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http://www.ebags.com/dopp/regatta_88_series_front_ getaway_pocket/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=98 92

Big enough, but not too small.

The eBags Downloader backpack has served me well for over a year now. I'm in a similar situation -- I carry a ton of gear, as well as cables and spare batteries for everything. It's not perfect, but short of designing a custom-made bag to fit my specific set of items, I'm fairly happy with this bag.

The two main compartments each have sub-compartments, including a laptop section with foamy padding. There's a decent sized pocket on the front (in which I store my iPod and PDA), two on the sides (good for a cell phone or two in one, and a small umbrella in the other), and the zippered subpockets in the smaller of the two main compartments are perfect for batteries and cables.

I was skeptical about purchasing an eBags branded bag, but so far I'm impressed with the quality. The biggest indicator for me? The zippers never stick. The regular price is reasonable, but it's easy to find coupon codes to bring it down a few dollars more.

One other suggestion: get some retractable cables (i.e. ziplinq) to replace anything in your bag longer than a foot.

This or something similar is what you need. (No endorsement of ebags.com implied, I bought mine from a store locally.) Many times I took mine back and forth from Boston to LA, jam packed with a laptop, papers and manuals, lots of fiddly little data and power adapters, etc. It would barely fit under the airplane seat in front of me (and I'm using a loose definition of the word "fit"). If the laptop had broken, I would have been toast. No problem. The laptop sleeve is incredibly well made, and is like a padded hammock for your laptop. The full bag was very heavy; no female except Olga on the Soviet Olympic weightlifting team would be able to lift it. But the handles stayed on. That was a year ago, and I'm still using it for lighter duty locally. But if I had to pack it up again and hop a flight to LA, it would still do the job. I wouldn't trade it for anything (within reason :-).

Function is the coolest feature, IMHO. I prefer a bag that carries what you need and nobody can tell if there's a laptop inside. Especially for airports. Let the guy who's "dressed for success" be the mark and just get on your flight with no muss or fuss.

Samsonite makes some nice backpacks like that. I've bought three Samsonite backpacks in the last three years:

one for me (linked) that my fiance "borrowed"
one to replace the first (which turned out to be ideal for just carrying the laptop but too small for travel)
and the current backpack that can carry my laptop as well as organize my camera bag (small SLR camera)

But at the moment, ebags only has the original that is still used (and loved) by my fiance for carrying her laptop to and from classes, especially when she's on her motorcycle.

Regards,
Ross

I've got a Trager Cross Country bag (which came from eBags). Its a three-way -- carry handle, shoulder strap, and disappearing backpack straps. Its slides easily over a rolly-bag handle -- good for schlepping through airports. There's room on the inside for a laptop of good size and a notebook or two as week as a pretty spacious outside pocket for all your cables/chargers/other gear.

I've had mine a long time (>3 years) and use it every day. Its great. Nothing's broken, torn, or ripped. Its outlasted 3 laptops and show's no real signs on wear. They have a bigger one and a smaller one now too.

Their US URL is www.crumplerusa.com and they can be found for purchase on eBags. They are great bags. I have traveled numerous times in airports, cars, etc with the Farmer's Double with my laptop and my Nikon N70, plus I carry it every day to work, and I have not had a problem yet.

Yeah the people that make the Swiss Army Knives, also make an amazing bag: http://www.ebags.com/victorinox/precision_gear_lap top_pak/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=14780

I got a Mountain smith Explore [froogle] from eBags.com for my 15" Powerbook and it works great. The nice thing about this backpack is that the laptop is suspended above the bottom of the bag in an interior neoprene sleeve.

Yeah, I've been using this one and like it a lot. I would have liked a slightly smaller one, but I needed a larger backpack for my oversized, heavy laptop.

Having good straps is absolutely necessary when you know you'll be carrying a lot of weight. Personally I wish that REI would make laptop bags, since I've had such great luck with their bags in the past.

And they'll fix or replace them if anything breaks (with normal usage, of course).

