
meanwhile ... Crumpler
If you’ve been promising yourself a new laptop holdall for ages, why not use this Bank Holiday weekend to get yourself, as the saying goes, a brand new bag? We’ll be looking bags for women tomorrow, so everyone can get kitted out with something chic, but first the swanky stuff for men. It’s not all about eye candy, though, as …
see how the insides squirt out from underneath the flap and let water in? i'm not sticking my laptop in that.
first thing to look at.. if the bag is lightly loaded does its flaps stick out? I've been absolutely drenched before on my 1 mile bike ride home, so I would not buy that bag.
you can see on the barbour little bits at the top that protect that from happening.
The boxford looks like a crap ripoff of a Billingham bag. Although not actual 'laptop bags' (designed for professional cameramen) - you can buy matching laptop slips to go inside them and Billingham bags are pretty much bomb proof, I've had mine for years.
Nah!
My approach to buying a laptop bag is best summed up by a colleague's comment, "I've seen better looking bags thrown in a skip".
If you're looking to pose walking from the car park to the office, fine. If you're travelling internationally, especially if that includes some dodgier areas, your bag should look like the last thing anyone would want to nick.
....only a rucksack is versatile enough for a one bag option. As soon as you put any weight in a man-bag it either slips from your shoulder or garrottes you (depending on how you wear it).
Not forgetting of course, that you cant use a man-bag to barge tourists out of the way on the tube.
Quite - I thought £159 was taking the piss until £245 came up.
Why so expensive? Actually, seriously, as a question. Fabric cost is maybe a few quid, retail. Stitching - seeing as Primark can make a profit on a jean jacket for a tenner, I'm not convinced that's the premium item.
see "why do the dogs lick their nether regions" question for the response. WTF indeed. While I'm sure there's a healthy market for these products, I thought they'd be distinctly incompatible with the register target audience. Was it tongue-in-cheeck piss-taking? (I'm not sure I'd want to see that! :)
http://www.itsvet.com/proizvod/targus-cdb1/carrybag/250/39
Had one since 1999 and just switched over to a new one (old but unused) I bought on Ebay two years ago. Pockets galore, enough space for a change of clothes and just works as a great all round bag. Mine went all over the world in the 15 years I used it.
I was so smitten with it I still haven't thrown my old one away (the main zip finally broke) as I had so many adventures with it. Sentimental? I guess so but it was a trusty travel and work companion for so many years.
I'll have to buy up another good example on Ebay soon just in case.
Ah well you see we used to buy a lot of Targus bags back in the day at our firm and bits would fall off them and break . So we used to contact them about the Lifetime guarantee.
Turns out its nothing of the sort. Targus just tells you to FO. You see they put the handy word 'limited' in front of the lifetime warranty part.
We had a time when we bought a load of satchel style bags from them. The main buckles would break off after just a few months. Targus refused to replace any of them.
Those prices are pretty amazing, do they carry it for you too?
I've had one of the 7dayshop laptop + SLR backpacks for a couple of years now. Pockets out of it's gazoo, easily fits a 15inch laptop and fits my DSLR and 3 lenses with no effort. You can take out the SLR pouch if you want extra space, has a rain cover and waist straps as well as nice comfy padding down the back and over the shoulders. This has been across the pond multiple times with me tucking under the seat in front, all for less than £30.
Only problem is if they stop you at security and ask you to unload it and they look in shock as more and more and more stuff comes out of it.
I can't believe that any article like this doesn't have at least one of those two brands. I have the Tom Bihn Airport Flyer, and it's the best laptop bag full stop end of story. My Crumpler messenger bag, which looks a lot better than all of these bags, is no match for the Tom Bihn or the incredible comfy strap. They don't sell the Airport Flyer any more, so it's eBay for a replacement if my current one dies.
Tom Bihn -- hear, hear! I bought a TB backpack (sorry, don't remember the model name) in, ahhh, 2001 and I still use it almost daily. More for schlepping groceries (it'll hold eight shelf-stable quart containers plus some extra, depending on how the goods are arranged) on my bike now than computer gear, but it's darn handy for flying since it fits under airplane seats yet holds enough clothes/stuff for any trips I take anymore. Zippers are starting to go, but I guess after more than a dozen years of not-delicate almost-daily use it's entitled.
And I've found no single bag that fits all trips. Cameras and lenses never fit well will with a business laptop, so I'm happy if the bag can take a small camera with a pancake lens attached. Anything else is a bonus. In tnat respect, that Samsung looks good, as does the Booq. Thinking of my workplace, I can't imagine anyone being impressed with the posh bags or their prices (it's all a little too grounded, which is why I like it).
They all look like man-bags, except the last.
I have held on to rucksack-style laptop bags. They're the only way to go. The one I have is padded enough to protect without being heavy at all. Space for a decent 17" screen and more, plus all the bits I could carry. It has headphone-out ports so you can pull out some headphones and listen to your mp3 player / laptop even in the rain. It carries comfortably on one shoulder, but I prefer two. It has the heftiest handle on the top for if you're carrying around.
