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I have no problems carrying mine in a backpack with books & other small items. Common sense tells one to avoid over packing the bag.

There are a few guys I know that have key marks on their displays that won't wipe off. Yet if you took a look at the exterior of the backpack all stained and scuffed, you'd know why. It's a computer, not to be tossed about. These guys stuff their bags so full it's amazing they haven't broken a screen.

Just a little precaution goes a long way. I'm 100% happy with mine. Not a hiccup since day one. It's why I use Macs.
 
Fact of the matter is that the MBA is ridiculous fragile that it can be damage from being in a bag with other things. Perhaps YOU can get away with a simple bag where it can hold the MBA, a notebook, and a few accessories - because that is all you need.

What people people who have giant bags, capable of holding a lot of equipment/material (is THAT over-packing? A giant-bag 3/4 full?) and opted for the Macbook Air to reduce the load by a few pounds over the standard form factor laptops?

People keep going back to care of the machine and 'common sense.' Experience tells me that all my other laptops can withstand being in a bag with many other things, why should the Air have been different? Is there documentation for the Air that states this? Please tell me how I could have known without finding out first hand. Btw, my machine is PRISTINE.

ANYWAYS -

I just purchased the Razer Kabuto Mouse Mat --- it fits pretty well! I will be traveling all next week - lets see how it holds up!

btw, I think the cloth does help a bit. I've been keeping a 15mm thick cloth between the screen and the keyboard. After a round trip, the cloth has a pretty strong imprint from the edges of the trackpad/keyboard bridge. Screen is fine, but I think the cloth both blunts the edge, as well as distributes the pressure over a large area, and probably increasing the required pressure for this damage to show up.

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I just ordered one of the Radtech covers directly from Radtech. Use the promo code 2PROMO10 to get 10% off.

Amazon has the 11" MBA with free shipping but not the 13" MBA.

Ahhh - there is a better promo code... AUG2011 gives 20% off!
 
I have no problems carrying mine in a backpack with books & other small items. Common sense tells one to avoid over packing the bag.

There are a few guys I know that have key marks on their displays that won't wipe off. Yet if you took a look at the exterior of the backpack all stained and scuffed, you'd know why. It's a computer, not to be tossed about. These guys stuff their bags so full it's amazing they haven't broken a screen.

I carry mine in a padded slip case which in turn is carried in a padded laptop pocket in my backpack which is never overpacked since I don't like carting lots of stuff around. It still managed to pick up a pressure mark. For what it's worth I don't see any grease marks (keys). I suspect it's down to manufacturing tolerances so some will get it and others won't with exactly the same treatment.
 
Do you guys understand that if you are using a cloth, i.e. an added layer of material, to protect against the trackpad bridge marks that you are actually making this a FAR greater possibility by reducing the travel needed for contact? You aren't spreading the force, which WOULD help.

I still have seen no proof of damage outside of foreign material being introduced to the keyboard. $20 for a piece of cloth, by the way, is highway robbery.

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I have no problems carrying mine in a backpack with books & other small items. Common sense tells one to avoid over packing the bag.

There are a few guys I know that have key marks on their displays that won't wipe off. Yet if you took a look at the exterior of the backpack all stained and scuffed, you'd know why. It's a computer, not to be tossed about. These guys stuff their bags so full it's amazing they haven't broken a screen.

Just a little precaution goes a long way. I'm 100% happy with mine. Not a hiccup since day one. It's why I use Macs.

THIS. I mean seriously, people, take better care of your ****.
 
Short answer: With a 11'' MBA, the answer is "NO". Period.
As far as the 13'', I don't know, as I don't own that model. Some of these screen protectors are just overpriced like crazy. Cynical individuals/companies that prey on fussy mac users.
 
THIS. I mean seriously, people, take better care of your ****.

I take very good care of my ****, but will probably still pick up a case, and ap strongly considering this mat. I consider my Mac an investment, and I will be using it for 3-4 years, so I will do anything within reason to keep it in the best condition possible.
 
On my MBA, i don't have any key marks on the screen; but i do a slight straight white mark on my screen from the aluminum edges from the trackpad and the area right below the keyboard. Its light and only seen when the screen is black (such as when booting via bootcamp), but it was still enough to cause to me to add more protection for the screen.

So to protect the screen I ended up the getting the Rearth Keyboard protector and anti-glare screen protector from eBay from futureoneshop for like $13. And its been working out really good for me :). Hope that helps for anyone looking for ways to protect their MBA :).
 
The Kabuto 'screen protector' seems to be working - or at least I think so. I have been using it every time it goes into a bag, and I haven't damaged my screen yet.

I definitely recommend people to purchase a sheet of something to put between the screen and the trackpad bridge. I think the Kabuto is great since it functions as a mouse pad. At the time of my purchase, it was only $13 from Amazon.
 
This. Throw in a ShaggyMac cloth to avoid the key imprint if you are worried. My 2010 13" air and my old ladies 2010 11" both got an imprint. Yeah, maybe it wipes right off but with these thin plastic screens I'm a little more concerned about scratching etc. The ShaggyMac can also be used to dust it off.

In my opinion there are allot of hypochondri(m)acs out there but this is a legitimate concern given the thinness and flexibility of the Air's screen.

+1 Been using a ShaggyMac this since 2003 with my first Mac, 12" PowerBook G4...and the 6 Macs that have followed.
 
On earlier Mac notebooks with the soft "matte" screen (PowerBook G4, 1st gen MBP), I had problems with the keyboard leaving permanent marks on the screen. I bought a keyboard protector which worked. On the new notebooks with the glass screen, however, I haven't had any problems with the keyboard leaving marks and I do not use a protector. Sometimes the screen gets oil on it from the keys, but it cleans off very easily. I have no experience with new unibody macs with matte screens - perhaps the stability of the unibody design would prevent the keys from hitting the screen?
 
Student

I have a 2011 Air 13 -

I carry books for school and I have 3 different bags - a briefcase, backpack, and messenger bag that I use as demand dictates.

I place the Air into a sleeve and I haven't had buttons leaving impressions - even when the bag is full of books, notebooks, and other items.

My previous Powerbook and Macbook Pros all had that issue. First one not to.
 
Do you guys understand that if you are using a cloth, i.e. an added layer of material, to protect against the trackpad bridge marks that you are actually making this a FAR greater possibility by reducing the travel needed for contact? You aren't spreading the force, which WOULD help.

Clean contact isn't the problem.

A clean thin cloth or sheet of paper is softer and more porous than the keycaps, and less likely to have a near-invisible layer of microscopic grit and dust glued down with skin oil on it compared to the keycaps. Wind-blown millennia-old volcanic dust can grind lines into the display of a smashed MBA.

A paper or cloth will also block the dust, hair, skin flakes and such that gathers between the keycaps from falling onto the display when the MBA is inverted, and thus painting the screen with gooey-dust inter-key-gap outlines.
 
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