I like this backpack by Mobile Edge on ebags.com: http://www.ebags.com/mobile_edge/select_backpack/p roduct_detail/index.cfm?ModelID=18154
If you look closely at the pictures you'll see that it even has a special pocket for a CD/MP3 player with a hole for the headphone cord. That way you can listen to music without even taking the MP3 player out of the backpack. There's a detachable pocket for your cell phone. It also doesn't look obviously like a laptop bag. Some of the reviewers thought it was a little small if you wanted to carry a lot of other things. I won't know until next week when I get mine! Newegg.com (where I got mine) does have a better price, they have the black version of this for $50: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?desc ription=34-997-609&depa=3. The also have the blue version for $55.

Right now I have an EastPak Unplugged

It's a huge bag (18x13x11: 2500 in^3) and ways only 1.25 pounds. But its laptop sleeve is poor and importantly it's got poorly-thought-out zipper design which tends to snag.

What I want is a reasonably large bag which is lightweight (important), has a good sleeve design, and has BIG ZIPPERS. The only two big-zipper bags I know of are Brenthaven (way too expensive, WAY too heavy) and Victorinox (good bag design, rediculously expensive).

Any ideas?

I have a Trager laptop backpack with which I have been quite happy. It looks like a normal daypack but comes with a semi-rigid padded laptop case ("Vertical Transporter" TM) that fits into a cloth pocket at the bottom rear of the interior of the pack. In addition to the main section, there are two large pockets, one on top of the other, and two small pockets with vertical zippers. The pockets easily hold a mouse and power adapter. Indeed, the main section is just large enough to hold both a good-sized laptop and a large digital audio recorder), with the power adapters for both devices, microphones, cables, etc. in one pocket. I've used it to carry books too and found it comfortable with a heavy load. In addition to padded shoulder straps, it has a strong padded handle at the top. It also has a waist strap, though it is not the sort of wide, padded waist belt you get with a full scale backpack. The site I just looked at, ebags, lists these for US$159.99, but I'm sure I paid less than $100 for mine.

If you're looking for something that doesn't look, feel, and act like every other bag on the market, you should definitely check out groundwear . That link goes to a good laptop bag, but they have some backpacks that would also fit the bill. My friend at work has one of their bags and I am jealous enough of it that I may shelve the JanSport except for over night trips.

I looked around for a long time when I got my laptop and never found just the right backpack that was confortable, fasionable, and functional. I ended up getting an inexpensive laptop sleeve from ebags here.

This sleeve works great with my backpack and is handy to use by itself. It opens on the shorter side so it can be opened while in my backpack.

This sleeve in a backpack protect a laptop better than any laptop backpack I've seen.

If you do decide to get a laptop, do NOT get a laptop bag. Get a backpack that carries a laptop with your books. The fat breifcase style bags just scream out "HEY! I HAVE A LAPTOP INSIDE" and the second you set it down (to pay for your lunch, check out the books at the library, wash your hands in the bathroom, etc) it becomes a target. if you get a backpack, it's just like every other backpack on campus and doesn't draw any extra attention to you on the street/in the quad. Plus, you wear it like a backpack and you don't have to set it down to do things with your hands.

2. Timbuk2 Detour. amazingly weather proof backpack, not nearly as narrow as the digital (the laptop goes in horizontally, not vertically) which is a bummer. also, the laptop doesn't hang like the digital so be careful setting the bag down. otherwise a superb product, supposedly totally weather proof (tho it hasn't taken the torrential rain test yet like my booq backpack did last year, and, btw, failed miserably!), and very well designed for accessories. also it's convertible between a backpack and an over the shoulder bag, unlike the digital which is purely a backpack.

note: i ride a motorcycle so i need extra heavy weather protection for my thinkpad. i've even crashed with the digital on my back and slid about 100 feet and the laptop, while a little banged up, still booted fine. (yes, if you were on the bay bridge at 10:30am or so last tuesday heading into SF, that was me sliding behind my ducati. one word: ALLCELPHONEUSINGCLUELESSSUVDRIVERSMUSTDIE)

I give it three thumbs up. Not cheap (about $140US) but extremely well made and easily handles all the crap I carry with me each day. It also comes with a separate laptop "briefcase" ( a bag within a bag as it were)for those times when you don't need to take the "mother ship" with you and may just need to take your laptop to a meeting or such.

