‘Book Mystique Review - UNIEA Haptique Hard Shell Case For Unibody MacBook
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
by Charles W. Moore
One of the reasons I’ve never purchased a brand new automobile, even though I’ve owned more than 50 cars and trucks over the past 43 years is that I would find both the apprehension before the fact and the reality after over that first scratch or dent in the perfect finish just too stressful. It’s less of a worry with computers, but not completely.
The new unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros are spectacularly attractive, and if you’re fortunate enough to own one, like the 2.0 GHz MacBook I acquired this month, you may, like me find the thought of it getting bumped or scratched in negotiating the inevitable contact, wear, and abrasions of life in the mobile environment painful, and be receptive to solutions that would prevent such indignities from befalling your latest pride and joy.
One such is the new Haptique Hard Shell Case by UNIEA, a molded plastic snap-on carapace designed to cover and protect your unibody and ensure that its elegantly handsome looks and jewelry-quality finish are preserved pristine for when you want to show it off or just enjoy the pleasure of looking at it yourself.
Currently available for the 13” aluminum unibody MacBook, the Haptique will also be available in a version for the 15” unibody MacBook Pro, projected to be shipping by late March.
The Haptique is pitched as combining the “leather-like” look and feel of a soft case with the protection of a hard case while not obstructing ventilation or access to the computer’s I/O ports, being designed to allow the computer to be opened and closed and operated without restriction while remaining in situ in the Haptique.
There is even a tiny aperture for the MacBook’s correspondingly tiny blinking sleep light to shine through, which is visible in this shot.
The Haptique is molded from ABS plastic which provides a hard, rugged shell to protect the computer, and then coated with a soft-textured coating. This coating provides a good gripping surface, but calling it “leather-like” is more than a stretch, Especially in the brighter-colored models, the material looks and feels pretty much like what it is - a good-quality grain-textured plastic, which should be reasonably impervious to the bumps and abrasions of life on the road, and a really super job of repelling liquid splashes and drips, finger-hand prints, and grime smudges, and is very easy to clean using a damp cloth.
The Haptique is easy to install. It consists of two pieces; one each for encasing the screen lid and main housing of your MacBook. Insert the machine in the bottom section first by resting it on your desk and then pressing the MacBook into it. It should nest in “home” with small plastic tabs securing it in several spots around the periphery. Keeping the MacBook shut, you then apply the top piece , snap the small tabs home and the Haptique is installed. (Note: the little black bits shown in the photo are just spacers that position and protect the Haptique for shipping in its box.)
The inside surfaces of the Haptique case don’t tightly contact the surface of the MacBook, but rather strategically placed soft pads keep most of the computer from touching the plastic.
While it’s difficult to improve on the appearance of the gorgeous Unibody MacBook ( and IMHO neither the Haptique or any other hard shell case does ), having the machine enshrouded in the Haptique for handling and transport does give you a reassuring feeling that it is insulated and protected from wear, tear, and trauma, and the case’s surface texture also provides a more positive “higher-traction” grip on the MacBook, especially when carrying one-handed. Peace of mind is hard to put a price on.
The Haptique is available in a selection of six colors - White, Black, Pink, Blue, Green, and Orange. Our test unit came in Key Lime Green, which was incidentally my favorite color for the original clamshell iBook, and somewhat seasonally appropriate with St. Paddy’s Day coming up (I have Irish roots), but were I choosing I would probably go with white or black, both of which harmonize nicely with the unibody MacBook’s elegant livery.
The Haptique Hard Shell MacBook Case sells for $49.95
For more information about Uniea visit:
http://www.uniea.com
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