What a laptop sleeve can—and cannot—do

A new computer is a fun, fancy toy, but also comes with a huge responsibility to keep it protected from damage. The moment my boss at Reviewed handed me a shiny Macbook Pro to unpack from its box, I realized I needed a safe way to transport it. As I work remotely most of the time, that meant this trusty machine—my lifeline for doing my job as a managing editor for the website—would be schlepped on public transportation, aboard Amtrak, and in a gym bag... and all of that in just its first week. What’s more, my coworkers shared warnings of laptop care gone awry: a water bottle mishap that befell Reviewed’s general manager and a cautionary Tweet about an exploding Parmesan cheese container while laptops were inside bags. Our audience development manager Rachel Moskowitz shared an especially harrowing story. "I had my naked laptop in my backpack at college and a chocolate bar melted into all of the crevices and ports because it was a hot day," she recounted. "Let's just say it did not end well for my laptop."

My MacBook needed more protection, stat. The answer? A good laptop sleeve.

What a laptop sleeve can—and cannot—do

In their simplest form, these zippered pouches, when made of waterproof material such as nylon or neoprene, provide a barrier against potential calamities such as liquid spills or dusty environments. They’ll also keep a laptop’s exterior protected from scratches and minor bumps and fumbles, said the helpful Information Technology manager I talked to from USA Today Network (Reviewed’s parent company).

Still, she warned, a laptop sleeve will not function as a suit of armor. “They’re not intended to be one-stop protection for the machines,” she says. “Most are not rated to offer any protection from a fall. And if you stack stuff on top, with a certain level of pressure, you may damage the laptop inside.”