I bought mine from ebags a couple of years ago but I am sure they are available elsewhere.

I've owned and abused the Eastpak "Unplugged" for several years now. Rugged exterior. Nice padded compartment for the laptop. Plenty of pockets for your gear. I can fit my laptop, dc pwr converter, smartswitch w/pwr, too much cat 5, 2 digital cameras and all their gear, a change of clothes, a small snack, and about 20 lbs of paperwork. Convenient internal snap ring for keys, fobs, etc. Centers the weight nicely on your back for less strain but still not too bad when just using one strap saddle bag style. For less than 50 bucks.

I love my Zero Halliburton attache. They are durable as hell and you will look like James Bond when you walk through the airport with it. The only problem is, you have to do a little bit of customizing to suit your Apple TiBook. My ZH laptop case was designed to carry laptops like Dells and Compaqs, not 1/2" thick PowerBooks. The straps inside just didn't cut it. Instead, I gutted the interior and glued in a piece of dense foam. Into this foam, which is available at any camera or music equipment store, I cut the outline of my PowerBook and Apple power supply, along with a cutout for my ethernet cable. Everything fits snug-as-a-bug in the new lining and it looks hella cool.

There are even some designed to look serious. In particular, Samsonite has a line with a lot of padding and an amazing way of distributing the weight: I barely feel my 7 lb laptop. (I am comparing with a Dell backpack with which i DO feel the weight much more).

Also, lots of compartments, even one designed to store your MP3 player with a hole to slide your headphes cable through, and lots of extra room.

The model in particular that I have and am 100% satisfied with is the Rafter[ebags.com] model. If you buy in that site, make sure to check TechbargainsTechbargains for coupons.

As the topic is carrying a laptop while engaging in physical activities beyond merely walking, I offer a cautionary tale, and a product opinion:

A laptop bag with a shoulder strap will tend to shift as you move, which is alright while walking, but intolerable on a bicycle or motorcycle. Because of this, I purchased a triangular shoulder bag -- the kind with a single large padded strap over the right shoulder, and a small side strap on the left to prevent the bag from shifting. Several laptop bag makers offer this style of bag.

It worked great until I was hit by a car while on my bike, and landed on top of the bag. The resulting tension concentrated on the single strap of the bag and broke my collarbone in two places (at the edges of the wide strap). I now have a 7" scar, a nice metal plate, and 8 screws in my collarbone to help me remember the event. No more shoulder-bags for me, and most laptop backpacks are uncomfortable (the strap presses on the bolt-heads).

I now use a Mountainsmith lumbar pack (a slightly more dignified version of a giant fannypack). This offers all of the no-shifting benefits of the backpack, without much risk of additional upper body injury if I feel the need to fling myself in front of a car again. As an added bonus the pack offers a small degree of back protection. The "Passage" model is/was designed for a 15" laptop + almost 2" of papers, has both a briefcase-style handle and shoulder strap that stows away. When I'm on the motorcycle, I use both the waist and shoulder strap, just in case one fails. I'd hate to see $2500 of equipment go skittering down the road without me. The Passage bag is very well made, has held up perfectly for more than a year, and provided adequate protection for the laptop in a few minors bumps/drops. It's available here, here, and some other places.

Jon

(Oh, and yes, the laptop survived the accident above -- inside an Otterbox.)

As the topic is carrying a laptop while engaging in physical activities beyond merely walking, I offer a cautionary tale, and a product opinion:

A laptop bag with a shoulder strap will tend to shift as you move, which is alright while walking, but intolerable on a bicycle or motorcycle. Because of this, I purchased a triangular shoulder bag -- the kind with a single large padded strap over the right shoulder, and a small side strap on the left to prevent the bag from shifting. Several laptop bag makers offer this style of bag.

It worked great until I was hit by a car while on my bike, and landed on top of the bag. The resulting tension concentrated on the single strap of the bag and broke my collarbone in two places (at the edges of the wide strap). I now have a 7" scar, a nice metal plate, and 8 screws in my collarbone to help me remember the event. No more shoulder-bags for me, and most laptop backpacks are uncomfortable (the strap presses on the bolt-heads).

