Kensington Contour Slim Carrying Case

Kensington Contour Slim Carrying Case

Published August 25, 2008 at 01:15:47 PM, by Tim Supples

Overview

Most people are familiar with at least some of the multitude of products that Kensington offers for computer users everywhere. Their product lineup consists of mice & keyboards, computer security, laptop cases, laptop accessories, and a number of general accessories for both Mac and PC's. Today we will be taking a look at the Contour Slim 15' Notebook Carrying Case from Kensington. This is a stylish over-the-shoulder laptop bag that claims to offer uncompromised laptop protection in a slim, and more importantly, ergonomic form factor. In fact, the Contour 15' is 'exclusively endorsed' by the American Chiropractic Association for its stress/fatigue reduction of 35%; we are assuming this reduction is in comparison to a regular laptop bag. For those who don't want to bother with the over-the-shoulder strap, Kensington also offers an extremely well designed hand grip. The molded-plastic hand grips are extraordinarily comfortable, with a feel to them that screams durability.

Without a doubt, the Contour is one of the best over-the-shoulder bags I have ever used. It fills the role it is marketed for perfectly: a relatively slim, comfortable, and high quality notebook bag. It offers excellent protection for your laptop without a huge bulky case, and still manages to provide a plethora of pockets! (You know you dig my alliteration) This case can fit the needs of a multitude of users: students on the go, a business professional out & about, even someone looking for an airplane carry-on! The few instances that the Contour will not do well for include laptops with larger screens or those in need of something to hold larger materials in addition to the laptop.

If the quality and features of this case weren't enough, the Contour Slim has an MSRP of $79.99 with a street price of $49.99! If you browse your local retail store you will be sure to find a plethora of similar notebook cases from other well known companies, but I have yet to see one of this quality for a mere $50. What makes it even better is that several online retailers sell the Contour Slim for below $50, making it an incredible value.

Design

Portability
As the name implies, the Contour Slim is a fully-featured notebook case with a small footprint. The exterior of the case measures 16 long, 12� tall, and 5� wide, making this case smaller than some DTR notebooks!

The shoulder strap and hand grips make carrying this sleek case a breeze. For those who don�t want to bother with the shoulder strap, it is easily removable. The Contour Slim will stylishly go anywhere you need it to.

Exterior
The dark-grey and black Ballistic Nylon that makes up the Contour Slim is very striking. This notebook case can easily look stylish for the younger crowd, and in the same step nicely complement a business professional. Made out of 1680 Denier Ballistic Nylon, this case is made to withstand the abrasions, punctures, and tears that usually accompany hauling a piece of luggage around all day. Even the zippers and shoulder strap hooks�are thick and durable, showing the promise of never even thinking about breaking.

Continuing with this excellent design, the shoulder strap on the Contour Slim is incredibly strong yet comfortable. The material that the strap itself is made from reminds me of an automobile seat-belt. Without a doubt the best part of the shoulder strap is the shoulder pad. It is made of a spongy, �grippy� material that reminds me of a one of those gel shoe inserts. The top side of it is neoprene and the underside is like the �sticky� underside of a mouse pad. This strap should be able to withstand any amount of traveling or abuse that you can throw at it! A lot of shoulder straps tend to fray around the edges as you slide it on and off your shoulder and use it in general, but with three months and counting on the Kensington Contour Slim there is no sign of wear and tear.

For those who don�t want to use the shoulder strap, there�s always the trusty old handles to tote a laptop case with. Most companies simply provide a regular cloth handle stitched to the top of the case, sometimes including a Velcro strap to lock the two handles together. For your higher end cases, you will sometimes see a steel wire wrapped in a soft plastic or cloth to provide better durability. Kensington chose to use to well molded plastic handles which are securely fastened to the bag. The nice thing about these handles is that they are molded such that the outer handle sits in a groove on the inner handle, making the Contour Slim effortless and comfortable to carry.

The �Contour� moniker here comes from the ergonomic design of this case. Unlike most notebook carrying cases, the Contour Slim has a slight curve to it on the back side where it normally rests on your hip or backside. I wouldn�t say that this design is imperative for laptop users everywhere, but it certainly does improve comfort. For someone who has to haul their laptop around in a case like this all day, the contoured shape will be a relief.

The contoured shape is a bit of a mixed blessing however. While the bottom of the Contour Slim does have four rubber feet on it, this case does not stand up well on its own. Most laptop cases have a rigid bottom to make sure the case doesn�t tip over when you set it on the floor. Unfortunately with the Contour Slim you will have to lean it up against something to have it stand up.

