Air travel--while a requirement of modern life for many--has become, at best, a barely tolerable experience that tests the patience of even the zen-like commuter. The chokepoint most likely to raise one's blood pressure is the infamous security checkpoint, with its required shedding of shoes and belts, and, of course, the oft-repeated admonition to remove one's laptop from its case.
Hoping to spare you at least a few seconds of frustration, the TSA has helpfully provided laptop-case makers with some official guidelines for creating laptop cases that can go through the X-ray machine with a laptop still inside. One of the first examples we've seen is the $99 Targus Zip-Thru Corporate Traveler.
The basic concept is to allow the X-ray machine to get a clear view of the laptop, without anything else in the way, such as keys, power adapters, or iPods. Like other bags modeled on the TSA guidelines, the Targus Zip-Thru unzips into two distinct halves: one for your laptop (and nothing but), and one for everything else you carry. A third zipper sits between the two compartments; when unzipped, the bag splits open butterfly style, so it can lay flat on the X-ray machine's conveyor belt.
