• Hello MLAers! We've re-enabled auto-approval for accounts. If you are still waiting on account approval, please check this thread for more information.

Compact Macintosh travel bags

quorten

6502
I am quite intrigued by an instance of a compact Macintosh travel bag that I've found on Ebay.

s-l500.jpgs-l500 (1).jpgs-l500 (2).jpg

Previously, I've once read about there being a whole market of constantly trying to design new and improved DSLR camera carrying, I figure it couldn't be too much harder to design a modern compact Macintosh carrying back.  But, that's all just an idea.

Anyways, the main topic I was interested in discussing is this: I found this one instance and I'm curious to know of what other historic designs folks know of.  How much design variation is there on the general idea?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've come across two main variants of compact Mac carry bags - the above, from both Apple and third party manufacturers where the keyboard slides in vertically and the mouse tucks into the top of the bag.

The second - Apple branded but not sure if third party - is slightly longer with a large front pocket made to fit a full-size keyboard horizontally, such as an AEK.

 
There exists a bag specifically for the LC and a 12" monitor. I actually have one of these--got an LCII in it some time ago.

 
I have one, branded T-ZONE, that has both the mouse and keyboard pouch on one side. The top has a slit pouch for cables and whatnot and also includes two fabric bags that appear to hold either cables or other accessories as they're too small for the keyboard or Mac itself yet too big for the mouse. Otherwise it's basically the same as the one pictured. I found it at a thrift shop a while back and a highly modified SE lives in it now.

 
I've ended up with two apple-branded ones, one each of two different designs (as someone who doesn't drive and picks up compact macs on the train, they're really handy).  One has an internal keyboard pocket and one an external.  Can take pictures if people are interested. 

(I used to have a third-party one in a rather fetching maroon/purple colour, of basically the same design as the one in the top post, but since I only have two hands and I wasn't proposing to start carrying compact macs in my teeth, three seemed like overkill so I passed it on to someone who would find it more useful).

 
(as someone who doesn't drive and picks up compact macs on the train, they're really handy)
Nice, very interesting to hear.  I like to entertain the idea of how much can you do in electronics with a portable outfit that doesn't require a big trunk of your own car, though with that luggage carry you might require more than one seat.

 
To me it makes more sense for the IIc, which also has its own bag but has a keyboard built in and can be attached to any TV.

Still, if I need to go somewhere in a hurry, I can always put the LC in the bag and take it with me!! 

 
I like to entertain the idea of how much can you do in electronics with a portable outfit that doesn't require a big trunk of your own car, though with that luggage carry you might require more than one seat.
This is what luggage racks are for :-) .  It's perhaps not ideal, but it works well enough for me.  The only thing I've ended up having to ask a friend to help me pick up was the Lisa, and that was a bit of a special case.  Otherwise, I have been... disconcertingly successful in doing this on public transport, which is one of the reasons why I now have a rather stricter "what I collect" policy than I used to :-) .

 
This is one of my 2 bags: it has a tear in the upper part near the zip line, because of that I was able to buy it for a very low price. I had waited at least two years before finding a cheap one.

I bought it to ship my CC abroad but I still haven't found the courage to do it  :cheesy: .20201010_124719.jpg

20201010_124707.jpg

20201010_124751.jpg

20201010_124954.jpg

The front pocket has more than enough space for my IIgs keyboard.

The other bag I own is horizontal, so the Mac has to slide in with the screen facing down.

 
The third party one I have for compacts is called “Packin ‘tosh” and it works pretty well. No photos right now unfortunately.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
This sounds crazy! I know the LC is small, but to consider any desktop 'luggable' is a stretch.
Back in my collecting days I had an LC with the 12” display, and it’s surprising how compact it is. I ran it with dual floppy drives, making it essentially silent (this was before SCSI2SD!). It was a cute little setup, and if people dragged their compact Macs around in bags - I suppose this could have worked too, although the LC and display was probably deeper?

 
Back
Top