Champion Luggage Sidekick 2.0 Backpack

This is medium sized backpack perfect for school or urban commuter. I HAVE THE BLACK VERSION. The 'laptop' pocket is NOT padded and cannot hold a business sized laptop. iPad in a bulky case? Yes. EeePc? Yes easily. Macbook Air in a case? About the size limit. Normal sized 12" laptop? Not without protection. The laptop sleeve has no padding. It is a large pocket the width of the backpack and runs to the bottom. (Its not suspended). I use it to store bulky stuff I don't use everyday (Umbrella, small bag of toiletries) -essentially a divider.

The inside front panel has a large pocket; not quite as big as the laptop pocket due to the back to front taper, but sizeable nonetheless. Attached to this pocket is a zippered pocket about 3", 2 pen sleeves, and a 2" pocket.

The outside front panel is a huge pocket which has a zipper tucked under the left edge. The top of the backpack has a small pocket just in front of the handle which holds a decent amount of knickknacks or a small mp3/cell phone (iPhone won't fit). Two elastic water bottle holders are found on the right and left sides of the backpack. To give you an idea of the capacity if this backpack, you can store a 12 pack of soda inside with a liitle room to spare.

The nylon is lightweight and is a little stiff; makes crinkely noises at first (once the nylon relaxes, the noise is gone). This is not a heavyweight backpack -It's not flimsy either. Stitching looks good, no loose threads. The bottom of the backpack is not reinforced or waterproofed.

On the whole I like this backpack as a commuter bag. Has enough pockets to store stuff used daily without the bulk or weight of a laptop backpack. It sits nicely on the shoulder and is compact enough to be unobtrusive.