Brenthaven’s MacBook case features a magnetic flap design with high density foam for optimal protection.
Product on Review: Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Brenthaven
MSRP (excl. VAT): € 34.96 / US$ 34.95
Along the years, mobile computing has become an integral part of many people’s lives. Whether for school, for work or for play, it is common thing today for a person to carry around their netbook or notebook.
Still, even today, laptops cost a large sum of money. Therefore, it is natural to want to protect your investment from scratches, dirt or terrible falls with some kind of physical protection, such as a notebook case.
Founded 30 years ago, Brenthaven now offers a plethora of cases for mobile devices including notebooks, iPads and iPhones. Their products range from simple device sleeves to large backpacks.
Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II
Today, Vortez will examine Brenthaven’s Elite Sleeve II, a 15.4” laptop case designed for MacBooks in mind. The Elite Sleeve II comes in different colour schemes including Black/Green, Brown/Pink and Gray/Orange. The Black/Green model will be reviewed. There is also a smaller variant of the case that is designed for 13” notebooks under the same series: the Elite Sleeve I.
Brenthaven: Link
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Brenthaven is the trusted leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance cases for your mobile technology. All Brenthaven cases come with a 100% lifetime guarantee and feature superior protection systems that keep you connected to your digital lifestyle. For over 30 years, we’ve been making bags and cases that are crafted to last a lifetime.
When Brenthaven began making wilderness packs over 30 years ago, our products were aimed at explorers and adventurers – people who needed to survive extreme conditions in the outdoors.
Today, Brenthaven designs the most protective cases for your mobile technology, and then crafts the product so it will survive the rigors of your active digital lifestyle. Our range of award-winning laptop bags and other mobile technology cases are designed with the same exquisite craftsmanship and integrity that has made Brenthaven a trusted name since 1980.
When Brenthaven began making wilderness packs over 30 years ago, our products were aimed at explorers and adventurers – people who needed to survive extreme conditions in the outdoors.
Today, Brenthaven designs the most protective cases for your mobile technology, and then crafts the product so it will survive the rigors of your active digital lifestyle. Our range of award-winning laptop bags and other mobile technology cases are designed with the same exquisite craftsmanship and integrity that has made Brenthaven a trusted name since 1980.
Features and Specifications
The Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II is a notebook sleeve that features the company’s High Density Foam Protection System. It should provide a decent amount of padded protection for the notebook:
HDF™
The High Density Foam Protection system offers a lightweight cradle system that wraps the notebook in up to 1″ of foam, while suspending it above the bottom of the case.
The High Density Foam Protection system offers a lightweight cradle system that wraps the notebook in up to 1″ of foam, while suspending it above the bottom of the case.
In addition to this, the Elite Sleeve II also features a water-resistant exterior fabric made of 500D Cordura. According to Wikipedia, Cordura is a brand name for fabrics made to be durable and resistant against various insults.
Asides from its durable design, the Elite Sleeve II uses a magnetic flap to quickly secure the notebook. Although the product website mentions a “tuck-away closure” as an alternative way of closing the notebook case, the Elite Sleeve II does not seem to have one. This tuck-away closure can however be seen on the product’s specification sheet:
Specification Sheet: Link
Although the sleeve is specified to support 15.4” notebooks, the Elite Sleeve II was specifically designed for MacBook Pros (14.35” W x 9.82” H x 0.95” D) in mind. The sleeve should be compatible with notebooks as along as their dimensions are below 14.75″ W x 9.75″ H x 1″ D.
The Elite Sleeve series has two models: the Elite Sleeve I designed for 13” notebooks and the Elite Sleeve II designed for 15.4” notebooks. Both models come in different schemes including Black/Green, Brown/Pink and Gray/Orange.
Finally, like all Brenthaven products, the Elite Sleeve II comes with a 100% lifetime limited guarantee.
Features: Link
• Fits 15.4” notebooks
• High Density Foam Protection System
• External shell is made of durable water-resistant material
• Quilted Cotton twill liner
• Magnetic Flap or tuck-away closure
• High Density Foam Protection System
• External shell is made of durable water-resistant material
• Quilted Cotton twill liner
• Magnetic Flap or tuck-away closure
Specifications: Link
Specification Sheet: Link
• Name: Elite Sleeve II BLK
• Model #: 2197
• Weight: 0.65 lb.
• External Dimensions: 15.25″ W x 10.5″ H x 1.5″ D
• Internal Dimensions: 14.75″ W x 9.75″ H x 1″ D
• Model #: 2197
• Weight: 0.65 lb.
