By Al Gordon
Columnist

For carrying your personal electronics, what's your bag?

Most consumers tend to go one of two routes: the superstore/computer supplier brands -- good on price, decent features, but questionable durability and so-so stylishness -- or the luggage store/designer-label items -- lots of style, high-grade materials, but high prices and sometimes limited practicality.

With a little looking, however, you can find a third option: specialty manufacturers, often sold primarily on the Internet, that hit the sweet spot -- strong on function, durable materials, stylish design, and a reasonable price. Here's a look at a few of my favorites:

No. 1 on my list is WaterField Designs in San Francisco (http://www.sfbags.com), which is a classic "word of mouth" find. I learned about it from seeing a cool bag my nephew used to carry his Apple PowerBook. He found about them from a friend, who ... well, you get the idea.

WaterField's bags are excellently crafted from ballistic nylon and similar sturdy materials, smartly designed so you can store things where you want them and access them quickly when you need them. Several things make the bags stand out.

For one, there is a great deal of flexibility in the range. WaterField makes several different styles and sizes of bags ranging from classic messenger-style bags to compact-profile cases that store notebooks vertically instead of horizontally. Your laptop goes into a separate protective sleeve, of which there are a couple of dozen sizes, sufficient to fit pretty much anything on the market. And everything is interchangeable -- get a new laptop, you replace (if necessary) the sleeve not the entire bag; change the style of bag, you simply use your existing sleeve with it.

Second, you can make the styles as wild or as conservative as you wish -- go for the basic black look or opt for stylish colors and patterns. This extends even to the hardware of WaterField's signature Cargo bag, where you can now choose between an airline seat buckle (functional albeit over-the-top) and para-gliding harness snaps to close the bag's front pocket flap.

Above all, WaterField is one of the few companies that fully appreciate how much accessory paraphernalia and just plain stuff we lug around: power supplies, cables, PC cards, drives, flash memory units, and so on. So it makes a wide range of "Gearpouches" for stowing all that, plus some well-designed organizers for accessories for iPods and other music players.

Another interesting choice for laptops are Brenthaven cases (www.brenthaven.com). Their shoulder bags are more conventionally designed than WaterField's, but offer exceptional cushioning and protection. Brenthaven markets its products for PC laptops itself; designs for Apple laptops are sold exclusively through Apple stores.

Their product range also includes the invaluable option of wheeled cases, and I tested one for the 15-inch PowerBook. It was well-made, although the protective sleeve did not fit as perfectly as I would have liked. Brenthaven made up for that, however, with excellent use of space to store papers and accessories. I particularly liked the large-capacity pockets built around the telescoping handle. Brenthaven gives its wheeled cases a spring-loaded suspension system that adds important protection as one typically bounces this kind of case around obstacles and off curbs.

For personal electronics such as cell phones, PDAs, and music players, there is an even wider range of choices.

The BMW of the category is Vaja (http://www.vajacases.com/). They do both "classic" models -- traditional leather cases with cover flaps; and the "iVolution" series -- plastic shells, covered with padding, then topped by leather that offer excellent protection without limiting access to device controls. Vaja's lineup is largely custom-order, and that gets pricey. But there are "off-the-rack" versions of many models, usually in basic black, that have more reasonable price tags.

Sena Cases (http://www.senacases.com/) are very similar in design to the Vaja Classic range, but priced about 25 percent less. Sena supports a very wide range of PDAs and smartphones/smartpagers (such as Blackberries). Many of their designs allow users to place their devices into syncing cradles while still in the case, a handy convenience. One downside: The "Sena" logo is a bit too prominent on case flaps for my taste.

Another contender in this category is Covertec (http://www.covertec.com/). One innovation in their range is a removable belt-clip system that lets you convert the case from clipless to clipped and vice-versa per your needs. Covertec also has a combination magnet and snap closure system for its case flaps that is one of the easiest to close I've seen.

So, with a little shopping around, you should be able to find a case for your electronics at an equally attractive price.

Al Gordon is a Massachusetts-based media and political consultant who also writes about technology. You can read more of his articles at www.tnpcnewsletter.com/al and e-mail him at eagle@algordon.com.

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