Reverse Dent on Bottom of 13" MBP / Bringing to school

[mgartner0622]

Hello everyone-

I just had a question to ask all of the very helpful people at Macrumors forums, and your time and replies are greatly appreciated.
Anyway, I currently own a June '09 2.53GHz MacBook, and take it to school everyday. I'm trying to make it last until about 2012, or when my AppleCare Expires. Anyways, I was wondering if it can withstand being bumped around for 2-3ish more years, as it already has what I would call a "reverse dent" on the underside of the case. That is, a dent that comes outward instead of inward, near the RAM Slots. I've already taken off the cover, and I have no idea how this was caused. I also use a Speck Case.
I'm just wondering if this is normal, or if anyone thinks I would be better off buying one of those 300 dollar netbooks? I only use this for note-taking and essay/projects at my school, while at home I have it connected to a display and it never moves.
As just a quick general summarizing question, i'm just curious as to what everyone else would do?
Thank you very much and have a wonderful day.

 

[Lyshen]

I'm curious how that reverse dent occurred.

But as for your question, I think it's fine as long as you take extra precautions to protect it... such as your Speck Case.

I didn't have a Mac laptop when I was going to college, had a Sony SZ series, better known as Z series now I believe. It lasted me a long time and worked perfectly fine, no dents or scratches ever showed up. And I didn't have an actual case cover, just plain old laptop. Granted I sandwiched it between books so the books protected it while in the backpack.

 

[mgartner0622]

I'm curious how that reverse dent occurred.

But as for your question, I think it's fine as long as you take extra precautions to protect it... such as your Speck Case.

I didn't have a Mac laptop when I was going to college, had a Sony SZ series, better known as Z series now I believe. It lasted me a long time and worked perfectly fine, no dents or scratches ever showed up. And I didn't have an actual case cover, just plain old laptop. Granted I sandwiched it between books so the books protected it while in the backpack.

That's why I've been so concerned! It just appeared one day when taking it out of my bag...
Is/was your sony metal or plastic?
I've also been afraid to put my MPB between books, as i'm afraid they will smash it! (My Biology book is a 1400 page dead weight xD )

 

[AlphaDogg]

Don't worry! Your MBP will be fine. I take mine to school with me everyday, but I have a heavily padded Brenthaven bag for it. I can drop the MBP (without a hardcase) in the bag from waist height, without a single dent. Let me get you a link to the bag I have for my 13" MBP. Here is the link.

When you first get it, the bag fits pretty tightly around the MBP with a speck case on it, to the point where it is hard to insert/remove the MBP from the bag ( I had a speck case, but I do not use it any more, in favor of a clear skin), but over time (around a two months), it will loosen up. It will still be pretty snugly held in the bag.

If you wish, PM me and I can email you pictures/videos of the bag's appearance.

 

[tjb1]

Never...NEVER get a netbook, its nearly impossible to install anything without a cd drive on them and yes you can download but they have so little power they freeze up idling. They are really small and the battery life wasnt that great, I think my 15" custom mbp had a longer battery life than the 10.1 hp netbook I had with the extended battery. Not to mention nothing fits on the screen without scrolling.

 

[Lyshen]

That's why I've been so concerned! It just appeared one day when taking it out of my bag...
Is/was your sony metal or plastic?
I've also been afraid to put my MPB between books, as i'm afraid they will smash it! (My Biology book is a 1400 page dead weight xD )

My Sony laptop was plastic base with carbon fiber display lid.

Ahh the big science books... I'd put that at the bottom, for example when you're wearing your backpack, the bio book is up against your back and then the laptop next. So when you put your backpack down, well... the laptop will be on top of the huge book.

I thought about getting a separate bag for the laptop, but it's a dead giveaway that you have a laptop and I didn't want it being stolen...

As for netbook... I tried a 9-10" Acer. Its ok, works... but sucks lol. I originally bought it for my wife to use while we were out of the country but she hated it, so I gave it to a relative's maid to use.

 

[mgartner0622]

My Sony laptop was plastic base with carbon fiber display lid.

Ahh the big science books... I'd put that at the bottom, for example when you're wearing your backpack, the bio book is up against your back and then the laptop next. So when you put your backpack down, well... the laptop will be on top of the huge book.

I thought about getting a separate bag for the laptop, but it's a dead giveaway that you have a laptop and I didn't want it being stolen...

As for netbook... I tried a 9-10" Acer. Its ok, works... but sucks lol. I originally bought it for my wife to use while we were out of the country but she hated it, so I gave it to a relative's maid to use.

Thanks for the tip! That's exactly the opposite of how i've been putting my stuff in my bag!
Also, I was also occasionally using a bag like you had reccomended, AlphaDogg, (Thank you by the way) But i'd prefer to keep it IN my bag/backpack, as like the previous poster said, a bag like that screams "I HAVE A LAPTOP" to everyone around... which I really would like to avoid, theft and all.

 

[AlphaDogg]

Thanks for the tip! That's exactly the opposite of how i've been putting my stuff in my bag!
Also, I was also occasionally using a bag like you had reccomended, AlphaDogg, (Thank you by the way) But i'd prefer to keep it IN my bag/backpack, as like the previous poster said, a bag like that screams "I HAVE A LAPTOP" to everyone around... which I really would like to avoid, theft and all.

My backpack is large enough to house this bag. PM me, and I will be happy to give you any information you request on this bag. Also, Brenthaven classifies it as a sleeve, which it obviously is not.

Also, I would like to know what grade you are in. I am going to take a guess. Please forgive me if I am wrong. I am guessing you are in either 11th or 12th grade. I am assuming that you are in high school, because you said school, not university or college.

I am a 9th grader this year, fyi.