Case options for the AA1 with a six-cell battery.

There are a few links in this thread with some good neoprene case options, though it is mentioned that none of them fit well on units with a six cell battery.

What are the rest of you six-cell owners doing to protect and carry your AA1s? Has anyone found any good options that fit neatly?

I went on a hunt in a few local retail stores yesterday. Obviously nobody had a laptop case for something so small, so I started hunting for portable DVD-player cases that might work. Circuit City had this one in stock, and now I see this one on their site that looks to be exactly the same, but cheaper. Best Buy had this one in, though it would take a bit of (easy) modification to get it to work right. It is a clam shell, and is cool that the AA1 could sit in it while using, but it had some straps that would be useless to us and would need to be trimmed off. Target had a similar sleeve to the Circuit City ones for about $20, though it is from from some Pirates of the Caribbean collection and had a skull-and-crossbones logo.

The problem with all of the above cases that I found is that they are intended for up to a 10" DVD player and, as such, they are a bit loose on the AA1. Not really bad, but they add a good 1/2" of empty neoprene to all sides, and if you're going to buy a netbook then the last thing you want to do is add extra bulk or size.

So far the only options I see are intended for the three-cell battery AA1, and are too tight, or ones intended for a 10" DVD player, and are too loose. Has anyone found anything better? I'd sure like to find something that fits very neatly.

 

I was just in Walmart and found this. It's intended for up to a 9" DVD player, so it caught my eye. My Walmart had them in pink and black. I bought it, brought it home, and it fits great! It's tight enough to hold the AA1 snugly with no slack on the sides, yet loose enough to get it easily in and out. It fits as if it were made for it. Better yet, it was only $9.97.

On Case Logic's website I just found this model. It's a clam shell design with a zipper, if you prefer that style. It's also intended for a 9" DVD player, so I imagine it would fit just as well as the sleeve I found at Walmart. It's on sale for $4.20 right now, and shipping to me in Washington state is $3.99, so it would actually be a couple bucks cheaper than the Walmart sleeve.

I originally thought I wanted a clam shell case, so I'm trying to decide whether to order that one. My thought was that it would be nice to just unzip the case and use the AA1 while it sits inside. I don't know how practical that is, though, and the sleeve works/fits really well. But, sheesh, for $8 I might just order it and have them both. If I do that then I will post with how well it works.

There are a lot of 9" Case Logic DVD player cases to choose from on the Case Logic site (and a few more at Walmart), some with more pockets and compartments for people who want to carry their cables, memory cards, etc, with their AA1. Those would be my recommendation for AA1 users with the six cell battery.

Anyway, my search has ended. Hopefully this info will be useful to others.

 

I purchased this one from Circuit City and the six-cell battery fits. There isn't much padding - essentially none - with this case. They had a similar case for $22 which was lined with a soft material and seemed a bit better padded.