You can pick from many different shades of colors. For the iPad you can choose from several shades of pink, including an option to use a custom pantone color (for an additional $250). You’ll get to choose the body color, antenna color, logo color and button color. You also have the choice of sending in your previously purchased iPad or you can buy a new one directly from ColorWare.

Sending your iPad in will run around $400, while purchasing a new one runs between $900 and $1100 depending on the model.

Do you know of company similar to Colorware? Let us know and we’ll add it.

And BTW, if you get a pink iPad check out our new Zoey pink iPad Case… it’ll be the perfect companion for your pink iPad.

Giveaways for a free iPad or pink iPad

As with any new product on the market there will always be those scammers who try to take advantage of people. With the popularity of the iPad there are offers for a free iPad popping up everywhere, including offers for a free pink iPad.

While some of the giveaways for a free iPad or free pink iPad may be real, others are not. Even with the free giveaway offers that are real, you need to read the details carefully. Your chance of winning them are about as good as you getting a ride on the next Space Shuttle.

While I won’t name names on which offers are legit or not, here’s a few things to consider…

• What steps do you have to take to win? Are they realistic? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• When you visit the giveaway site be sure to read the fine print. Click around on the website and see who is actually behind it. Search for that company name and see if they’ve done legit giveaways in the past.
• Search for the giveaway you’re interested in before entering it. See if anyone else has mentioned a problem with the giveaway or with entering the giveaway.
• Never give away important personal information to enter a drawing. All a site should need is your name and email address… maybe a mailing address or phone number if you’re entering a contest in combination with a legit purchase.
• Consider using a throwaway email address when entering a contest. Chances are when you submit an email address your giving the company permission to use and sell your email address to 3rd party companies. And believe it, the SPAM email will come in by the truckload.
• Run frequent scans on your computer for malware, viruses, trojans and worms. Many scam giveaway sites will install malicious programs on your computer… some of which you’ll never catch without keeping your software and scans up to date.
• Visit Hoax-Slayer to see if you can find anything on the giveaway you’re interested in.

If you have a pic of yourself holding one of our pink laptop bags or cases, please send it to us. We would love to post it.

Check out the review below or visit her Funky, Chic and Cool Laptop Bag lens for this and many other reviews of all the cool laptop bags currently on the market.

Kates review:

The Allie Laptop Tote Bag by Rainbrooke

Get in touch with your inner Elle Woods

I won’t lie to you — I’ve always had a bit of a crush on Elle Woods, pink-loving heroine of the classic cinematic adventure Legally Blonde. What’s not to love? She’s a Harvard law grad, she’s fabulous and feisty and her fashion sense is second to none. If you’re looking for a laptop bag to help channel your own inner Elle Woods, then look no further than the pink and perky Allie Laptop Tote Bag by Rainebrooke – Steve sent me over a review copy to try out.

The vertical Allie Tote is Elle personified. It’s got classic lines, a classic colour combo of pink and black, and just the right balance of fun and sophistication.

The front of the Allie Tote has a large pocket with a place for pens and business cards. The pocket has a snap closure. And, yes, you guessed it – when I need to fetch a pen, I put my tote on the floor, and I bend — and snap! (Get it? Get it? Okay, I can see by your face that you get it.)

Two smaller pockets, layered on the outside of the snap-pocket, provide access in a pinch. The Allie tote also features a deep, zippered pocket on the outer back panel. Perfect for stashing a little cash for a French manicure, or your passport for that trip to Aruba.

The bag zips closed at the top with a nice, sturdy zipper. Inside, there is a padded section for your laptop with an elasticized Velcro strap to keep it secured in place. There is also a large compartment with plenty of room for documents, a book, and power cords.

The interior also features a pocket with a Velcro closure and a zippered pocket, to store your keys, wallet, and Berry Pink lipstick I like that this tote doesn’t have too many pockets. There are enough to keep me organized, but not too many that I am forever forgetting where I put something.

The construction of the bag is excellent. Form meets function here, with the designer’s careful attention to ensure that bag is pretty *and* sturdy, while still being very lightweight. In particular, the handles feel very secure, easily handling the weight of a laptop and whatever else I’m carrying around. Oh, and the Allie also boasts one of my favourite features – little feet on the bottom of the bag, to give it a little added protection when you set it down at the spa.

The Allie’s faux leather tote handles are very comfortable – I feel like I could carry this bag around at a conference or a workshop, and my manicure won’t be ruined at the end of the day. I like, too, that along with being able to hold the tote like one would a briefcase, that the tote handles are large enough to slip my arm through. Versatile!

The bag also comes with an adjustable and removable shoulder strap. The strap is attached via hooks that have a swivel feature, so you don’t have to fuss about making sure that the strap isn’t twisted. The shoulder strap isn’t padded, but with the vertical orientation of the bag, I found the weight was distributed so well that I didn’t miss padding.

