There are fancy, professional notebook carriers, and there is the functional rugged kind that you know can take a licking and keep on ticking. This is the later kind that can also sub as the former. Yes, I realize there are designer pretty professional looking and quality products too, that men and women have been using for years to travel across the world and back, lugging to their offices. A lot of those can lose some functionality. Some of those designer wares are very nice I am sure, but I actually own a Targus that I dragged around Tokyo with me and to training in Wisconsin and found it worthwhile. Compared to this, my old Targus a little dated though. Kind of difficult to get my aging dell in and out of at TSA checkpoints, and not as comfortable against my back. My older backpack also limits me in terms of size on the notebook although it accepted my oversized battery just fine.Here's the thing with this backpack, it's rugged. This isn't just an item I would feel comfortable taking with me on a trip to an airport and then a hotel. I could throw this thing in the back of a van, pick-up or car and head out camping and feel comfortable that my items, notebook, tablets, mp3 player, mobile phone, and heck even a place for my water-bottle would be fine. Deluxe is an understatement. This has compartments, mesh pockets, zippers, and padded areas for almost everything here. I am kind of the same way with my backpacks as I am with my purses. I do not want a place to throw everything into a giant hole to dig through it later. I want, I need compartments for everything. This has a place for everything! and more padding than I have ever seen in a backpack.
Let's be honest here, I am a sizable lady, and this fits me well. I could, and have, filled this up and had it sit comfortably on my shoulders with the weight properly distributed. I am, obviously, not going to run a marathon in this thing, but I have lugged it around over, shall we say, not flat surfaces and found it comfortable. And when I said it has a spot for your tablet, I am not kidding. It has a padded sleeve to stick an e-reader or tablet separate from the notebook protected area. There are spots for pens, credit/business cards; it says you can use the zippered pocket for water bottles but smaller ones fit in the mesh pouches too. It's designed really well. With my older Targus bag, you could get a lot into it but good luck getting it out, especially on a plane after you pull it from under the seat and are trying to maneuver around the coach sized area to get a book out or that magazine you crammed in there somehow but is now stuck underneath your purse you had force down in there.
I really love this bag.
There are a couple of cautions though I have to mention. This is a sizable backpack, has to be to get those 17inch notebooks in there, but you have to be more cautious about not overfilling it if you are going to take it on a plane and want to stick it under a seat. It has a nice slimmer top design so if you are paying attention at all, you should be able to manage. The other issue is that the more TSA friendly notebook compartment lacks the Velcro strap I am used to, so if you whip this thing around, silly I know, with it unzipped and open, it's coming out same with anything else you put in the non-zippered compartments, or Velcro pouches.
Lastly, the bottom of the backpack is water-resistant, not your standard affair in many backpacks and fairly strong against rips so far. The zippers feel hefty and aren't hard to work or feel likely to snag or get stuck. It's made in China, but it is clearly a quality product. The anti-shock pad at the bottom, it's labeled, feels pretty thick and likely to absorb some impact, say if you drop it suddenly or set it down too quickly. You can also fold it upward if you want to or need to make your backpack thinner.
Finally for business purposes, it looks nice, has a location to hold your files to keep them from getting folded or otherwise damaged and pretty much unisex with is all black design. Whether you are traveling for business or just jamming your car for a family/friend trip, this would make life just a little easier for traveling and protecting those electronics you spent so much buying so don't skimp on padding.
Unfortunately, I had to return it since my Asus Republic of Gamers series 17.3" G74SX-XN1 "notebook" doesn't fit in the padded laptop area. It's about an inch too narrow to account for the additional heat exchanger the Asus notebook has sticking out of it's back. Which is too bad, because i really like the look and feel of this bag.
Going to try the Targus Drifter II to see if it fits in there...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00507NAYQ/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
Buy Targus Demolition Backpack Designed to Fit up to 17.3-Inch Laptops TSB220US (Black) Now
I got the Targus Demolition Backpack to replace my old one, and what a great difference it makes. It's the perfect everyday backpack for a geek who can't leave home without a few gadgets. Yes, I tried to use only one device, but I can't help myself, I must have my stuff, because I use each for different tasks.It has plenty of pockets and dedicated compartments for organizing one's value possessions. No more rummage into a backpack at the most inconvenient times.
The two front compartments in this backpack are a great plus. One is scratch-resistant and padded to facilitate the pulling or storage of a Smartphone and/or a Kindle, or any other gadget one needs handy. And the other, comes with slots to put in an ID and debit cards for secure storage, but quickly access.
So in the end, I'm carrying inside of it my Smartphone, my netbook, my Targus slim lap desk, an iPad inside an iMainGo XP portable speaker case, a mouse, a portable rechargeable battery pack, USB flash drives, and if I'm traveling with my kid, her iPad will join all of these gadgets. And of course, the corresponding chargers for every device.
The Targus Demolition Backpack will work great as a traveling bag too. When the inner lower panel is set, makes it more roomy, and it can accommodate clothes for a weekend and some personal toiletries. I'm taking it with me the next time I travel to New York to visit my family. It might be the only bag I ever need.
Having two water bottles holders is awesome, because when I travel with my daughter, I must hold her bottle too. By the way, behinds the holders, there is a zippered compartment to storage an small umbrella or anything else.
Besides all of the above, another of my favorite feature is the padded shoulder straps that joined with the waist buckles facilitates carrying any load one puts inside.I thought this bag was alright when I got it (I really like the side pockets, they are massive) but I have only been using it for about a month and already the seams are ripping at both shoulder straps and the carrying handle. I am not overloading it at all and carried everything I am carrying now plus an extra laptop and all its accessories in another laptop backpack for the last four years. I need it to hold out for one more trip and then it looks like I will be trying to return this and buying something else. I will not be buying another one of these.
Want Targus Demolition Backpack Designed to Fit up to 17.3-Inch Laptops TSB220US (Black) Discount?
Some of you are probably smarter than I am and looked at the measurements on this bag and thought "That's pretty big." I didn't really take those into consideration--and have found this thing to be enormous.However, you can see the pockets and sizes on the product description. I'll say this: I found all to be as advertised. Pockets everywhere, large sleeve in the back for a laptop, slightly sleeve for a tablet. I was able to load in: laptop, Kindle Fire, Kindle, Franklin Planner with the whole year's calendar, a 3-inch 3-ring binder full to capacity, 4 other hardcover books, and all the pens, pencils, highlighters, and note cards I needed for a graduate school project.
Now, how about its sturdiness? I cannot spare a laptop to learn if the bag has good padding, but I can give you the "egg carton test" results: when dropped straight down from my back to the floor, no eggs were damaged. When dropped on the couch and allowed to roll to the floor, no eggs were damaged. When it hit the ground on the curb, a few eggs were cracked.
So, my conclusion is that the normal tosses and hard-set-downs this bag will get will not damage the laptop in it.
In my effort to reduce animal testing, I have not seen whether I can put all three of my cats inside, but I believe they would all fit. Whether the zipper would hold under those conditions remains untested.
I can see where the reviewer that mentioned the grab handle rubbing against your neck could have that problem--if you look at the product picture, that loop sticking up? That's flattened down and is right between the shoulder straps. It doesn't bother me, but it could bother you.
Beyond that, if you need to carry a week's worth of supplies plus a laptop, this bag is worth the look.
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