• External Dimensions: 15.25″ W x 10.5″ H x 1.5″ D
• Internal Dimensions: 14.75″ W x 9.75″ H x 1″ D
Packaging and Overall Look
The Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II comes inside a large plastic bag. The plastic bag itself is made of low density polyurethane (#4 plastic) and it should be recyclable in most recycling facilities.
The Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II in its plastic bag
Asides from the plastic bag as packaging, the notebook sleeve has a large paper shell that slides across it. At the front, the paper describes the main features of the Elite Sleeve II which are “100% Lifetime Guarantee”, “Protection Leader” and “Zero Impact™ on Our Environment”. As we will see later, Brenthaven do their best to minimize the impact of their products on the environment.
The front of the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II
At the back of the paper, we see additional features of the product, such as “External shell is made of durable, water-resistant material” and “Magnetic flap or tuck-away closure”. There is also a large picture that describes the features on the notebook sleeve.
Although it is mentioned that the laptop sleeve supports 15” notebooks, it is important to realise that up-to 15.4” notebooks are supported. 15.6” notebooks will not fit inside the sleeve. The packaging should have mentioned this by having a section dedicated to specifications of the sleeve. In particular, the internal dimensions should be shown to allow users to know exactly if their notebook is supported.
The back of the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II
To reinforce the notebook sleeve for presentation and shipping, Brenthaven includes a large cardboard piece inside the Elite Sleeve II. As it was mentioned earlier, Brenthaven takes pride in their “Zero Impact™” initiative which has ultimate goal to make the company carbon-neutral. To minimize waste, the cardboard piece has six perforated circles. Once punched out, these can be used as cup holders. This is an interesting idea by Brenthaven. However, I feel that Brenthaven could have gotten away by not including the cardboard piece altogether because the Elite Sleeve II on its own is already quite stiff. I feel that the cardboard piece with the cup holders is more for advertisement than anything.
Cup holders are included in the cardboard piece
In terms of package contents, only a small pamphlet is included. The pamphlet has information regarding the company’s goals and initiatives. The pamphlet also mentions that customers willing to give their feedback on the product will receive 15% off their next purchase from Brenthaven’s online store.
The included pamphlet with various information
Closer Look
The Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II that will be reviewed today is the Black/Green variant of the series. Note that other color schemes are available including Brown/Pink and Gray/Orange. The Elite Sleeve II is a 15.4” notebook sleeve with a magnetic flap as method to secure the notebook.
Its external shell has a mesh-like texture and it is fairly rough to the touch. It is made of 500D Cordura and this will give the notebook sleeve excellent durability and resistance against water. Asides from an overall black exterior, the sleeve has bright green sewing thread that runs parallel to the end of the notebook flap.
The front of the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II
The back of the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II
The flap of the Elite Sleeve has a diagonal end. At one of its corners, there is leather with the company’s logo embossed into it. This corner helps opening and closing the flap.
The corner of the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II
With the flap opened, we can see that the underside of the flap is coloured bright green.
Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II’s flap opened
The Elite Sleeve II uses a magnetic flap to secure the case. There are two magnets and they do an excellent job to keep the flap closed. In other words, you have to put a decent amount of force to open the flap. Accidently opening the flap is unlikely.
Although many people will cringe to the idea of having magnets near magnetic-sensitive objects such as notebooks, these magnets are too weak to cause any noticeable damage. However, they will most likely be able to damage magnetic stripe cards, such as credit cards.
The magnets are fairly strong
Closer Look (Continued)
The flap of the Elite Sleeve II is fairly thick and, as such, it is not very flush with the rest of the case. If you are planning to put the Elite Sleeve into a backpack, inserting textbooks or paper inside the same backpack might interfere with the flap.
Seeing as the Elite Sleeve II was meant to be placed inside another bag or not to be carried alone, there are no carrying straps or handles.
In terms of dimensions, recall that the external dimensions are 15.25″ W x 10.5″ H x 1.5″ D and the internal dimensions are 14.75″ W x 9.75″ H x 1″ D. As far as notebook sleeves go, its thickness is modest. It is worth noting that the Elite Sleeve II works best with notebooks that are less than 1” of thickness.
The modest thickness of the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II
The inside of the notebook sleeve has a bright green color. It is fairly smooth and it should help sliding in and out the notebook without damaging it. Subjectively, the padding of the Elite II is thick and strong. Brenthaven mentions that the Elite Sleeve features a High Density Foam Protection System. This should provide decent padded protection for the notebook:
HDF™
The High Density Foam Protection system offers a lightweight cradle system that wraps the notebook in up to 1″ of foam, while suspending it above the bottom of the case.
The High Density Foam Protection system offers a lightweight cradle system that wraps the notebook in up to 1″ of foam, while suspending it above the bottom of the case.
The inside of the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II. Overall, the quality of the material and the workmanship are superb.