The bag is ideal for laptops with screens measuring 11″ to 15.4″ (both my MacBook Pro and Rose’s giant Dell Inspiron 1520 fit with ease). It’s made from nylon, and the handles trim are faux leather. (No Chihuahuas were harmed in the manufacturing of this product.) The price is right for $59. You can get the Allie Laptop Tote Bag at Rainebrooke.

The Zoey is available in your choice of light pink or hot pink and will be the perfect companion for your iPad, Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, tablet computer, slate or ereader.

Zoey comes with a adjustable/removable shoulder strap or you can remove the strap and carry it with the handles. Need an iPad/ereader sleeve? Zoey can do that too. Simply tuck the handles inside the side pockets and you have a padded iPad sleeve.

The zippered top provides easy access to the super soft and padded interior. The exterior has one large zippered pocket for your power cord and two velcro tabbed pockets for quick and easy access to your cell phone, iPod and other frequently used items. Get yours today!

We’ve recently added a few new apps to our Facebook page so now you can keep up with our latest product news, follow our tweets, get the latest news and specials, and purchase our laptop bags… all without having to leave Facebook.

One new app on our Facebook page is our “Shop Now” tab, where you can purchase any of our bags while staying on Facebook. “Like” us and you’ll automatically get a discount! This discount will change from time to time, but unless you “Like” us you won’t know what it is.

Click on our Facebook Twitter tab or follow us on Twitter and you’ll get our latest news and specials.

And the best part is last. From time to time we give away a pink laptop bag. But you’ll only be included in the giveaway if you’re a fan of ours and you click the “Like” button above.

Dell – Dell offers pink laptops  in their Mini 10, Inspiron’s (11, 14, 15 and 17), and the Studio (14, 15 and 17). Along with Dells standard pink laptops, several of their models can be customized with different pink themes in Dell’s design studio.

Sony – Sony offers a pink Vaio laptop in the 8″ P series, 10.1″ W series, 13.3″ Y series, 14″ EA series, and 15.5″ EB series.

HP – HP offers a pink laptop in the mini 10.1 210

Asus – For the pink princess in your family, Asus offers a pink Disney netbook

Colorware – Colorware can customize a large variety of electronics including the MacBook, Macbook Pro, Air, iPad, iPhone and more. If you’re crazy about pink and really want a pink MacBook or pink iPad, then check out Colorware. Once of the nice things about Colorware is you can send in your existing laptop or iPad for customization or buy it brand new and customized directly from them.

Finally, there are several other pink laptops available through retailers such as Amazon and Walmart. If you search Google shopping for pink laptops you’ll find a great list of models available.

And if you’re already shopping for a pink laptop you should check out our pink laptop bags and cases to go along with your new laptop. Be sure to also take a look at our new Zoey pink netbook / iPad bag which will be available in July.

Most companies and retailers that sell laptop bags, including Rainebrooke, will often state that a bag will fit up to a certain size laptop, most of the time referring to the screen size. For example our product descriptions will say “fits all laptops with screen sizes up to 17 inches”, or “fits all laptops with screen sizes up to 15.4 inches”.

What these laptop screen size measurements define are diagonal measurements. When you measure your laptop screen size, the proper way to measure is diagonally from one corner to another corner. Because of this diagonal measurement the size is actually larger than the width horizontally. So a laptop with a 17-inch screen will have a diagonal measurement of 17 inches, but the actual width of the screen horizontally will be smaller. For example the Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro has a diagonal screen measurement of 17 inches, but the actual width of the screen is 15.47 inches.

Next time your shopping for a laptop bag (or hopefully a woman’s pink laptop bag ), you’ll know how to measure your laptop screen size and find the perfect fitting bag.

If you’re still unsure about the dimensions of your laptop, please feel free to send us an email and we’ll look up the dimensions for you.

Don’t scroll to the bottom until you’ve tried to guess

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It’s an IBM 350 disk storage unit from 1956!

The IBM 350 Disk Storage was a major component of the IBM 305 RAMAC (Random Access Memory Accounting) system, introduced in September 1956.

You can view other images and read more about the 350 storage unit on IBM’s archive page.

As noted on the IBM archive page above:

The 305 was a flexible, electronic, general purpose data processing machine that enabled businesses to record transactions as they occurred and concurrently reflect each entry in affected accounts. It maintained records on a real-time basis, provided random access to any record, eliminated peak loads, and could simultaneously produce output by either print or punched cards.

