Not buying the friendly part

Phil Baker doesn’t think the “checkpoint friendly” laptop bag concept is as affable as advertised:

Unfortunately, this has not turned out to be as friendly as intended. There’s already confusion as some of the bags referred to as checkpoint friendly are simply slim sleeves or thin cases designed to hold just the notebook — nothing more — and are carried inside your regular bag. And while it’s true you don’t need to remove your notebook, you need to remove this sleeve with the notebook in it! I haven’t quite figured how this saves time. But I suppose it adds a little protection to the computer, keeping it apart from your liquids and shoes on the conveyer belt. 

There’s a second class of cases that does allow a notebook to remain in the case. They’re designed so that a portion of the bag unzips and folds off to the side, so the computer can be viewed without anything obstructing it. 

This meets the TSA requirement to allow an unblocked view of the computer; with no adapters, cords, or even a metal buckle alongside the notebook. These stay in a separate part of the bag. But you do need to unzip the bag to pass through X-ray and, whether you need to remove the notebook or not is subject to the whim of the TSA screeners, which we know varies widely. - entire post here

On the friendly front - Skooba has a CF laptop bag now as well.

Comments

[High Roller]

Strangely I've found it harder to travel with my laptop since the concept of a checkpoint friendly bag emerged.

I haven't changed bags-- using the same old bag I have had for 5 years. I've never tried to keep the laptop in it-- I have a routine, and just pull the whole laptop out and send it through 2007 style.

Despite this, some TSA folks just can't help themselves... Some get quite angry and insist that my bag is compliant, and I've even had one guy put my laptop back in the bag and send it through. Remarking "any time you come through this airport again you can do it this way"... Great...

Somehow this doesn't seem to meet my definition of an improvement...