Design Continued

Exterior Pockets
The majority of the Contour Slim�s versatile storage is in the outside pockets. There are two main pocket compartments, one larger than the other. When I first pulled out this case, the pocket setup was kind of perplexing. You will find a zipper that goes between the two pocket compartments, but neither pocket flap fully opens. Instead each pocket flap is secured to the inside of the compartment, forming a kind of pouch for each pocket. The only potential use of this that I can see is that if you have miscellaneous stuff just riding loose in the pocket, it won�t automatically tumble out when you unzip the exterior pockets.

On the left is the smaller of the two pockets, which has two smaller pouches inside of it. The pouch towards the bottom is the perfect size for a wrapped up power cord and should keep it in place during travel. The upper pouch is only big enough to stick two fingers all the way into and is made of a mesh netting with an elastic band. The elastic band closes on whatever you put in the pouch in order to keep smaller objects stored securely. This smaller pouch would be good for holding smaller items like memory cards, flash drives, phone headsets, or anything else small that tickles your fancy.

The much larger right pocket has numerous small pouches and zipper pockets in it, practically a treasure trove of storage. This includes little slots for pens & pencils, several small mesh pouches, and a couple small zipper pouches. My own personal favorite storage in the larger pocket is a zipper pouch that is housed on the outer flap. This zipper pouch is rather deep, making it perfect for carrying a notebook mouse or graphing calculator for us students. As previously mentioned, the pocket itself is attached to the case, making a nice-sized pouch.

Towards the top of the notebook case, slightly hidden by a flap, there is a small pouch for documents and other important items. This pouch is only big enough for a few items like a passport, airline tickets, or other important documentation. There isn�t a lot of room in this pocket for thick items like a wallet, but a small cell phone might fit rather nicely. Just make sure you don�t forget your important items in the pouch, as it doesn�t jump out at you that the pocket is there.

Interior Pouch
The main storage area for the Contour Slim consists of a nicely padded laptop pouch and an extra area for general storage. The laptop pouch is well padded and stretchy to accommodate a wide range of notebooks, clearly illustrating the quality Kensington puts into their products. Check out the Performance section for information on what laptops we put in this case. The Velcro strap that closes over the notebook while in the pouch is very well implemented. In a simple yet effective design, Kensington used a very stretchy piece of material to close over the notebook and a large patch of strong Velcro to anchor it in place. Once again, the Contour Slim proves Kensington knows how to make a quality notebook case at an affordable price.

The extra storage space in the main pocket is sufficient for a few papers, a magazine, or any other thin items you may want to carry along with you. On a daily basis I toted a 1� thick 3-ring binder and the Contour Slim carried it willingly. The 1� binder was about the largest item you might want to carry though, as even with a 1� thick item the Contour Slim looked bloated and was more bulky. In the Contour Slim�s brochures, Kensington mentions that there is extra room at each end of the main storage area for items like a small umbrella or plastic drink bottle.

Features

Shoulder Strap
Unlike most shoulder pads on carrying cases or other luggage, this one is actually stationary and does not slide around the strap. The two ends of the shoulder strap are sown into the shoulder pad. The pad itself is a very spongy, cushioning material, which also does not slide easily. When carrying the Contour Slim using the shoulder strap, you will find that the shoulder pad stays exactly where you want it and really reduces the stress on that part of the body. This can be seen as a mixed blessing though. Some people like to place the strap over their shoulder such as to hold the case itself in a particular position, then sliding the shoulder pad around where it can provide the most support. The Contour Slim doesn�t allow you to do this, but it works well for those who want the shoulder pad to stay in one place. Make sure you consider this before making a purchasing decision.

Ergonomics
Kensington really went the extra mile to make the Contour Slim more comfortable than the average notebook case. The curved design, high quality shoulder strap & pad, and comfortable carrying handles all add up to a highly ergonomic notebook case. There�s not much else here to be said that hasn�t been discussed feature-wise, just that the ergonomic design in the Contour Slim is top-notch.

(See, even our model is very happy with how comfortable this case is)

Versatile Storage
For its size, the Contour Slim offers a variety of storage options. The numerous pockets, zippers, and pouches should serve the average computer user well. Given this case is designed for portability with a minimalist design, you won�t be able to tote your entire computer desk with you. Users who like to carry extra USB hubs, external floppy drives, and electronic kitchen sinks should look for a larger computer case than the Contour Slim.