The 305 system consisted of the IBM 305 Processing Unit (containing the magnetic process drum, magnetic core register and electronic logical and arithmetic circuits), the IBM 370 Printer (an 80-position serial-output printer with tape control carriage), the IBM 323 Card Punch (similar to the IBM 523 Gang Summary Punch, providing for 80 columns of output punching), the IBM 380 Console (containing the card feed, typewriter, keyboard and indicator lights and control keys), the IBM 340 Power Supply (supplying power for all components except the motors in the 350 disk storage unit), a utility table adjacent to the console, and the IBM 350 Disk Storage Unit.

The 350 Disk Storage Unit consisted of the magnetic disk memory unit with its access mechanism, the electronic and pneumatic controls for the access mechanism, and a small air compressor. Assembled with covers, the 350 was 60 inches long, 68 inches high and 29 inches deep. It was configured with 50 magnetic disks containing 50,000 sectors, each of which held 100 alphanumeric characters, for a capacity of 5 million characters.

Disks rotated at 1,200 rpm, tracks (20 to the inch) were recorded at up to 100 bits per inch, and typical head-to-disk spacing was 800 microinches. The execution of a “seek” instruction positioned a read-write head to the track that contained the desired sector and selected the sector for a later read or write operation. Seek time averaged about 600 milliseconds.

A short while back I asked Kate if she would like to design a bag. I’m glad she wanted to because after a few revisions and samples the final product is beautiful! And it has the perfect name… the Funchico (from Funky, Chic and Cool). The Funchico is based on a vintage train case but with features to accommodate the modern laptop-carrying woman. Its exterior fabric is a perfect fit for a vintage look, but it’s woven with pink threads to give it a modern edge. The pink threads make the fabric look different depending on how the light hits it. Really nice fabric, but as Kate mentions, hard to photograph.

Kate just posted her own review and write up of the bag on her lens. As always, she perfectly describes the bag, its features, fabric and more. You can find the entire write up on her lens and I’ve included it below.

Kate’s write up on the Funchico:

The Funchico – a Vintage-Style Pink Laptop Tote

Classic Holly Golightly style, updated for the 21st Century

Well, I finally did it! After spending over four years reviewing everyone elses’ laptop bags, I’ve finally designed one myself.

Meet … The Funchico!

I’m thrilled that I finally had the opportunity, through a partnership with Rainebrooke Designs, to create my dream bag. The Funchico’s design is based on a vintage train case – the kind that fashionable women used to carry on trains and ships as they embarked on exciting journeys around the world. Except, that bag silhouette wouldn’t work too well for the modern laptop-carrying fashionista. But with a few tweaks, you get the Funchico.

The Funchico is a vertically oriented bag that will hold up to a 15.4″ laptop. The sleeve in the centre of the bag is removable – great for getting through airport security. The inside of the bag is also fashioned on the train case. There are three generous pockets in the main compartment of the bag – they are loosely gathered and zippered to resemble the pockets in vintage luggage. The nice thing about them is that they will accommodate different size accessories – so whether your power brick is for a Mac or a PC, it will fit. As the Funchico is a clamshell-style, there are also two zippered slim pockets in the interior of the top of the case.

On the front of the Funchico, there is a small pocket with a silver twist closure that is perfect for your mobile phone or iPod. On the back, there are two zippers – open the top one and you have a place to stow a few documents or a magazine; open the bottom one as well and you have a passthrough you can use to attach the Funchico over the top of your luggage.

You can carry the Funchico either by its generous faux-leather shoulder handles or via the small briefcase-style handle on the top. And, of course there are four silver feet to protect the bottom from dirt.

One of the things I am most excited about the Funchico is the fabric. It is unique tan and pink metallic tweed. This gives the bag an interesting texture, depending on the light (it also makes it a little tricky to photograph – I’ve found the bag is actually more pink in real life than it is in the photos). The broader tweed weave makes it a little more dirt-resistant than bags with a tight tweed weave.

Oh, I mentioned that the internal sleeve is removable. It’s secured by Velcro strips and we’ve made sure that the “soft” side of the Velcro is on the interior of the bag, so, if you wanted, you could actually remove the sleeve and use the Funchico simply as an overnight bag. Sweet!

When designing the bag and working through the manufacturing process with Rainebrooke, we both wanted to make sure that we didn’t sacrifice the environment for fashion. So all carbon produced during manufacturing and transport has been offset purchased through Carbonfund.org. And finally, we donate a portion of the proceeds to Dress for Success (Vancouver and Houston chapters) – an organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire.

You can purchase the Funchico at Rainebrooke’s site – it sells for $99 US.

Steph is also hosting a giveaway for a free Allie pink laptop bag. Head over to her blog, watch the video and then enter to win! Update (7/12): congrats to Nicole @wordforteens for winning our giveaway.

While your on Steph’s blog, take a look at her debut novel “Girl Saves Boy” and pick up a copy for yourself in September.