HOMIEE 13-13.3 Inch PU Leather Felt Laptop Sleeve review

REVIEW – Sometimes you just want to keep it simple, and the HOMIEE 13-13.3 Inch PU Leather Felt Laptop Sleeve delivers on that promise. It’s a solid sleeve for smaller laptops at a very affordable price. Simple. effective. To the review!

What is it?

It’s a laptop sleeve for your 13″ MacBook or a laptop up to 13.3″. The package also includes a bonus storage case for cables, mice, and whatnots.

What’s in the box?

You’ll get the sleeve and the storage case.

Hardware specs

  • PU leather & felt construction
  • Sleeve: 14.6″ by 10.8″ by 0.4″
  • Case: 6.7″ by 5.1″ by 1.25″

Design and features

I have a love/hate relationship with folios and sleeves designed for laptops. They’re great for  bags have no internal padding, and I love the convenience of ditching the bag when I just need to run between meetings. But sleeves can be overdesigned with a bunch of pockets and organizers I don’t need. I’m also not big on spending a lot of money on a specialty leather item that will spend a lot of time in my closet. The HOMIEE 13-13.3 Inch PU Leather Felt Laptop Sleeve solves a lot of those issues for me.

Let’s get the big issue out of the way up front: you won’t find any real leather in this build. Despite that the sleeve has a pretty substantial feel, and looks great in the pleather/felt combination.

Here’s a close up detail shot. You’ll find some nice finishing and detail work for this price point.

Here’s a side view to show you the layering. The felt and PU leather measure about 1/16″ in material thickness. I don’t know how much impact resistance it carries for drops, but it will definitely do the job to protect against dings and scratches.

Two magnets of decent strength secure the closure flap, and are also finished with reinforced stitching so that they won’t tear out.

You’ve even got a soft liner on the inside of the sleeve to protect your laptop against scratches.

This model is perfectly sized for my 13″ MacBook Pro. Internal dimensions measure 14.2″ by 9.6″ by 0.4″, so it will handle a 13.3″ laptop or 12.9″ iPad Pro as well.

A pair of thin 7″ by 6″ pockets are also sewn into the back panel. You’ll be able to fit a small notebook in there, your phone (my my iPhone XS Max fits perfectly in there), or assorted skinny things.

I’ve been keeping my USB-C to HDMI cable in one of those pockets in case I need it for presentations.

The package also comes with a bonus storage bag. It made from the same 1/16″ felt, and is big enough to carry an assortment of extra bits like your power brick, cable, mouse, etc. The closure is a basic elastic band, but it gets the job done.

Overall usability and functionality of the HOMIEE 13-13.3 Inch PU Leather Felt Laptop Sleeve is actually pretty great! There’s design isn’t complicated by wonky features or add-ons that interfere with it’s purpose. You won’t find any extra padding other than the felt, so don’t expect a good deal of protection for high-impact situations. I think you’ll be fine if you toss this in your bag for travel and commuting.

Speaking of commuting, that’s my favorite application for this sleeve. Some of my bags lack internal organization and padding of any kind; this sleeve provides a cheap, functional solution without adding a lot of bulk to my carry. When I get to the office I can still use it to haul my essential and it looks good doing it.

What I like

  • Simple, effective design
  • Budget friendly price
  • Looks good at the office
  • Provides decent protection against bumps, scrapes, and spilled lattes

What I’d change

  • Closure on the accessories pouch could be nicer
  • Budget materials may not appeal to everyone
  • No extra padding other than the felt

Final thoughts

If you’re looking for an inexpensive laptop sleeve for your 13″ MacBook or 13.3″ laptop, you can’t go wrong with the HOMIEE 13-13.3 Inch PU Leather Felt Laptop Sleeve. It looks and functions extremely well for the price point. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Price: $17.99
Where to buy: Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by HOMIEE.

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HOMIEE 13-13.3 Inch PU Leather Felt Laptop Sleeve review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 16, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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Hompow portable projector review

REVIEW – The Hompow portable projector is lightweight and casts a screen size of up to 176 inches (diagonal).

