heavy gauge nylon fabric with corrugated plastic reinforced 1/2"outer foam walls and a 1/4" hardboard bottom. Extra protection is provided for the display screen by three layers of corrugated plastic with internal 1.2cm (0.5") foam spacers to isolate the screen from the edge of the case. A velcro lockdown system for the horizontal divider ensures that hardware components below cannot shift around. It is available in five colors. The one I reviewed is black.

The case lid closure is two suitcase-style zippers that are hidden behind a nylon hem. Handle loops extend from the bottom and up the sides of the case with a Velcro clasp at the top, and there are trunk-style handles riveted to each end of the case as well. All of the handles are made of sturdy nylon webbing. There is also a heavily padded, contoured, detachable nylon shoulder-strap. The bottom of the case has hardboard reinforcement, and luggage-style feet are riveted through the hardboard bottom at each corner and in the center to support the case and hold it clear of the ground.

Which brings us to the issue of just how portable this rig is. the Willow N-29 itself weighs 7.9 lb. With my Cube, its power supply, keyboard, speakers, and mouse inside, the case tips the scales at 31 lbs.. I don't have an Apple Studio Display -- yet -- but they weigh 11.5 lbs., so that would increase the total to 42.5 lbs. for the whole desktop setup, which is not something you would want to carry very far or on a regular basis. The Cube, despite its modest dimensions, his deceptively heavy, as is the power supply brick and even the little speakers. There is nothing insubstantial about the Cube.

However, being able to pack an entire desktop computer setup complete with monitor into a single carry case is quite remarkable, and could prove very useful and convenient for people who use their Cubes for doing presentations on the road for instance.

Personally, I just like idea of being to pack my Cube are round in one, self-contained package. It makes me feel like I haven't completely abandoned the portable computer fraternity in moving to a Cube from a PowerBook.
:-)

I only found one minor thing to complain about with the N-29 Cube case. It appears that the polycarbonate attachment snaphook clips on the detachable shoulder strap apparently have to be machined a bit in order to make them fit into the attaching lugs on the case. On the strap that shipped with the review case, one of the clips had been machined but the other one had not leaving it too wide to fit into the lug. Not a very big deal, and easily fixable with a few strokes from a file or a carborundum wheel.

The NL-29 case sells for Cdn$390.00 or + $260.00 U.S. plus shipping. All Willow computer cases carry a lifetime guarantee against defects in materials or craftsmanship.

This is a thoughtfully-conceived, well-designed, and quality constructed product. I'm giving it five smileys.

For more information on the NL-29 and/or other Willow computer cases, visit:
http://www.willowdesign.com

Cube Diary - First Week

Charles W. Moore

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