As far as workmanship goes, the Elite Sleeve II is excellent. In terms of material, the Elite Sleeve II is made of 100% nylon. The sewing job is top-notch with no unmade sewing stitches anywhere. The Elite Sleeve II feels very sturdy and high quality.
Fitting the Laptop inside the Case
The Elite Sleeve II supports laptops of up-to 15.4”. The internal dimensions of the notebook sleeve are 14.75″ W x 9.75″ H x 1″ D. Ideally, the Elite Sleeve II should be used with a Macbook Pro 15.4”, as it was designed for this notebook in mind. However, as long as your notebook is smaller than the previously mentioned dimensions, the Elite Sleeve II should support your notebook.
In my situation, I used the Dell Inspiron 1525 with the case. The dimensions of the Dell notebook are 14.05” W x 10.08” H x 1.00” D (front) – 1.48” D (back). Seeing as the Dell notebook is a bit thicker and longer than what the Elite Sleeve II was designed, the fit was tight. The notebook still fitted inside the case, but this was only possible if the notebook was inserted with its back first. Inserting the laptop front-first did not allow closing the flap properly. The notebook protrudes a bit out of the notebook case. Closing the flap is possible, but it was less than ideal because the magnets were not perfectly aligned and, as such, it was less secure.
The Dell Inspiron 1525, back first, inside the Elite Sleeve II
The Dell Inspiron 1525 protrudes a bit out of the notebook case
The Dell Inspiron 1525, front first, does not let the flap close
As it was mentioned earlier, the Dell notebook is bit bigger than what the Elite Sleeve was designed. This puts strain on the flap and we can see that the tip of the flap is pulled upwards because of it. This was also observed when using the HP EliteBook 6930p. Again the 14.1” HP notebook is thicker than was the Elite Sleeve was made for: the dimensions of the HP notebook are 13.03″ W x 9.57″ D x 1.22″ H.
The flap is already, by design, not flushed with the rest of the case, and this strain only makes it worse. Depending on how you use the Elite Sleeve II, the flap can interfere when you place books within the same backpack.
Seeing as the Elite Sleeve II uses a flap for closure, this can interfere with other objects.
Although the Elite Sleeve II has an external water-resistant fabric, the notebook case is vulnerable to water by the top fold of the flap. This is a minor issue because the Elite Sleeve II is meant to be placed inside another bag.
The inherent vulnerability of the flap design: access for water under the fold
Testing Methodology
The Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II was tested with two different notebooks: the Dell Inspiron 1525 and the HP EliteBook 6930p. For me, general everyday usage consisted of commuting for an hour using the public transport system and of studying at the school’s library.
Test Setup: Laptop 1
Dell Inspiron 1525
Test Setup: Laptop 2
HP EliteBook 6930p
Test Results: Protection, Convenience and General Usage
Protection
The Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II is made of 100% nylon. The external shell is made of 500D Cordura. Cordura is a brand-name for fabrics designed for durability and resistance to various insults. In this situation, the Cordura fabric gives the Elite Sleeve excellent water-resistant properties. Even after letting water set on top of the Elite Sleeve II for ten minutes, the water only mildly penetrated the shell. Still, the water did not reach the inside of the notebook sleeve.
Excellent water-resistant properties thanks to the 500D Cordura fabric
In addition to the water-resistant properties, the Elite Sleeve II features Brenthaven’s Elite High Density Foam Protection System:
HDF™
The High Density Foam Protection system offers a lightweight cradle system that wraps the notebook in up to 1″ of foam, while suspending it above the bottom of the case.
The High Density Foam Protection system offers a lightweight cradle system that wraps the notebook in up to 1″ of foam, while suspending it above the bottom of the case.
Although I did not throw or drop the sleeve against a hard surface, I would not be surprised if the Elite Sleeve II could cushion those accidental minor falls and protect the notebook from damage. For a € 34.96 / US$ 34.95 notebook sleeve, the padding is much greater than those found on cheaper notebook sleeves.
Convenience
The biggest selling point of the Elite Sleeve II is perhaps its magnetic flap. These magnets make closing and opening the notebook sleeve quickly. The magnets are fairly strong as well, and they will secure the notebook well. Although many people will be uncomfortable with putting magnets near a notebook, the chances of damaging the computer components are unlikely. The magnets are likely not strong enough to do such a thing. Even after inserting, removing and carrying the Dell Inspiron 1525 for three weeks, there was no apparent damage to the hard drive’s data.
Magnetic flap for quick opening and closure
It is worth noting that the magnetic will most likely damage magnetic stripe cards, such as a typical credit card. This is very undesirable. Although the magnets add a nice amount of convenience, I feel that they offer little advantage over a Velcro strap or a zipper. Unlike the magnets, these two latter systems offer a good amount of convenience and security without the risk of damaging magnetic sensitive components.
