Christmas presents 9: Tweed iPad case

The thing about leather iPad and iPhone cases is that they all tend to end up looking the same. Go to a meeting and put your iPad down and you'd be hard pressed not to pick the wrong one up at the end.

So it's useful that iChicGear has issued iPad and iPhone covers in a very distinctive Harris Tweed design (pictured). They're reasonably priced, the one in the picture is €49 plus delivery. There's a little leather catch at the back so you can tilt your iPad on a flat surface for easier typing. Mine's brown herringbone tweed with orange micro-lining.They have magnetic closure so they'll switch the thing off, and although they don't feel like it they have hard shells built in for protection.

Actually I wouldn't have minded paying a little more if they'd put a bit more into them. I do like to have a couple of card pouches in an iPad holder, and preferably somewhere to put a pen. This is a lot more basic than that - but then I'd be back to my case looking like everyone else's.

These are a nice alternative to the norm, they're genuine tweed and aimed at the luxury market. They're distinctive - you can make your own mind up about whether you want any extras.

iPhone wallets: Cases in point

I've been looking at iPhone cases. Not for the shiny new iPhone 5, you understand; many companies are still looking into just what they do to be compatible with those (if you think the case people have a problem then bear in mind the power connector has changed, too). There are still plenty of 4s and 4Ss around.

There's a nice leather one from Knomo available for £50, the iPhone wallet. As you'll gather it's a combination phone and wallet so you need only to carry one of the things around with you, which is a step forward for blokes trying not to rumple their suits with too much in their pockets (you know this is a problem when, as happened to me relatively recently, a tailor takes your jacket and complains it's too heavy...or was that my mother, or wife, or all three...).

As you can see from the picture on the left it's nicely made and tastefully understated. The other end of the spectrum is the Bookbook by Twelve South, which you can buy on Amazon by clicking here (this leads to my Amazon affiliates site, I will get a small amount for every one ordered through this link).

When the review sample arrived (see picture) my initial response was that it was over the top, tacky and definitely not for me. My daughter, on the other hand, thought it was brilliant. "I love cheesy stuff", was her response, and it's certainly not for the understated.

Both are nicely made and would stand up to being pulled out of your pocket a few times. For me there's still a bit of a concern about pulling all of your money out every time your phone goes off, you never know who's watching; I hope I'm being overly cynical about that but in spite of the convenience I'll probably stick with a separate phone and wallet case for the moment.

What do other people use?

Laptop bag: Knomo know more?

It's raining so it must be summer and that means Knomo, the very plush bag people, are promoting their new laptop bag range. I've had a look at the Kilkenny (pictured), designed for an 11in Macbook Air.

First impressions are very positive. It's stylish, lightweight (unlike some of the laptop bags I've tried in the past) and there are compartments for cables, pens, an external pocket for a paperback. It's comfortable to carry and the leather is soft, giving it a bit of a luxury feel (which I'd pretty much take as read since it costs £145, two of those and you could get a cheap laptop, never mind the bag).

It's slightly flawed in two areas. First, as I've said before about Knomo, security is an issue. The bag closes with magnetic fastenings that can be opened silently by a pickpocket - so I'd use this if I were driving to, for example, give a presentation, but not if I were using public transport.

More importantly for me, it's compact like the 11in device it's designed to carry - so you needn't expect any room to hold much else. Even the power cable for the 11in notebook is a bit of a squeeze; the external pocket takes a paperback quite comfortably but don't even think about putting a magazine in as well as the notebook.

It's designed for people who just want to carry the notebook and nothing else. In the hot summer (hah!) you're likely to be looking at bulkier stuff like a bottle of water. It's a stylish item and if you appreciate its limitations it'll be fine, but for me the size and tailoring to a particular item mean I'm unlikely to buy one.

Paul Smith ties up with Leica

I spent a very pleasant lunch hour yesterday at Leica's shop in London - here's a link to it. It offers courses on photography before you buy and includes courses afterwards with some cameras - no point in spending £5K on an M9 if you're not going to find out a bit about it. Certainly playing with £20K worth of camera kit is a very good way to spend 60 minutes or so of your mid-life crisis, I found.

What really caught my eye for readers here were some very nice limited edition camera cases from Paul Smith, which are pictured here. The grey textured version is probably a little feminine but the brown leather is a beauty, classic in design and sporting the signature stripes for which Paul Smith fans seem to go totally berserk most of the time. It's out in time for Christmas and will set you back £200; make sure the recipient already has the D-Lux 5 digital camera for which it's designed otherwise that'll cost them another £644.

The other design point of note was on some of the more professional models, the red spot (like the one in the picture above) is going to be removed, with a more discreet logo on top. Apparently these are used often in war zones by photographers, and having a red spot just about where your eye's likely to be wasn't quite what they wanted.

The man bag and the laptop

I've been told off before now for bringing up Man Bags - so I thought I'd do it again. This time I've been looking at some laptop bags.

The one I'm using at the moment is the Be.Ez LE Reporter bag, this one specifically for the Macbook Air 11in. Waterproof, bump proof, a few compartments and pockets and very slimline, very chic, it's the smaller one on the left in the picture. All this and change from £50 (albeit only 50p). Nicely made, in canvas, so where's the catch? I suppose it's in that it does what it says on the tin. It's a thin bag for a thin laptop and you needn't think you're going to get much more than that into it - a notebook probably, a magazine if you're lucky and it's going to start looking full. The Macbook's own power supply makes it look a bit bulked out. In the hotter months I like to carry a bottle of water and this, frankly, isn't going to take it. I may be discovering why women have so many bags for different occasions (he stereotyped) - when I'm off to a couple of meetings and want to work somewhere there's WiFi but don't want to dislocate my shoulder or carry anything else at all, this is ideal. I could have done with a pouch or slot for a pen or two.

