Review : The Thule Vectros 13” Macbook Bumper.
Jan 27If I have to choose my favourite Thule product I would have to say its the black ski-boxes people strap to the top of their car. Not because I like to ski, but because those things look like a Photon Torpedo from Star Trek. And lets face it : Who doesn’t want to drive around armed with a photon torpedo. But that is not what we are going to talk about today. Instead we take a look at the Thule Vectros ‘Bumper’ case for the 13 inch Retina Macbook Pro.
“Like a G-string for your laptop”
We love ourselves some Thule ! The Thule Messenger bag we reviewed kept our laptops high and dry during the most ravenous of Thunderstorms. So when we got this “bumper case” like contraption to test we asked ourselves : Why does this look like a thong ?
In fairness, it doesn’t. The Vectros is made up out of 2 rubberised “squares” that snap to the top and the bottom of your laptop to protect it from harm should it encounter solid objects at a relative speed. Optionally you can also use the transparent plastic slate to fill up the space in the middle of the bumper case so even the center top and bottom half our your macbook are protected from scratches.
How does it work ?
Basically you take the lower ‘square’ of the velcro and put it down on the table. You can place the transparent piece of plastic in the middle if you want to ‘fill up’ the gap. Then you ‘snap in’ your Macbook. You take the top half , repeat the process and snap the Vectros around your screen. Done.
How does it feel
Once mounted the whole thing feels surprisingly solid. It adds some thickness to your Macbook but not in a bad way. You mac looks “ruggedised” and ,thanks to the rubber pads, is mounted much more firmly on the table. Ports are still easily accessible and (unlike the plastic hardcovers) the device has more chance to ‘breathe’. (Your Macbook cools down in part via its unibody casing, where the hard plastic covers trap the heat inside, the thin plastic slate covering the center of your Mac keeps it a lot cooler).
What do we think
We didn’t do the drop test but are pretty sure the ‘bumper’ can save you when you drop your Mac (Just don’t drop it out of a plane). While the bumper snaps on nicely, the locking latch on the lid might be prone to some wear and tear. Placing the plastic cover in the center takes a little patience but once its in place .. it stays there. The Vectros is a pretty good solution to keep your gear safe and making your Mac look like it’s owned by Chuck Norris .. in a good way. At a fairly hefty 79 euro’s (69,99 Pounds in the UK) its not cheap but .. fixing a dented laptop ain’t cheap either.
Links.
We would like to thank Thule for sending us this review item on which we stated this review.
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Privacy Week : Surf anonymously on your phone with Hotspot Shield.
Feb 05Who do you trust ! That is of course the main question in most of the topics of this weeks “Privacy Week” on our blog. When you connect to the internet on your tablet or mobile phone, you have a choice between different networks and carriers. You can go directly via your mobile phone’s dataplan (if you have one) or connect via Wifi. In both cases “somebody” is going to connect you to your internet. For your cell connection that will be your Telco, for your Wifi connection that will be your ISP or the kind person/company who set up the wifi hotspot you are using. The question is : Do you trust them ? As we told you in our first post : Sniffing unencrypted traffic is very very easy on a network. So when it comes to those open networks in a coffee shop, you never know who is watching. So why not “tunnel” your mobile traffic too.
Hotspot Shield VPN is my FREE application of choice. It allows you to tunnel all your traffic through their VPN tunnel and lets it emerge somewhere in the US. So anyone who wants to sniff you (either your telco, your local ISP or the dingy kid in the corner with his laptop running Wireshark) won’t be able to make out what you are doing. But because you “exit” to the internet on AnchorFree’s network (they make the app) , THEY will.
Hotspot shield VPN is free and easy to use. Its not always fast and it comes with adds. Opinions about this service might be mixed, but I regularly use it when I take my IOS or Android mobile device onto an open wifi network that I do not trust. Hotspot Shield also comes with a paid plan with “Monthly and Annual subscriptions available for faster connection, better cost savings and enhanced security. All subscriptions provide unlimited VPN bandwidth and NO ADS” So you can even pay if you want to. Keep stuff safe in a simple way, but remember that every connection (no matter if its through your ISP, the hotspot or these guys) requires ‘trust’ in whoever is carrying your data.
Get Hotspotshield VPN for : ANDROID and IOS.
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The dawn of Mario and the history of Nintendo.
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Links : Nvidea Shield.
