Briggs & Riley Verb Live Large Backpack

I love this top-quality bag from Briggs and Riley. The 'Large' version of their new Verb Live line swallows up my 15" laptop and will comfortably handle my pending 17" upgrade. Its attractive styling allows me to walk into any business meeting without looking like I've got a student backpack slung over my shoulder. And, I love the orange insides which give it a bit of fashion sense and its carrier a bit of dash.

I've had bags where I've simply not used over 50% of the pockets because they serve no useful process. Not here. Every pocket has proven functionality.

Moreover, the ergonomics of the bag are fantastic. I transferred all the items from my previous bag into the Verb Live and was convinced I must have somehow lost something in the transition. The Briggs & Riley felt like a much lighter load. It's due to the way the bag is perched on your back. Instead of dragging your shoulders back, the weight is expertly distributed throughout the length of the bag. It's an elegant technical achievement by the design team.

I bought this backpack just before I started my MBA program and it is in immaculate condition now, over 2 years later. Some might consider it expensive, but it is truly the best laptop backpack out there if you need a lot of space.

First of all, it has a padded laptop pouch immediately against the inside (against your back) which comfortably fit my 17" MacBook Pro. This was a key feature for me; most laptop bags don't fit a 17" and even if they do, it is a tight squeeze. The padding seems really good but I am paranoid and keep my machine in a neoprene sleeve as well and it still slides in and out of the laptop pouch in the backpack very easily.

Second, there remains an amazing amount of storage in the main compartment even after putting in your laptop on the other side of the divided pouch. I frequently carried a few hundred pages in various folders of handouts and readings to and from class with no problems. Sometimes I squeezed in a 500+ page textbook. You will likely exceed your carrying capacity before you exceed the space.

Final point on the main compartment: two nice half-depth elasticized pockets for sundries that you don't want to dig around for on the bottom of the backpack. I rarely use these, but sometimes I travel with my daughter and throw her ipod in one of them and it is a breeze to pull it out on the plane without digging deep in the pack.

There is also a middle compartment which is somewhat more shallow (still easily fits 8 1/2 x 11 paper) which is also subdivided into three vertical areas with lightly-padded dividers. In my case, it was a great place to put loose papers and/or magazines for flights. Also great for receipts or even ipad or kindle.

Just when you thought it was over...three more compartments to go!

The bottom compartment is amazingly spacious. I kept my power brick (admittedly the Mac has a comparatively small one), iPhone charger (cable plus wall plug), two USB cables, two ethernet cables (one standard 6 ft and one compact spring-loaded one), and my bluetooth headset wall charger inside it and still had room to spare. Plus the layout is perfect because it is like a large rectangle when you fully unzip it it is easy to find everything.

There is also what I consider the "utility" compartment on the most outside layer. I fit half a dozen pens, 50 or so business cards, a few key DVDs and CDs, mints, gum, advil, a couple of USB sticks, and a couple of other sundries all in this pouch without any feeling of being cramped. It has half a dozen little compartments and pouches within it to let you organize however you want.

Last but not least, there is the tiny outermost pocket which I never used but which appears to be designed for an iPod or something else tiny (I never used it because it doesn't seem quite padded enough).

Oh, and just for bonus, there is the headphone pass-through space from one of the interior pockets, the phone pouch on the strap, and even the unzippable side drink pocket. This is essentially the perfect backpack!

Lest you think I am an employee of the company or something, there is one drawback I have to point out:

The placement of the phone pocket on the shoulder strap is terrible. I have an iPhone and the pouch is exactly where the middle of the curve of the strap should be over my right shoulder. This isn't just slightly wrong; it is very wrong even moving it 3 or 4 inches further up the strap would still put it right where the strap is trying to curve, which means there is this really uncomfortable lump if you try and put the phone in the designated pouch. If they moved it down like 5" then it would be on the straight part of the strap and easy to put in and out as well as being comfortable. As it is, I am even afraid that continued use could crack my phone eventually.

One final note on quality: I have used this constantly for two years and it remains immaculate. I flew to NY with it 5 times and have at least another 10 flights elsewhere with it. It has been under seats, overhead, my kids have stepped on it, and I have used it daily to work for this entire time. There is not a single frayed thread, stuck zipper, tear or even blemish on it.

If you can possibly buy this backpack, do it!

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I work at a luggage store that sells this laptop bookbag, and even at its high price, it is still our best seller. And the reason is once someone checks out this bag, all the other bags just look worthless and never quite as functional. I am in college, and the front pocket with file divider fits most of my books. I use public transportation, so the pocket on the shoulder straps is great for quickly tucking my phone or keys away quickly.

I don't really use the headphone hole, I don't think anyone really uses that, but when I travel domestically, I'm glad my iPod has a spot for it. The orange interior is awesome, and the lite weight material helps with extra stress on the shoulders. So basically, yea it's a lot of money for a bag, but then again, it's a LOT of bag.

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I'm 6'5" and this is the first business backpack I've found that fits me properly. It is unusually tall, and then it uses the length to provide extra space. The cords pocket at the bottom is particularly useful.

Interestingly, the pack also fits my 5' 7" daughter well. Somehow, the straps adjust, and she found it very comfortable when I tried it on her.

I really like the style of the bag. It combines a classic look with some contrasting stitching, color on the zipper pulls and an orange lining. I think it comes off with more style than most bags without calling for attention. Much nicer than my Samsonite Meridian.

Living with the pack is great. It stands up with or without my laptop, and it holds water bottles, food, a change of clothes and whatever else I need. We'll see about durability, but the lifetime guarantee is promising.

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I have to admit I'm surprised by all the 5-star reviews. Compared to the $89, 4yo Wenger SwissGear pack that I just replaced, the Briggs & Riley is a bit of a letdown.

I find it very difficult to store odd-sized objects, such as my Bose headphones, in this pack. It seems to have been designed to only hold flat objects. Sure, there are 2 pockets in the bottom of the main compartment, but those are small and extremely hard to reach if I have books or notepads in there along with my laptop. If you put any odd-shaped items in either of the 2 main compartments, it creates pressure on the adjacent compartments, giving the whole thing an unsightly bulge.

Speaking of notepads the 2nd main compartment, which seems to be intended for notepads and file folders, is nowhere near deep enough. Sure, it'll hold a few pieces of paper, but anything bigger, like a top-bound tablet or manila folder, makes it hard to close the zipper. You're pretty much stuck putting that stuff in with the laptop, which as I mentioned above makes the inside pockets hard to access. I almost never use the middle compartment because of this.

Finally the quality. Good thing it has a lifetime warranty, because I'm going to need it. The top handle, which I use to pick up and set down the bag when I'm not carrying it by the arm straps, is already starting to pull loose after 3 months. I carried the SwissGear around by the handle all the time, and it still works great, after 4+ years.

In conclusion, I feel like this bag was designed more for form than for function. It looks nice (empty), but is awkward to store and retrieve items, and the quality is disappointing.