Less flexible is the Tucano Second Skin from the Apple online store. It's pretty much a protective pouch for your laptop - it stops it being damaged if it's in another bag. For that reason I bought it and it works, but once again don't even think of carrying anything other than the computer in it.

If I were considerably richer I'd have something like this item from Mulberry. From the company's Henry range, it's elegant, lots of pockets for stuff,  designed for comfort, durability, leather trimmings, zip on the outside and padding (although you can get that from a lot of other bags too).

I can't see myself going for this one in a hurry, though, as it kind of costs £715. I suppose if you want to make a massive impact and your audience knows what it's looking at then it's a damned good choice, and it does look well designed. Thing is, we hired a holiday cottage last week and had a great time - and that only cost us £750. So if I had the choice between the bag and another holiday...sorry Mulberry, I suspect I'm just not your audience!

Later in the week I'll be looking at themed scents (I kid you not) and what to look for in swatches when you're buying a suit.

Your phone and its case

So I'm a gadget geek, so what? Actually more accurately I'm a gadget writer so I get an excuse good professional reason to get the latest stuff. And in spite of the now-famous reception problems if you hold the thing in the wrong way, I'm very fond of my iPhone 4. Only the other day I was using it as a satnav to get me home from Oxford while it was playing an audiobook through the car's speakers with a Bluetooth connection. This stuff has never been so affordable or, more importantly, easy before.

Ted Baker leather iPhone 4 case

The only real difficulty is the reception - I mean, it's called a phone, you're going to want to use it to make the odd call. You get over this by buying a case, which was probably going to be a good idea anyway.

And I decided to go just a little more stylish this time with the brown leather Ted Baker iPhone 4 case from ProPorta. It's well padded and the design on the underside of the protective flap (see picture) is a nice little touch, although if it hadn't been there I doubt that I'd have noticed. Importantly it leaves the screen completely bare when open, so you might want to buy a stick-on gel cover to increase the phone's useful life, particularly if you're one of these people with sharp and non-chewed nails. Apple isn't in the habit of releasing flimsy rubbish onto the market but a weak point's a weak point, and this is definitely a weak point. The price, £39.95, is on the slightly expensive side of acceptable (it's only a case after all) and I admit I could have done without the Ted Baker logo on the front. Others will probably whoop with joy at it. It's available from 28 November.

What does everyone else use? And although I like the look of my case and I enjoy using it, is it just me or is a phone that needs a case in order not to drop calls a bit of a cop-out..?

The man-bag - to carry or not?

I've been looking into bags recently. Not going up to someone carrying one and looking directly into it, you understand, just looking into the concept of a man-bag.

People have advised me against this. It's still not as acceptable for a bloke to be carrying a bag as it is for a woman unless it's a briefcase, I'm told. Sports bags are also acceptable but that's about it.

Only the rules are changing. They must be, because the amount of things a bloke beyond 35 has to carry around are growing. Picture this: it's summer, so it's probably too hot to be wearing a jacket with enough pockets. You're middle-aged like me so you probably need reading glasses, or even if you have varifocals or something as I do there's the glasses case, the smartphone, probably a laptop computer, book or magazine to read, pens, notebook. Maybe a bottle of water if you're organised.

Grays Savile Row City Bag

That's when you can start to find the thing gets a bit heavy so something with a strap rather than a formal briefcase (although there are plenty of those around which can be shoulder-borne) is better. I also prefer something that doesn't scream "HE'S CARRYING A LAPTOP, SOMEONE MUG HIM!" - so dedicated laptop bags, efficient though they may be, are out when I'm using public transport.

One reasonably attractive option is the forthcoming range from Grays, which is opening a shop on Abbey Road in October. There's a series of models, pictured is the distinctive Savile Row City Bag. The bad news is that this one costs £450; no doubt there's a market and it certainly has a good look, but it's not something I'd care to take on public transport a lot (although it does at least zip up - I once won a laptop bag from a well-known manufacturer which had magnetic fastenings. Guys, that's not a fastening at all, a thief can just lift it up!)

be.ez Le Rush En Ville

If you've succumbed to the iPad craze, and millions have, then French company be.ez has a possible answer with its Le Rush En Ville range, from which you'll have change from £40. Specifically designed around the latest magic box from Apple it has a padded compartment for the iPad plus compartments for wallets, smartphones and anything wallet or smartphone shaped. I prefer something with compartments which will keep my pens upright too, but there are plenty of spaces for organising other stuff.

The other slight drawback with this one is that it's designed to be compact, which is great, but it means if you have a bulky paperback or hardback book it's not going to be a comfortable fit. No doubt the theory is that you don't have to carry anything at all if you already have the precious iPad. And it does look significantly cheaper than the Grays, which is probably something to do with it being a tenth of the price.

The one I use "in anger" is a Victorinox Swiss Army backpack. It has a padded compartment for the laptop without being an obvious laptop bag, and of course a backpack has two straps so is more secure than anything else on the shoulder. It has a number of compartments and pockets for pens, CDs and a media player and a rubber hole for earphones. You can carry just about as much as your back allows you in one of these - I went to CostCo and had change from £30 (expect to pay around double that from, say, Amazon) so there are bargains around.

Happy hunting...