What is it?

An easy-to-use, basic projector.

What’s in the box?

  • Projector
  • Instruction manual
  • Remote
  • Charger
  • HDMI to HDMI cord

Hardware specs

  • Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.8 x 2.8 inches
  • Weight: 3.1 pounds
  • Brightness: 2400 lumens,
  • Contrast: 2000:1
  • Resolution: 1080 pixels
  • Lamp life: 50,000 hours
  • Warranty: 2 years
  • ASIN: B07QMRRHPY
  • Model number: T20

Design and features

By using the buttons on the projector or the remote control, you can:

  • Select which input source you’re using (USB, AV, VGA, SD or HDMI).
  • Pick your “Color Temperature,” with Standard as the default. (Soft looked best for our uses.)
  • Select Noise Reduction options.
  • Choose your projection mode, which depends on the device you’re using and where the projector is positioned.
  • Select the aspect ratio (point to point; 4:3 or 16:9).

Setup

Setup was easy. My fifth-grader could handle it without help. Just plug it into the wall, and plug in your device. And press the power button.

Positioning was a little harder. There’s a riser on the bottom you can unscrew to adjust the front height, though we needed to play with that and added some coasters for our viewing. Then just fiddle with the focusing rings until you get a clear picture.

The lens cap is attached with a string, which is handy.

Performance

We tried this in three different rooms in our home and for watching TV shows and playing Wii games. At only 3 pounds it was very easy to move, and I’d even consider traveling with it.

I also noticed it didn’t get as hot as some of the older and more expensive projectors we’ve had.

The sound quality and volume were decent. Movie buffs and serious gamers would likely ask for better speakers.

The screen size varies a lot, depending on the distance between your screen and the projector, as you can see from the illustration in the manual. (Note that it’s inches to meters.)

The charging cord (47 inches) and HDMI cord (38 inches) included with the projector are very short, which gave us limited options for positioning it, unless we used an extension cord or different HDMI cord.

In our basement, the largest room in the house, we needed to position it in the middle of the room so it would project straight onto the wall (diagonal projection gives you a trapezoid-shaped effect). Plus we needed an extension cord so it would reach the center of the room. This made it quite awkward. We found it worked better in smaller rooms, where we could position it near an outlet and the device it was projecting, and point it straightforward.

It’s listed as having 1080-pixel resolution. When projected on a white wall, we found the picture quality for TV shows disappointing. Perhaps it’s because we watched shows that were literally and figuratively dark (Black Mirror and Stranger Things).

We found it worked much, much better for playing the Wii, especially more cartoonish games where image crispness isn’t so crucial. It worked well in our living room for an impromptu Just Dance party, and I can see it being fun when my kids have friends over. However, the video-game connoisseurs in my house noted the refresh rate was a bit slow for competitive Mario Kart sessions.

I should note that we tested it on our (untextured) white walls and not an actual screen.

What I like

  • Lightweight
  • Easy to set up and use

What I’d change

  • Longer cords
  • Better picture quality

Final thoughts

It’s a fun, portable projector for casual use. Movie lovers and true gamers should consider a higher end model.

Price: $69.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Hompow.

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Hompow portable projector review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 16, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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VAIO gets that more ports are more better!

NEWS – VAIO recently announced a new laptop, the SX12.  What’s unusual about this computer is not the 12.5 inch screen, the 8th generation Intel processors, or its less than 2 pounds weight.  What’s unusual is the number of ports.  It has USB-C (for charging), 3 USB-A, HDMI, SD card, headphone, Ethernet, and VGA ports.  That’s enough to make even a full-sized laptop jealous.  It also includes a multi-touch trackpad, a fingerprint sensor, and an anti-glare coating, along with 14 hours of battery life and option for an LTE module.  The price is expected to be between $1,100 and $2,000, depending upon the options chosen.  It’s great for a computer vendor to realize that even light and thin laptops need a lot of ports; too bad there’s no word if/when it will be sold in the US.

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VAIO gets that more ports are more better! originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 16, 2019 at 8:00 am.

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