Performance

Over several months of testing the Contour Slim, a number of different laptops were used in it. To get the full range of sizes that fit in the Contour Slim, we used a 15� IBM Thinkpad T42, 14.1� T43, and the 14� widescreen HP dv1000. Kensington says that the pouch fits most 15� laptops, and 15� is definitely the limit. The 15� T42 fits very snugly, requiring a slight amount of effort to get it in and out of the laptop pouch. The 14� T43 however fits very easily, with just enough room to slide in effortlessly and not enough excess room that it will bounce around. Since the dv1000 has a 14� widescreen, it is almost as wide as a regular 15� notebook. Accordingly, it also fit perfectly width-wise with some excess room depth-wise, still fitting snugly. Just for fun, I did manage to squeeze the hefty 15.4� Fujitsu N3510 into the Contour Slim. Obviously not designed for such large notebooks, as the N3510 is a very thick DTR, the Fujitsu still crammed in there somehow. Kensington also offers the Contour notebook case, which is the big brother of the Contour Slim, and is designed to fit larger notebooks like the N3510.

Kensington claims the Contour Slim reduces stress and fatigue from carrying a laptop case by 35%. We clearly do not have the proper testing machinery to quantifiably verify the 35% claim, but the Contour Slim is comfortable to tote around in general. Having hauled this on 10-20 minute hikes across a college campus moving at a good speed to make it to class on time, the Contour Slim is surprisingly comfortable for a bag that isn�t really meant to be carried over relatively long distances. Stuffing a 3-ring binder or similar larger item into the main pocket seems to offset the ergonomic performance, as you will start to feel the strain on your shoulder rather quickly (assuming that is how you are carrying it). If you instead stick with the recommended storage of a laptop and a few papers or magazine, the Contour Slim feels a good deal lighter and rests like an angel on your shoulder. This case was not designed to carry lots of items, particularly over longer distances, thus it succeeds very well for its intended purpose.

As I previously mentioned, the main storage pocket will hold a 1� 3-ring binder without much trouble. It does seem to offset the carrying load and make the Contour Slim less comfortable though, so I would recommend not carrying more than some papers and/or a magazine. The outer pockets are a whole different story. With all of the little nooks and cranny�s, there are a lot of places to stick all of the little computer doodad�s one might have. On a regular basis I find myself carrying the Logitech V500 mouse, a memory flash drive, AC adapter, large graphing calculator, several pens, and a bottle of water. All of these items have their own home in one of the numerous pockets on the outside of the Contour Slim. The water bottle actually slides nicely into the open top of the larger pocket, and zips closed without a problem. Fully loaded, it is quite amazing how much stuff you can cram into those pockets. I won�t delve into the list of items I�ve been able to stuff in there and still have it zip up, but you can really store a lot of items due to the excellent minimalist design incorporated into the Contour Slim.

Lastly, the durability and protection offered by the Contour Slim has proven to be top notch. It has been tossed onto a bed, dropped on the floor, carried in the rain, and used to the max, the way a quality notebook case should be. Needless to say, it held up very well. The Ballistic Nylon repels water extremely well, as well as providing excellent protection against drops or punctures. There is no concern about the durability and protection with this notebook case.

Conclusion

Pros:

• Stylish
• High quality, well built design
• Lightweight
• Great laptop protection
• Ergonomic & comfortable

Cons:

• Limited storage of extra items
• Doesn�t stand up on its own

Recommendation
Kensington has always offered quality computer products and the Contour Slim is no exception. It is very high quality, stylish, and durable; everything a quality notebook case should be. Given the smaller size, this case should really only be used by people who need minimal storage with their laptop. For those needing to carry their office or computer desk with them, there are a lot of other cases that offer more storage and you should seek out one of those. The Contour Slim does the job it was designed for exceptionally. Claiming to be one of the most ergonomic notebook cases available, it is without a doubt a very comfortable case to carry around. As previously mentioned, do try to avoid placing too many items in the main storage pouch or exterior pockets.
For the spartan notebook user, the Contour Slim proves to be a cost effective, aesthetically pleasing, and durable carrying case. Accordingly, we have awarded it the LaptopLogic Recommended Award.

Availability/Warranty
The Contour Slim is available in only the one dark grey/black color scheme, but different sizes of this same design are available through the Contour product line. Browse Kensington's Contour cases here. MSRP is $79.99, with street prices set at $49.99 and several online retailers selling it for even less.�The Contour Slim carries Kensington's Limited Lifetime Warranty.

Model: Gaelle

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Technical Specifications

No specifications are available.