Having just traveled for 64 hours inairline economy class seating, I figured the investment in a magsafe empower adapter for my macbook would be a smart idea.

Apple produce the magsafe airline adapter for macbook / macbook pro, which is available from apple stores and from the apple store website.

However, I was initially dissuaded by some of the negative customer reviews on the Apple store (kudos to Apple for keeping them there), so I started to search for other third-party products.

As it happens, Apple is the only company to make an empower adapter for macbook at present, to my knowledge they haven’t granted any licenses to other manufacturers to produce magsafe magnetic power adapter products.

So, without an alternative – I bit the bullet and purchased the Apple magsafe airline power adapter from the high street (the day before my flight).

The adapter comes with two connectors, an em power (airline) adapter, and a 12v car cigarette lighter power adapter. The power cord is long enough to reach across your lap if you are seated with the empower socket on your right hand side (as mine was).

It is important to note that the empower adapter does not charge your macbook in-flight, but it does allow it to operate without draining the battery. It is therefore a good idea to start your trip with a full charge in case you want to take advantage of the free WiFi services now offered in many airports.

I flew economy class, Cathay Pacific from Sydney to London via Hong Kong. An both legs the seats were equipped with empower connectors, although the hostess on the first leg didn’t know about them. You can check which airlines offer empower over at seatguru.com.

Cathay Pacific advertise empower connector as available in economy class on a shared basis. What this actually means is that they provide one connector for every two seats. The connectors themselves are not obvious, they are below the seats and in the middle, you can identify them (if it’s dark) by a small green LED denoting their presence.

The power worked faultlessly throughout the flight, which allowed me to do a bit of work and watch a couple of movies on a much better screen than those provided in the seat backs.

One complaint that was consistently expressed in the apple.com reviews, was that the cigarette lighter connector does not fit securely over the airline adapter. I’m not sure if Apple have addressed this issue, but I can say that the adapter I have fits snugly on with a reassuring snap. I would have to be quite neglectful to leave the cigarette lighter adapter behind somewhere.

In summary, this product allowed me to use my macbook as much as I wished, on this rather long journey. It is well made, and in true Apple form – a well designed product. I can’t think of any obvious way that Apple could have designed this product any better. Highly recommended for air travelers.

Toffee are an Australian company who make sumptuous leather laptop sleeves specifically to fit popular notebooks, including the 13” macbook and 15”/17” macbook pro; available in seven colours, they ship worldwide.

The perfect travel accessory?

In the past, I’ve used larger notebook bags, and leather laptop bags – the kind with handles, shoulder straps and places to keep your power bricks, etc… but the problem I’ve always had is that they are dedicated to carrying a computer, which means an extra bag to lug around.

As a notebook protector, this exquisite leather sleeve is designed to slip inside a backpack or briefcase, protecting your fragile notebook from sand, dust, moisture, scratches and minor impacts.

The exterior is made from a quality leather that is pleasing to the touch, and has a good texture that it isn’t going to slip out of your fingers very easily.

The interior is comprised of a cushioned protective padding, and a smooth soft liner that keeps your macbook safe from scratches, and also make it easy to slip in and out of the sleeve, while still providing a snug fit.

The zip is metal, and compliments the quality of the soft materials. The stitching is sturdy and doesn’t look like it will come apart.

A couple of weeks in, and I’m happy to report the Toffee is performing very well.

To sum up, the Toffee does it’s job superbly. It’s not the cheapest sleeve on the market, but might possibly be the best.

It also makes a pretty good heat shield to protect your legs from your macbook, when using it on your lap!

Definitely two thumbs up, highly recommended.

Available direct from Toffee.