Targus Brilliance II 16" Laptop Backpack

Good solid construction, for 16 inch or less laptop (measured diagonally). A DELL 17 inch Inspiron was just a tad too big, so anything less than 17 inches will be fine. I tried a DELL Latitude E6410, an IBM Thinkpad T40, and a Gateway 15.6inch Laptop and those 3 fit just fine (not all at the same time!) with a bit of room to spare. Laptop slot is padded OK, on the bottom, and back, and sides not a ton of padding, but enough for normal use. Metal zipper pulls, nylon zipper material. Looks good for school use.

Why not 5 stars, because it's good for light use, school use, but if you want to look professional in the business world, this probably does not convey a professional "statement" if that is what you are looking for.

I wanted a backpack that would accommodate my laptop and at least two textbook-sized books, as well as holding my pens and assorted other items I take to work with me on a daily basis. The Targus Brilliance II is a pretty big bag, and it's able to do that. It will hold up to a 16-inch laptop. My Asus is a 13-inch laptop, so it fits with room to spare. One problem is that the interior laptop compartment is held shut by a strip of nylon that has Velcro on it. Because my laptop is small, the strip is too long. There needs to be a patch of Velcro farther down the interior pocket for the strip to attach to so it doesn't flop around. This might be a problem if the laptop is the only thing I carry, but since I usually have books, the weight of the books helps to keep the interior pocket snug against the computer. Adding an extra patch of Velcro is something I can do myself if I need it, so it's not an insurmountable problem.

The bag features a main compartment with the padded laptop pocket. There is a hanging padded pouch for your media player, or whatever. I put my mouse in there, and I've even put my glasses in there so they don't fall to the bottom of the bag and get crushed. It's convenient, but it can also get in the way of getting the laptop in and out. That's why I gave ease of access only 4 stars. Yes, you can hold the pouch out of the way and slide the laptop in the bag, but it's one of those things that gets troublesome when you're in a hurry -which I often am.

The overall appearance of the bag is fairly plain, but the gray panels on the outer pocket and straps looks nice in a very techno way. One thing I would wish for is that the interior nylon to be the same gray. It would be easier to see things in the bag (like my black Sennheiser PXC 250 Active Noise Canceling Headphones pouch). The zippers have fairly weighty metal tabs that are easy to grab. My other backpack has fabric pull strips, but I like these metal ones because their weight makes them hang down. They always seem to be where I expect them to be, unlike fabric ones that get caught up in zippers and such. The zippers on this bag are easy to open. I haven't had problems with them sliding open on their own, though. I'm not sure if the zippers will accommodate a travel lock, but they probably will.

Waterproof? I'm not sure. I did a quick test by splashing water on the bag to see if it would soak through. The water beaded up and ran off, but a torrential downpour could mean trouble. The computer compartment is nestled within layers of nylon, so it would take a few minutes for rain to get to it even if the bag isn't waterproof.

The only downside for me is that this bag *is* big. I'm a fairly small woman, so the bag hangs down to my butt. Not particularly the most comfortable thing. I can shorten the straps, but the bag is pretty much as long as my torso. I like the bag because I can stuff a lot of things into it (which makes it pretty heavy!), but I may end up giving it to my husband and getting something a little smaller for myself. The bag is about 18 inches top to bottom, plus another couple of inches that the hand-strap sticks up above the bag.

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The overall look of this pack is good but the interior is somewhat lacking. It's minimalist regarding storage space organization...not enough little pockets on the inside.

Comfort is actually quite good. Overall well made and durable but the lack of internal organization is disappointing.

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First: the bag is way smaller than it appears in pictures

2nd: way less nice and fancy

3rd: Not the same color at all

I'd not recommend this product.

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This back pack is nice, but I am not impressed. The storage capacity is moderate, but the front pockets does not have enough pockets to store pens and other necessities. Further more, the divisions within the bag take up a lot of space considering the moderate amount of room in the bag.

On the plus side, the bag is a comfortable fit and well padded.

However, something that wasn't thought about in its design is that the zippers are extra large, resulting in a person wearing the bag "jingling" every time they move around. This is actually quite annoying.

Find a different bag.