If you’ve never experienced the sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize your laptop has been snatched, we hope you never have to. The best defense is still to never leave your ’Book unattended, but if you absolutely have to, a theft-resistant bag like PacSafe’s InfoSafe can help keep it out of the clutches of evil.

PacSafe makes a variety of antitheft bags and markets the InfoSafe as a “portable safe” for the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Your ’Book is surrounded by eXomesh, a stainless-steel mesh material that’s sandwiched between the inner and outer nylon layers. The InfoSafe closes with a reinforced zinc alloy combination lock, and a steel cable is securely attached to let you lock the bag to a fixed object.

Leggo my MacBook Pro! The InfoSafe's antitheft features are impressive.

The InfoSafe is attractive, well made, and sturdy. But it’s not meant to be a shoulder bag--there’s no shoulder strap, and the carry handle isn’t comfortable enough for extended hauling. It also lacks exterior pockets (except for a slim one that stows the locking cable when not in use) or extra space in the main pocket for more than a few file folders. You’re supposed to carry the InfoSafe inside another laptop bag, but check the dimensions carefully. The exterior of the InfoSafe is 16 by 13.5 by 1.6 inches, a good bit bulkier than our 15-inch MacBook Pro (14.4 by 9.8 inches and just under 1 inch thick). We had problems cramming the InfoSafe into some of our normal laptop bags--it’s also bulkier than our regular Case-Mate laptop sleeve (14.5 by 11 inches). So make sure to measure the interior of your laptop bag to see if the InfoSafe will fit--PacSafe’s site lists interior dimensions of the InfoSafe, which isn’t so helpful.

But the eXomesh sure is. We attacked the InfoSafe with a box cutter, easily slicing through the outer layer of nylon. The steel mesh kept us from ripping a hole large enough to extract the laptop, no matter which side of it we knifed. Just remember that if the bag holding your InfoSafe disappears, it won’t matter so much if the thieves can get at your laptop. Sure, they can’t get your data (for a while, at least), but the computer is still gone. Actually using the locking cable to secure your computer is key, no pun intended.

The InfoSafe is definitely theft-resistant--we're impressed by how well the eXomesh fully surrounds a MacBook. Just make sure your laptop bag is big enough for the InfoSafe and use the cable lock faithfully, or you risk having two bags stolen at once.

InfoSafe
COMPANY: PacSafe
CONTACT: www.pacsafe.com
PRICE: $74.99
REQUIREMENTS: 15.4-inch (or smaller) laptop
Fits inside other (roomy) laptop cases. Combination lock. Built-in locking cable. Slash-proof eXomesh material. Well-made and sturdy.
Tight fit in some smaller laptop cases. Not a lot of extra room inside.