After owning 3 messenger bags for my laptop and books, and having each one wear out in some (major) way after about a year/year-and-a-half, I decided to finally bite the bullet and get a laptop backpack. This one seemed to be at a good price ($35), and the reviews were nearly glowing with enthusiasm and praise, so I went for it.
The first thing I noticed when it came was that the picture online is a bit deceptive in that it makes it seem very small; this was not really the case on my smallish 5'8" frame. So it is a bit larger than I had expected, but because of that it holds a lot... and I mean... A LOT. After using it for a week now, I can say that the two strongest pluses are that it's built like a veritable tank (I've never seen such quality nylon before!), and it is designed in such a way that, even fully loaded, it disperses the weight well, and puts minimal pressure on your shoulders. Very good for the back.
All in all, I'm very happy so far. This bag lives up to the reviews, and I hope that it will last a long, long time for me.
**Edit: 3/30/09**
I just returned yesterday from my first trip with this backpack. Over one week, I took this bag on 6 plane trips, 2 bus rides, 1 taxi ride, 1 shuttle ride, and multiple car rides. I can say that it is definitely worth its price... and then some. It's ridiculously durable (and comfortable!), and with a 3-year warranty, I don't think you could go wrong with this bag. A definite must-have for those on the go! Highly recommended.
**Edit: 5/02/09**
Still loving this backpack, but I thought it would be good if I mentioned one downside that I hadn't expected. I had it out the other day in a heavy rain for the first time. I wasn't really out in the rain that long, but it was evident that this bag isn't very water proof. A book and some papers got fairly wet, and I'm glad that my laptop wasn't in there at the time.
For the price, this laptop cannot be beat. Sure, I wouldn't purchase this laptop backpack if it were being sold for what it was originally listed at ($170 USD), but that was BEFORE I had a chance to use it.
Today, I would purchase this backpack whether it is around the 30 dollar mark or the past 100 dollar mark. Why? If fits very snugly with a conventional laptop or ultraportable (I have not yet tested it on a 17 inch widescreen yet, however), all the while being able to put in a number of items including bulky items such as document folders and even multiple textbooks. It does this all without putting too much strain on the laptop, and is easily adjustable to be set correctly on the user's back without harming alignment due to pressure at the wrong point.
The easily accessible cell phone holder located on the backpack right strap is just gravy on top of all of the exquisite features offered by this fine product.
Buy this product. You will NOT be disappointed.
Buy Wenger SwissGear SA9998 Laptop Backpack Now
This is a quality product, it was bought for my Toshiba 15.4, it offers good protection, and has lots of storage space, that would be tons of storage space, i carry an extra key board, wireless mouse, external hard drive (Toshiba of course), all the documentation for the laptop, my PDA, camera... as i said lots of space. Quality product, offers space, protection and its comfortable to walk around with. the reason i bought this type of bag is because it is less conspicious than the generic type bag, it can be left in a car and is less likely that your car will be broken into because of the bag. good product i strongly recommend.
Read Best Reviews of Wenger SwissGear SA9998 Laptop Backpack Here
I was looking for a Swiss Gear backpack that could carry my new 17" Widescreen Laptop. When I read the reviews I, for some reason, thought that this was it, but when I received it the tag on it read 15.5" instead of 17" so I thouhgt there had been a mistake. I came back to the Amazon description to find out that it actually did not specifically read 17". When I red the reviews I found that many people had commented about the 17" backpack although nobody mentioned anything specifically about it. May be they changed it due to other claims, but then again, I am just assuming. Aside from this is a very nice looking backpack but not as versatile and spacious as my previous 15" Swiss Gear backpack. The quality standard is also lower than my previous one, the zippers are not as heavy duty either.
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This backpack is a quality product. It has lots of specialized pockets for all your computing gear and is large enough to hold the laptop and its peripherals. Best of all, when you travel, a lady can have her rolling bag and fit her handbag in this backpack so she has two carry-on items and isn't required to check luggage.
I had one of these for 7 years. It stood up to a lot of abuse. It's great for traveling and school. It can hold 4-5 days worth of cloths, my lap top and other supplies without an issue. It got me through high school, undergrad and my masters degree. It was still functioning well but showing its age so I just bought another identical one.
