My reputation for cack-handedness precedes me: I got a call from laptop bag specialists Tech21 yesterday, saying they wanted to show me a range of laptop bags that can protect laptops from drop damage.
After a spot of lunch, we got down to the serious business of trying to break a laptop strapped inside one of its L.I.P.S. (laptop impact protection system) bags. I'll confess to being very impressed -- the bag secures the laptops in such a way that they never touch the sides, which keeps them away from harmful bumps.
I had a whale of a time hurling Dell's finest to the floor, but did the bags actually offer any real protection? Dunno -- Tech21 left before we had a chance to assess any damage, we suspect they were actually using dummy laptops. Not to worry, we're going to conduct our own tests with our own laptops to see just how they perform in the real world.
Chris Stevens (CNET producer extraordinaire) is going to film the whole thing, so watch out for a Crave TV feature in the extremely near future.