<p>Later this week I plan on buying an Asus U46E-BAL5. It has a 14" screen and weighs around five pounds. I've now reached a point where I'm wondering whether I'll need a case for it. Do college students usually have laptop cases, or do they transport their computers in their backpacks? If it's the former, is there a specific type of case recommended for a laptop that size? I've used school-provided laptops and desktops my whole life, so I apologize for being so clueless about this.</p>
<p>You don’t need a special laptop sleeve or laptop bag. You can buy one if it makes you feel better or if you are particular about getting scratches on the outside of your computer, but you don’t need one. Just stick it in your backpack. I have a 14" laptop and carry it inside of a smallish backpack.</p>
<p>Just get a laptop sleeve. It’s not big like a full laptop case, but it still protects the laptop when it gets shoved against books in a backpack. You can get something similar, many different colors and brands. Lots of stores have them, as well as many websites.</p>
<p>@ OP…yeah you really only need some scratch protection. You could probably make a sleeve out of paper grocery bags or sew your own too.</p>
<p>I wasn’t implying that the OP had to buy that one. All I did was provide a link to what I bought to show what I was talking about, since the OP said they were clueless about what kind of laptop case to get. Yes, you can certainly get one somewhere else and a lot cheaper, and I mentioned that in my previous post that many other places have them too and that link was just an example. I just wanted one with a pretty design on it (such as the one I got). It’s probably on the expensive side for a laptop sleeve, I’ll agree, although I have seen some as high as $88. I actually got mine as part of a graduation gift from extended family.</p>
<p>The other type of thing you could do besides a laptop sleeve that will still offer scratch protection would be a hard cover case. I don’t know what they make for those for your laptop, you’d have to search around and google that one, but I also have a hard cover case for mine. It simply snaps onto it, and you don’t ever have to take it off, since it doesn’t cover any keys or plug ins on the side for usb, etc. So you could look for something like that too. It’s really nice. I don’t have any complaints against the thing so far. As long as you buy one that meant for your specific laptop, it fits correctly. You probably don’t need both the hardshell case and sleeve if you don’t want it. I’m just really protecting my laptop (since it is a MacBook Pro and was expensive). That way, with the hardshell case always on it, if it gets scratched up a lot in class, you can just throw away the case and get a new one, and the laptop itself is all safe. Plus, the hardshell cases come in many different colors and can make your laptop look pretty! I don’t know what they have for this for your laptop though.</p>
<p>I really don’t understand the “need” to buy expensive accessories to keep your computer or iThing free from scratches. It isn’t a car. You don’t need to keep your electronics scratch-free so that you can resell them for a higher value.</p>
<p>I just like to keep my things nice cause I’m anal about it. Re: the hard-shell mac thingie. The only people I see using those are women because they can get them in hot pink.</p>
<p>^Mine’s aqua (although I do like pink a lot!)</p>
<p>Thank you for your suggestions!
I wasn’t aware of laptop sleeves, but they’re definitely a product I’ll look into.</p>