Crumpler School Hymn 15" Review (with Pics-LOTS 56k beware)

i had some difficulty finding any review about the Crumpler School hymn when i was going to buy it. but i ended up buying it anyway since it sounds like the best choice for me for a simple sleeve with medium protection.

so now i've decided to write one. i hope it'll help people see what the school hymn is really like and help in their decision. ok, so enough of this, on with the School hymn.



the material is NOT fabric. i thought it was some kind of polyester or ballistic nylon or cordura wrapped around a plastic re-enforcer, but it's not. it's Vinyl. for those who don't know what this means (like me), it's synthetic leather. the sleeve looks like it's made of synthetic leather. it's shiny and might as well be smooth, but there's a very faint leather grain on it, kinda nice actually. but it's not leather. scuffs will show up very easily, but i think it adds character. overall, the surface has a bit of subdued shine to it.





the fit is very nice. it hugs the PB on all 4 corners snugly, but there is a bit of space left on the sides, i would guess this means there is a bit of cushioning if it's ever hit from the sides. the case is rather stiff, and i can imagine it taking the brunt of most mild bumps. the sides are also lines internally, so the zippers will never ever touch our babies. i've tried tilting, bending it in many different possible natural ways in the bag, and the zipper never touches the powerbook. in my messenger bag, i often put the sleeve open horizontally in its laptop compartment, so i can pull the PB out quickly. even when opened like this, the zippers never seemed to touch the PB.

one brieff note, there is only one zipper pull. so in order to open it, we have to unzip the entire thing. unlike Shinza'a Zeroshock that has two pulls and can be opened at any point we choose. this is why i leave the zipper open in my messenger bag, the compartment holds it closed, but when i need to take the PB out, i don't have to pull the entire sleeve out to unzip it, sicne the zipper rests on the backside.







overall this is a very nice sleeve. i just wished i ordered it in black or silver, since the blue is a bit too bright candy-like for my taste, but it's slowly growing on me. and the black one will look much nicer since the surface is synthetic leather. i imagine it will look much mroe professional. same with the white, except i think it'll be much more prone to dirts and scuffs.











i bought mine from Jason Wood from Storeos.com and he was very helpful. superfast delivery and great service overall.

not much. i would say about half a centimeter on any ddirection. the top and bottom has a bit of thin foam under the plastic cover under the vinyl layer, but other than that, it feels like there's nothing. so any cusioning will have to come from the folds in the vinyl andd that tihn foam and the plastic re-enforcer. it's not the most protective sleeve. it does feel substantial and durable when it's closed with the PB in it thou, and adds about 60% thickness. so that much is in the padding i guess.

if you want the real protective one, i supposed you should look at Tom Bihn's Brain Cell or Monolith. i'm considering buying one to test as well. maybe i'll do that sometime.

the sleeve folds back far enough to allow you to use it while it's in the sleeve. i do that sometimes when i'm too lazy to remove it completely. but yea, the fan at the back is slightly blocked. but when you're using it with the case on, most likely it will be on battery power, and it never gets that hot when it's in batt power.

and i'm not sure how much abuse this case can take for the PB, but when it's in it, it feels solid and subtantial. i feel like i can just oss it in a bag and not worry about it. of course, it's better if you stiill take all precaution and be careful with it. (ie. don't toss around your bag) i just went around downtown today with the PB in my messenger, and it did just fine.

if you have a 15", get the Silver 15" then. lol.