I now use a Mountainsmith lumbar pack (a slightly more dignified version of a giant fannypack). This offers all of the no-shifting benefits of the backpack, without much risk of additional upper body injury if I feel the need to fling myself in front of a car again. As an added bonus the pack offers a small degree of back protection. The "Passage" model is/was designed for a 15" laptop + almost 2" of papers, has both a briefcase-style handle and shoulder strap that stows away. When I'm on the motorcycle, I use both the waist and shoulder strap, just in case one fails. I'd hate to see $2500 of equipment go skittering down the road without me. The Passage bag is very well made, has held up perfectly for more than a year, and provided adequate protection for the laptop in a few minors bumps/drops. It's available here, here, and some other places.

Jon

(Oh, and yes, the laptop survived the accident above -- inside an Otterbox.)

As the topic is carrying a laptop while engaging in physical activities beyond merely walking, I offer a cautionary tale, and a product opinion:

A laptop bag with a shoulder strap will tend to shift as you move, which is alright while walking, but intolerable on a bicycle or motorcycle. Because of this, I purchased a triangular shoulder bag -- the kind with a single large padded strap over the right shoulder, and a small side strap on the left to prevent the bag from shifting. Several laptop bag makers offer this style of bag.

It worked great until I was hit by a car while on my bike, and landed on top of the bag. The resulting tension concentrated on the single strap of the bag and broke my collarbone in two places (at the edges of the wide strap). I now have a 7" scar, a nice metal plate, and 8 screws in my collarbone to help me remember the event. No more shoulder-bags for me, and most laptop backpacks are uncomfortable (the strap presses on the bolt-heads).

I now use a Mountainsmith lumbar pack (a slightly more dignified version of a giant fannypack). This offers all of the no-shifting benefits of the backpack, without much risk of additional upper body injury if I feel the need to fling myself in front of a car again. As an added bonus the pack offers a small degree of back protection. The "Passage" model is/was designed for a 15" laptop + almost 2" of papers, has both a briefcase-style handle and shoulder strap that stows away. When I'm on the motorcycle, I use both the waist and shoulder strap, just in case one fails. I'd hate to see $2500 of equipment go skittering down the road without me. The Passage bag is very well made, has held up perfectly for more than a year, and provided adequate protection for the laptop in a few minors bumps/drops. It's available here, here, and some other places.

Jon

(Oh, and yes, the laptop survived the accident above -- inside an Otterbox.)

If you are going to be doing any more jogging, I've been really happy with my Ogio Metro backpack which I found at eBags.com for around $60. eBags is great because not only do they provide excellent service, but they also have terrific user feedback on all of their products. I'm currently using my bag for my PowerBook G4 Aluminum 15". It won't fit much bigger than the PowerBook though, but it holds my laptop snugly, with lots of padding. The bag also has plenty of extra pockets for my power adapter, extra battery, and all of my school work.

Also has global bag tracking. If it is found and reported they will send it to your for free.

I have the WebMaster series Computer Briefcase. Quite a nice bag, not sure why they call it a briefcase. Expandable too. Their moto "Best Laptop Protection. Period." The insert is padded and can be used as its own carry case for the laptop if you use your own strap.

The zippers and hooks and connectors are all metal and look and feel solid.

Check out O'GIO for some cool bags. Buy them cheap at EBags. I like the "clip", but don't believe the dimentions given for the size of laptop it will accomodate. Read the reviews for more accurate info. This one was too small for my HP Pavilion, so I got the "switch." Check out the "metro" for one of the coolest notebook backpacks made.

i'll prolly spring for a brenthaven next time around, but when i was in the market, there were very few laptop-backpacks which would fit a 15" tibook. i think market demand for carrying bigger screen laptops has changed that though.

don't be a dumbass ;-) get a new bag to protect your gear(and your livelihood)!

i'll prolly spring for a brenthaven next time around, but when i was in the market, there were very few laptop-backpacks which would fit a 15" tibook. i think market demand for carrying bigger screen laptops has changed that though.

don't be a dumbass ;-) get a new bag to protect your gear(and your livelihood)!