It was cheap, nothing like the £70 and £150's of the article, more like £20. It's been abroad on any number of planes, through security any number of times (sometimes stopped just because of the SHEER number of cables, batteries and bits inside it that even with the laptop removed, it looks like a bunch of cables and blocks on the X-ray... usually taking it, unzipping it, and pulling out the mass of cables from the pocket will prove that I'm a geek not a terrorist in seconds. It's protected two different laptop over several years, and they always survive the journey whether by hand, car or plane even with a BUNCH of peripherals shoved in so much that the zip is straining.
I would hazard that if you attempted to just pull it off my back and run off you and I would end up in a tug-of-war and the rucksack / laptop would be pretty much unharmed whatever the outcome.
And it looks like a rucksack anyway, so I have walked through London with it quite happily.
Go on Amazon, look for "laptop rucksack" and a model that's not immediately associated with expensive hardware (or doesn't have logos visible).
Not these over-priced man-bags.
went to their site... wow. lots of skanky looking nylon bags, some in ridiculously bright colours. May as well buy crumpler! though if you did you would want to hack off their terrible 90s rave logo if you don't want people to know you are a pauper.
say one thing for the crumpler site though, at least it isnt chock full of weird looking gimps like the ManhattanPortage site.
@ The Mighty Spang
Aghhhhhh they've changed.
Mmine was Sanfordised cotton and cost around £50 which I thought was a lot for a bag. I've had it since 2008. Going strong. Just get a sleeve for devices (I use a little muji zipped one that has pockets for pens and notebooks on the outside, something like £12) .
Since I was a schoolboy I've always used MKV / MKVII gas mask bags to carry my stuff. Indeed, I'm currently using a MKV lined with a few foam offcuts to tote my laptop around.
It used to be that the genuine article could be had for a few pence from Army Surplus. These days replicas are available that lack the patina of grime and musty smell that added to the romance of the originals, but are just as serviceable.
...and he will tell you that there is only one brand that makes the cut: Tumi. They're expensive and pig-ugly, but after getting through a Samsonite carry-on every year I splashed out on a Tumi at five times the price. It's still good as new after ten years. You can write Tumis into your will.
My last bag was Ally Capellino. It looked great - but it was flimsy as hell and wore out within a couple of years. It's been replaced by a bag from a brand so forgettable that I've forgotten what it is. Point is, the replacement is far cheaper - and seems to be wearing far better.
You pays yer money - but doesn't necessarily gets yer quality.
No mention of Timbuk2 ?
Shame on you. They make great messenger bags with laptop slots (mine never leaves my side), and also more dedicated laptop bags that fit the "this is my briefcase but it has a sling on it" mould.
They also make lots of other luggage, which may or may not also be excellent.
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Had mine sInce 1996 and still going strong and as a courier bag you can get loads loads of kit in and still ride a bike with it.
For air travel my targus has been going almost as long.
Neither has that cutting edge trendy look of the ones in the article but when was the last time you heard someone say they get laid thanks to a 200 quid man bag?
Your average Googlista would sniff at these, except possibly the Ally Capelino.
Check out this: http://www.hardgraft.com/collections/13-macbook-air/products/back2back-heritage
or this:
http://www.mulberry.com/shop/mens/messenger-bags/slim-brynmore-oak-natural-leather
or for the decidedly fashion (and wallet) forward:
http://www.bottegaveneta.com/gb/men/onlineboutique/messenger-bags-and-backpacks
That's a nice selection. And I thought I had won everything when I had a "Targus Commuter" transported from Canada to Europe.
Been carrying in a laptop to work everyday now for the past 16 years and tried just about every combination of carrybags there are available on the market. The best solution I think is to purchase a well padded laptop sleeve in the matching size and place that in the briefcase or whatever external carry bag you use for work. Although it significantly increases the weight of the bag, if it should be dropped or occasionally rain soaked, the laptop seems to get away unscathed. The padded sleeves seem to be very reasonably priced as well, certainly on Amazon a good quality item can be purchased for under 20 pounds, a far cry from some of the laptop holder bags being reviewed that are coming in at over a hundred quid!
I do drive to and from work, so I don't have to carry the bag for more than a few minutes at a time, but for people who commute on a train for hours on end, perhaps a separate laptop bag may be the best solution.
Having had multiple laptops crushed due to soft bags like these I bought a hard case 12 years back and it has protected various laptops since then very nicely. Every company I've worked for has issued these nasty soft bags and you end up stuffing all your cables and chargers in there along with the laptop and inevitably end up with it getting dents or cracks depending on the material. A hard case is where it is at.
I'm surprised nobody else picked up on this: "...but in my mind too many typically means it’s the last pocket you check that contains what you’re looking for." It's always in the last pocket I check, because I stop checking then!
Like many of the other commenters...how much?! Work tools should look smart, but if they still look brand new you don't use them for a living. At those prices I would be paranoid about scuffing the bag!
My two bags are both well over 10 years old and were about £30 each. A Targus backpack for up to 15" and whatever junk I need (stuffed it with spanners, cutters and soldering equipment on more than one occasion). The other is a slightly smarter looking leather briefcase with padding for 17" and a shoulder strap. I've had to repair the briefcase as the latch slides on the front broke off, but a few minutes with an M3 tap and some HP drive mounting bolts (japanned, slotted Torx head) has restored it to full functionality.