Furthermore, in order to properly use the magnet flap, the magnet on the sleeve and the flap must be properly aligned. This narrows the compatibility the list of the Elite Sleeve II because it makes the sleeve incompatible with any notebook that is too thick or long. This problem would not be seen with a large Velcro strap.
General Usage
Although I did not use a notebook that perfectly fitted the Elite Sleeve II, I did notice a few annoyances. The largest annoyance has to do with the flap-over design itself. Seeing as the Elite Sleeve II has no handles or a carrying strap, it was designed to be placed inside another bag, such as a backpack. Because the flap does not cover the sleeve in its entirety, it sometimes folded over itself when I inserted the notebook case into my backpack. Also, unless you are careful, inserting textbooks on the same side as the sleeve’s flap might hook the leather corner of the flap. Furthermore, the flap adds thickness of the sleeve, making the Elite Sleeve take more space in a backpack than a non-flap notebook sleeve.
I feel that a flap design such as the one seen on the Elite Sleeve II should be reserved for messenger bags and not notebook sleeves.
Flap-over design is attractive, but makes overall usage difficult
Asides from this annoyance, the Elite Sleeve II was durable and reliable. The Dell Inspiron 1525 and the HP EliteBook 6930p did not suffer any damage during their usage with the Elite Sleeve II. Even after three weeks of usage, the Elite Sleeve II looked brand-new.
Conclusion
Brenthaven’s current portfolio includes many different notebook sleeves, cases and bags. The Elite Sleeve series has two different models: the Elite Sleeve I and the Elite Sleeve II. Today, we reviewed the Elite Sleeve II, a 15.4” notebook sleeve.
Throughout testing, I was easily impressed by the overall durability of the Elite Sleeve II. The workmanship is superb and the quality of the materials used is top-notch. Also, the water-resistant properties of the Elite Sleeve II are excellent thanks to its external fabric made of 500D Cordura. As for padding, Brenthaven’s “High Density Foam Protection System” offered a good amount of protection for the notebook without adding bulk and weight.
Furthermore, the Elite Sleeve II’s Black/Green color scheme is very attractive. For those that do not like the colors, the Elite Sleeve II is also offered in Brown/Pink and Gray/Orange.
Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II: superb workmanship and overall durability
The magnetic flap of the Elite Sleeve II was fairly handy because it allowed for quick opening and closing of the case. Unfortunately, it was also the product’s main weakness. The flap is secured by two magnets. Because these magnets need to be well aligned to work properly, they narrow down the list of notebooks compatible with the sleeve. If your 15.4” laptop is just a bit too big for the case, then the flap will not properly close. Note that the Elite Sleeve II was designed for 15.4” MacBook Pros, which should fit quite nicely in the notebook sleeve. There is also the risk of damaging magnetic sensitive objects, such as magnetic stripe cards, when using the Elite Sleeve II.
Elsewhere, because the flap, by design, does not sit perfectly flush with the rest of the sleeve, it might get in the way when inserting the Elite Sleeve II into a backpack or when placing books next to it in a bag. Depending on how careful you are when using the sleeve, you can avoid these annoyances. Also, the flap adds thickness to the Elite Sleeve II and this makes the sleeve bulkier than a non-flap notebook sleeve.
In terms of price, the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II is sold at € 34.96 / US$ 34.95 from the company’s website. This puts Brenthaven’s product as one of the more expensive notebook sleeves. However, given the overall quality and durability of the Elite Sleeve II, the extra cost is justifiable. I only wish that a simple zipper was used instead of the magnetic flap because the annoyances of the Elite Sleeve stem from the flap design.
With all of this in mind, Vortez awards the Brenthaven Elite Sleeve II the Vortez Silver Award.
Pros
+ Attractive design and color-scheme
+ Excellent durability and water-resistant properties
+ Fantastic workmanship
+ Lightweight
+ Lifetime Limited Warranty
+ Quality material
+ Zero Impact™
Cons
– Flap design is not ideal for a notebook sleeve
– Missing tuck-away closure feature
– Narrow list of compatible notebooks
– Risks of using magnets near magnetic sensitive objects
+ Attractive design and color-scheme
+ Excellent durability and water-resistant properties
+ Fantastic workmanship
+ Lightweight
+ Lifetime Limited Warranty
+ Quality material
+ Zero Impact™
Cons
– Flap design is not ideal for a notebook sleeve
– Missing tuck-away closure feature
– Narrow list of compatible notebooks
– Risks of using magnets near magnetic sensitive objects
