July 8th, 2008

Checkpoint friendly laptop bags should help with airport screening

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 10:45 am

Categories: Ultra portable PC, On the road, Gadgets, Tablet PC

Tags: Laptop Computer, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Matthew Miller

Regular air travelers may be interested in ways to speed up the screening process and having a laptop bag that lets you leave your laptop inside and protected may be a good first step. There are some important guidelines about the “checkpoint friendly” bags that meet the technical requirements set forth by the TSA. There will not be ANY bags that are TSA approved, authorized, or endorsed so make sure you check these guidelines before being taken by a bag company.

One of the companies that has passed through the testing process is Skooba Design and they have more information on their Checkthrough bag that looks to be more protective than the sleeve design I was imagining they would come out with when they made the announcement a couple months ago.

There was a USA Today article posted yesterday that discusses some of the upcoming security process improvements. These “checkpoint friendly” bags may be allowed to be used starting as early as next month and I know I would welcome traveling with a bag where I didn’t have to risk my laptop getting broken or handled roughly going through security. It seems that the major requirement is that X-ray machines get a clear view of everything in the bag without any type of obstruction (zipper, strap, etc.). The one issue is that you may have to now carry two bags, one for your laptop alone and another for you chargers, cables, and other devices and accessories.

I personally would like to see lines for business travelers and one for tourists or casual travelers since I seem to spend the most time in security waiting for people to figure out how the system works.

UPDATE: I was informed that Aerovation has had these “checkpoint friendly” bags available for about a month and they have been fully tested with the TSA.