Seconded. I've had a Victorinox WebSeries 2.0 WebPak for a something over a year. I carry it nearly everywhere, and it's served me very well, with no hints of wear.

This is what it looks like (Victorinox don't appear to have it listed on their own site). While it's not cheap, it's not overpriced, either, if you shop around. It's also quite clear that a fair amount of thought went into its design. It has thoughtful little extras, such as two carrying straps; one for over a single shoulder, and another for over both shoulders backpack-style. There's plenty of room for most laptop peripherals, as well as pockets for pens, business cards, etc. I have the nylon version; a leather version is also available.

A fine investment I'm very pleased with.

Schwab

Earlier this year I was doing a lot of travel, both with a laptop and a bunch of PDA-type devices, and desperately needed to replace my crappy old laptop bag. I shopped around ebags and decided to get the High Sierra A.T. Gear case. It's discontinued now, but ebags still has some left, as well as the newer models. Note that the link is to one with wheels. Mine is without.

I like it because it's got a removable inside second bag for the laptop that I can use to carry it around inside work, and then just use the bigger bag when I need to schlep stuff home or on a trip. The little pockets on the front are perfect for carrying all my PDA stuff. I thought the backpack straps would be useless, but I've used them several times in airport and they're quite handy. The only downside is the shoulder strap can be a bit tiring on the shoulder when the bag is full, but I've never found a laptop bag that isn't.

If I were to do it again I'd get the version with wheels. And the funky orange version. The blue I have is nice, but it's a bit tame :)

I use the laptrap for carrying my 15" toshiba and accessories but use the crumpler when I just want to carry the laptop with no accessories. I would recommend a crumpler bag over any of them. The wide selection of bags that they have are great and made tough. Ebags has a wide selection to choose from of bags. Hope this helps.

I use the laptrap for carrying my 15" toshiba and accessories but use the crumpler when I just want to carry the laptop with no accessories. I would recommend a crumpler bag over any of them. The wide selection of bags that they have are great and made tough. Ebags has a wide selection to choose from of bags. Hope this helps.

Use a backpack laptop bag. The shoulder strap bags have a single point of failure--the single shoulder strap. They also divide the weight unequally.

I have:
a zitteli bag from ebags.com (not available on amazon) which fits a big Inspiron 8500 or an 8200.

Much, much more comfortable than my old shoulder strap bag. The non-laptop pockets have less organizational doodads, but works well enough.

I can't stress how much more comfortable it is, though. $40 for this is much better than the $100 for a nice looking shoulder bag.

I looked at alot of laptop briefcases and backpacks (Targus, Columbia, etc.) and the one I liked best is called the Ogio Metro. I ended up getting it at ebags.com ebags.com. I've had it for about 5 months now and am very happy with it.

I highly recommend a backpack over a hand bag, because you wont get tired as easily carrying it, and because it doesn't say "He look at me, I've got a $3000 computer waiting to be stolen" the way a Targus bag does. I've tried 3 different notebook bags (and the best targus handbag out there) and the Northface network really did it for me, even if the side padding is a bit weak.

I carry the following:

Palm IIIc: Front left pants pocket

Dell X200 Laptop: Ultra-portable laptop (12")-- I carry this in a RoadWired messenger bag which I take almost everywhere.

Canon S110 digital camera (digital elph): It's in a small pouch attached to the shoulder strap of my laptop bag

Nokia 3360 cellphone: I don't carry this as often, since I don't like cellphones, but if I'm carrying it, it's in the interior jacket pocket.

Panasonic CD player: I have a little cd carrying bag that I sometimes lug around with me if it's a long walk to where I'm going.


Yeah, I like my toys to be small.

Well, my big problem with newer gadgets is that people seem to care more about extra features rather than making them smaller. I have no interest in a PDA that can play MP3s or has 64MB of memory. On the other hand, if you can shrink one down to just the size of the screen (plus a small border) and make them half an inch thick, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Also, make more small phones without movable parts. I don't want to waste my time pulling out an antenna or flipping open my phone. And stop putting features in my phone! I don't need an MP3 player in my phone.

