The Macbook Air is just one of many marvels the Apple company has released. It boasts Dual-Core processing, a full 13 inch display, weighs precisely three pounds and is just a hair over 3/4ths of an inch thick. When taking into account the hardware and mechanics involved in creating and assembling a high quality notebook computer, Apple pulled no punches.

The Macbook Air is an expensive, yet powerful notebook computer, and as such it should be protected at all times. This especially includes protection during transport of your Macbook Air from one location to another. One very simple, multipurpose method of protecting your Macbook is a messenger bag. The messenger bag is characterized by it's many pockets and singular long strap that is meant to be crossed over the body. This causes the bag to rest against a hip or leg with the strap balancing the weight of the bag and it's contents on the opposing shoulder.

So, which messenger bags are the best rated to protect your Macbook Air? It depends on your budget. Here you will learn the pros and cons to hard cases and soft cases, with five-star rated examples of both. Read on, your Macbook deserves it.

Better than your breakfast cereal here - the soft messenger bag from Apple pictured above is the Hamptons collection in blue. This bag hangs low, offering ergonomic support while you tote around your Macbook Air. This bag has a backpack mode, in which you can carry your Macbook and all your little accessories on your back with one strap or two. It also has messenger bag mode, the single strap allowing you to hold the bag on one shoulder or strapped across your body.

This bag also has an easy grab handle at the top, just in case you don't want to sling it on your shoulders after all. This versatile carrying case is available at the Apple store for a trim $99.95 and is water resistant, sports pockets everywhere, and provides a budget solution for your Macbook Air's protection during travel while looking snazzy and not cutting too hard into your iTunes money.

Coming to you in four different sizes, SFBags has a professional and simple hard case bag on a little higher price point than Apple's, but you get what you pay for!

The benefit of a hard case is, of course, level of impact resistance. A hard case can take more of a beating - not that you want it to have to. The Waterfield Designs hard case is an everyday accessory with nearly an inch of padding all around that precious Macbook Air. What does this mean to you? You get to put your Macbook in a container padded more than two Macbooks altogether!

The hard case pictured above runs you about $230 bucks, and weighs in at just over two pounds. It has a shoulder strap for one-shoulder or cross-body wear, and a quick grab handle.

One concern about carrying around your laptop, be it a Macbook Air or any other kind, is that over time the keyboard will press against the display panel and warp or otherwise damage the display. This is a simply a matter of pressure, and can be staved off in a few ways.

The simplest way to avoid damage to your laptop's display screen is to refrain from throwing around or jostling your laptop as you carry it. The more force with which you move the laptop the more chance exists that you will cause the keyboard to slam against the display area.

Another solution is to purchase a thin sort of padding. There are many places where you can get padding for your laptop, one of them being through Amazon.com. You can also pick up microsuede or soft brushed felt and cut it to the size of your display.

Having a soft buffer between your keyboard and the display will keep both halves of your laptop protected, as well as helping soak up some heat after a long period of using the laptop. Be kind to your electronics, they'll last you longer!