Macopinion

The Road Warrior Review - UNIEA Haptique Hard Shell Case For Unibody MacBook

One of the heartbreakers about buying anything new and nice is that dreaded first scratch or dent marring a hitherto pristine factory finish. It's one reason I've never been persuaded to buy a new car. Computers, however, have the advantage of being able to be transported and even used inside protective cases - not an option with an automobile.

The unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros (now all Pros with the latest WWDC revisions) are drop-dead gorgeous. I love the look and feel of the the 2.0 GHz unibody MacBook I bought last winter, and the thought of it getting bumped or scratched in negotiating the inevitable contact, wear, and abrasions of life in the mobile environment is painful, so some sort of cladding is in order.

Such as the Haptique Hard Shell Case by Universal Electronic Accessories (“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 unmarred for when you want to show it off or just enjoy the pleasure of looking at it yourself.

The Haptique case is currently available for the 13" unibody MacBook (and presumably the 13" MacBook Pro, although a check with my Uniea contact was unable to confirm that for sure at this point, and pitched as combining the "leather-like" look and feel of a soft case with the protection of a hard case, and is designed to allow the computer to be opened, closed and operated without restriction while remaining in situ in the Haptique.

The various I/O ports, headphone jack and optical drive slot. (and hopefully the new SD Card slot on the Pro model) are all accessible with the case mounted, and cooling vents are unobstructed, although, keeping it real, the extra insulating layer of the case shell will inevitably make the machine run a bit hotter.. There's also a button to access the MacBook’s side-mounted battery indicator.

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 measures 230W x 30H x 330D mm and 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 a bit over the top. Especially in the brighter-colored models, the material looks and feels pretty much like what it is - a good-quality grainy-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 greasy smudges, and it is very easy to clean using a damp cloth.

The Haptique is easy to install. The case consists of two pieces; one respectively for encasing the screen lid and the main housing of your MacBook. Insert the machine in the bottom section first by resting it on a desk or table and then pressing the MacBook into it. It should nest in "home" with small plastic tabs securing it in several spots around the periphery snapping into place. 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.) I also found the Haptique Case easy to remove.

The inside surfaces of the Haptique case don't tightly contact the surface of the MacBook, but instead strategically placed soft pads keep most of the computer skin surface from touching the plastic. The Haptique adds a significant amount of weight to the package, tipping the scales at 13.7 oz (390 grams), but if you need the protection, it's worth it.

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's being insulated and shielded 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 semi-translucent (the Apple logo on the lid shows through hazily) colors - White and Black or rather bright shades of Pink, Blue, Green, and Orange. Our test unit came in Key Lime Green, which was incidentally my favorite color for the original clamshell iBook,, but were I choosing one of these cases I would probably go with a more subdued 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 products, which also include a line of very cool laptop and small digital device totes available in silk, visit:
http://www.uniea.com

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Charles W. Moore

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