Speck MacBook Cases Save You a Trip to the Genius Bar

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Parent Category: Gadgets

Category: Accessories

Published on Monday, 13 August 2012 15:19

Written by Brad Balfour

Spawning a raft of competitors, patent rivals and legal action, Apple Computers has done a remarkable job for itself in the history of technology and humanity at large.

It has also prompted the design and development of better computer casings than ever before.

Not only do we have to worry about what we transport the damn things in -- especially now that tablets, smart phones and laptops are nearly ubiquitous -- we have to fret about the bangs, scrapes, occasional floor crashes and things bouncing off touch pads or the keyboards.

So while everyone else is agog over their iPad, iPhone, or even the MacBooks Air or Pro (or the Android equivalent), I wish for the better multi-terabyte hard drive and, ultimately, solid state systems -- without moveable parts. 

As the technology keeps humming along, there are mega-storage devices for big business enterprises that can contain all our past, present and, possibly, future. Solid State/Mag drive hybrids that manage more data in a second than all the computers in the world did 20 years ago.

But for us lowly consumers we still have to carry our lives around in a metal-encased machine which houses the magic mechanisms that pull from the ether our knowledge and lifeblood.

So now we are aghast at the cracked screen proliferation seen more and more frequently as we drag these devices everywhere, risking life and limb in subways, cars, at street corners texting, talking and etching away...

It’s almost a special club now -- “I have a phone even more fucked up than yours and it still works.” 

Well that’s one of the great success of the touchscreen phone -- I see so many iPhones and some of the Androids -- like my G-Phone 2 which still runs fine even in its glorious cracked-screen state.

Though they do work -- and maybe a cracked screen is not just a reverse status symbol, but a way to ward off theft as well -- it’s still better to protect them. There are some good cases, skins, containers, bags or whatever that can offer defense against all our abuse.

And that’s why the protection of these ever-shrinking slabs and tabs has become even more critical than ever.

As a writer, my adventures take me to various tech showcases where I see demos of new tools and accessories. Sometimes, though not always, I am graced with a freebie or two that does more than take up apartment space waiting for me to test its strengths and weaknesses.

At one of those events, I will forever appreciate getting one of Speck’s line of durable plastic skins for my 13”MacBook Pro. Though I am not sure whether it was a CEA line show or a Pepcom or maybe both, they provided a valuable opportunity to encase both my Mac and Android.

That hardened translucent plastic accouterment has protected this darn device from moments of near-death and destruction. Thanks to carrying it into every air conditioned Starbucks, subway train and irate girlfriends’ apartments, my console of memory has endured abuse but not the need to see the Genius Bar.

This royal blue Speck case embracing my MacBook Pro has really kept my Mac from many a calamity. It seems to provide an air cushion between the aluminum Mac frame and it’s own surface insuring a buffer against my battering.

The only downside: when the Mac-perts had to do a look/see inside my baby’s innards to replace a logic board it was tough to pull my protector away. When I went to remove the skin, one of the little plastic latches that held it in place cracked away. But nonetheless it has held up and held on sans latch. It still offers a buffer against damage.

Apparently Speck entered the fray as an early entry into this accessories market. Since then competitors have slid into place -- InCase now being a dominating player with a wider range of variants-- all to be found on J&R’s website. 

Though Speck still offers the best value -- their prices seem to be about $4.00 cheaper than InCase’s similar styled products -- these competitors offer some a wider range of options from a metalized version to a hard rubberized one.

As for protecting my wounded G-2, it’s been harder to get the right service provider for that. I looked at Lifeproof and Armored shells -- all look good and multi-environmentally sound. But looks like until I adopt a Samsung Galaxy 3S --which I am hoping will appear in my mail box any day now-- I will have to want for the better wrap.

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