I want small specialized products.

of a good way to keep a laptop from being stolen is to not put it in a bag that screams, "There's a laptop in this bag!

Yes, I agree.

Personally, I put my laptop in a small computer sleeve and then put it in my casual backpack. This is even much safer than using Targus notebook bag as professional thief may recognize this kind of expensive laptop bag. For me, I can put my sleeve into whatever kind of bags, suitcase and backpack but still have enough protection to my notebook.

When I'm toting my laptop, I need to carry a mouse and a power cord, among other things. I need my notebooks, pens, CD's, etc... If I carry this thing, not only will it not fit in my laptop backpack which I'll STILL have to carry, but now I've also lost one of my two carry-ons allowed on the plane. If I stuff my current Dell (or iBook) into my backpack, I've got everything I need plus room to spare, and I can also carry on a toiletries bag in case I get stranded.

If you want tough, go and buy a Miltope TSC-750 or any one of the rugged laptops from Niche. Besides, according to this article in MacWorld, the iBook is pretty tough as it is.

"Come to think of it, there already are a million monkeys at a million typewriters, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare." - Blair Houghton

Serendipitously enough, I was looking for something to hold all my stuff just last week. I eventually ended up purchasing an Adidas Sequence 2001 sling bag from eBags. I'll see how well it works once it arrives. The thing that attracted me to it was the large back compartment (for my laptop) and the cell phone pocket on the strap -- I'm trying to reduce the items on my belt, and the phone and iPAQ were just too much at once.

I just bought a JanSport PackPocket today. Usually I would just carry around my Visor in my cargo pants. At work (where I had to wear slacks), I carried it in my hand, and just put it in my desk drawer during the day. But I'm starting back school pretty soon, and will be on the go more often (and can't always wear cargo pants). I have a friend with one of these, and she loves it. It can hook onto the front of a backpack strap. I'm going to keep my Visor, checkbook, and pens in it. But I just got it today, so I'll see how it turns out.

A relatively inexpensive but very useful tool -- something that combines a wallet, a cell phone carrier, a Pilot holder, and a notepad and pen holder. It comes with a long strap I've never used - Lodis customer service sent me a hand strap for $10 (also makes it less "pursey"). Much less hassle than carrying this junk seperately, with the side benefit of getting the wallet off your butt. $70 at ebags: Lodis all-in-one wallet

I don't have one yet, and the model he has doesn't appear to be available anymore, but I'm still looking.

His has a number of pockets for geek stuff (a common theme, I see!) and the added plus of some bungee cargo webbing that will hold just about anything on the outside back of the pack.

It also has the waist strap for support on those "heavy days" (oohhh... booo... hiss...) and looks a heck of a lot nicer than most backpacks designed for PC's, because it wasn't.

The insert's made out of nylon and has some kind of attachment to the inside of the pack which I haven't been able to get in there and look at yet.

(Hey, the things full of STUFF every time I see it!)

I'm going to buy one as soon as I find a similar model... I have a Port laptop bag and hate it.

No more heavy obnoxious Port laptop bag with no space for anything else other than the laptop for me. That thing's twice the size of most backpacks and I can barely bring along both the floppy drive and the CD-ROM when mobile.

Company issue, go figure. ;)

p.s. Disclaimer: eBags is a customer of mine, but I don't receive any direct compensation for anything they sell (other than if they're successful, I am too!) I personally shop there regularly and really like their selection and prices. They're always adding new stuff to the site, it's fun to watch.

Go on over to Ebags and looks for Trager brand bags; they make about 4 styles, all of which are good. My most recent purchase is the "Rover" - this thing has great pocket design and is made of some hardcore bulletproof nylon stuff. I carry a Dell i7.5k (15.4" screen), Palm, tons of cables, phone, etc and feel comfortable. It uses good metal connectors, so you don't get that squeaky sound when you move like the plastic crap makes. My favourite feature are the front two pockets I call "jump" pockets -- the zipper top to bottom on the side, one on each end. Makes the perfect Palm/Cell carrying spot - easy access in a flash. -te