The Shopaholic Beaver(Get) Off My
Back (Part 1 of a series of 3)
By Elizabeth Zakszewski
I love shopping. I am also anal retentive,
obsessive-compulsive, and whatever other psychotic
adjective you’d like to call me. Before I buy
something, I have to look at a dozen similar
products, buy one, take it back, and start all over
again. It started just with clothes, but then moved
on to my more geeky toys and gadgets, which I waste
countless hours staring at on online stores. So I
thought, why don’t I put those formerly wasted hours
to the benefit of the populace? It’d be like a
community service! Thus this column was born. I’ll
share what I learn about stuff us good little
beavers would use every day.
The first product on the list is laptop-carrying
backpacks. I got sick of the messenger-style bag
digging into my shoulder whenever I wanted to take
my beefy four-year-old Dell anywhere. So I tried
eight different backpacks that I hoped could serve
me. They all had to have a sleeve fitting a 17 inch
computer, and the first three are up today. I’ll
rate them from 1 to 5 (1 = best, 5 = worst) in four
different areas, and then explain myself a little.
High Sierra — Magnum
The Magnum gets points for looks right away,
because mine was an awesome shade of green that had
me at hello. The shape is weird, long vertically but
not very deep front-to-back, which proved
detrimental in the size category since once I put my
laptop in, there wasn’t room for more than a thin
folder and one binder. All three bags had a clasp on
the strap that holds the laptop, and it always gets
in the way when I’m putting the laptop in. But once
the laptop’s in, it’s well protected. The features
are nice: a convenient cell phone holder on the
shoulder strap, zippered pockets on both sides for a
water bottle or small accessories, and a front
pocket big enough to hold all my non-binder-sized
junk. The straps were supremely well designed, The
straps also featured a “suspension system,” a piece
of elastic material that connects the strap to the
top of the bag near the shoulder, reducing stress
there; at least I think that’s how it works — I’m
not Course 2. Padding on the straps and the back
panel added to comfort.
I really wanted to like this bag, but the lack of
space for carrying books and binders was a deal
breaker.
High Sierra — Holmes
The Holmes is a high-end version of the Magnum,
apparently. The black color I picked and the
high-density material on the front panel made it
look very professional. Extra compartments and
bigger features, however, made the bag look much
more bulky, a big minus for an everyday bag. And
oddly, the cell phone pocket on the strap was
removable, making it stick out too much. However
despite the extra size, this pack still was not deep
enough to hold more than one binder and my laptop!
All the same comfort features on the straps were
there, with the added benefit of straps across the
chest and waist, which my poor shoulders
appreciated, but the waist strap would hang out
unattractively on both sides if you didn’t use it.
Improved features over the Magnum included better
shaped side pockets and a larger front compartment.
Additional features such as a music pocket for a CD
player and CD’s and a small felt-lined pocket for
more delicate accessories like sunglasses were very
nice, although I couldn’t see myself using the huge
CD pocket in the age of MP3 players. Overall, the
features weren’t worth the extra price and bulk,
since I still couldn’t fit the important stuff.
High Sierra — Access
This looked the bulkiest of the three, and the
light blue and grey color I picked ended up not
looking very professional. It did have more room to
fit all my stuff, but there were zippers and clasps
and straps flying everywhere. Same comfort features
as the Holmes, but the shoulder straps were not
padded as well. Features include just one side
pocket (fine, I only carry one water bottle anyway),
a smaller front compartment but a second middle
compartment for larger accessories, a carabiner and
loops to attach stuff to the front compartment, an
MP3 player pocket in front, an even nicer padded
handle on top (I love cushy padding), and the same
bulky, detachable cell phone holder on the strap.
All nice features, but this bag is just too
heavy-duty for my everyday life.
So there’s my take on the High Sierra line. If
you have a smaller laptop, they had some smaller
bags that might be worth a try. My quest continues
next week! |
The Shopaholic Beaver (Get) Off My Back
(Part 2 of 3)
By Elizabeth Zakszewski
Hello readers, and welcome back to the quest for the
perfect everyday laptop backpack. In my last episode, I
explored the High Sierra brand, which had good quality
materials and features, but some poor size considerations.
This week, we’ll look at the Samsonite brand.
I was first attracted to Samsonite laptop backpacks when
I saw grad students in my lab this summer carrying them.
They looked well-designed with extremely comfortable
padding. I knew that Samsonite makes other good quality bags
(suitcases, briefcase-messengers), and when I saw I could
get one of their backpacks online for under $40, I had to
check it out. There were lots of designs, but only two that
would hold my large laptop. My rating scale in the various
categories is 1–5 (1=worst, 5=best).
Samsonite “Typhoon”
This bag’s main feature is a removable laptop sleeve with
its own little handles. A nice feature, I thought, since
when you aren’t carrying your laptop you just take that part
out and you’ve got a regular backpack. The only problem is
the sleeve just barely fit my 17-inch laptop. It took some
effort to zip up, and then when I put the filled sleeve in
the backpack, it was a struggle to get the zipper of the
main compartment closed. By the time I managed to pack my
bag, I’d already missed a shuttle to work! And since the
sleeve is thin material with thin padding, if your laptop is
much smaller than mine, it wouldn’t be very well protected.
The bag has two large compartments and one smaller one with
minimal organization pockets inside. Then, it has this weird
panel in front connected to the rest by buckled straps,
whose purpose I was never able to figure out. The MP3 player
pocket is in the back panel and therefore well-hidden, but
was a little awkward against my back. It wasn’t too much of
a problem though.
Aside from strange features, the bag looks pretty nice,
black (or another color if you like) with reflective silver
accents that add just enough variety. It features the
comforts that I’d liked in my labmates’ bags, with a really
cushy handle and super-mega-thick padded straps. I don’t
know what they put in those straps, but it’s heavy duty
almost to the point of making them feel awkward. This is not
the bag for me.
Samsonite “Riptide”
This is a well-designed bag overall. It only comes in a
sleek, all-black color, at least on http://www.ebags.com.
The built-in laptop sleeve is easy enough to get my computer
into, has a Velcro strap to secure it, and feels protective
enough. The sleeve doesn’t go all the way down to the
bottom, so if you drop the bag, your books will hit the
ground before your computer. Aside from one main
compartment, it has a slightly smaller middle compartment
that’s perfect for paperbacks, planners, and other small
objects that you don’t want floating around in a huge
compartment but also don’t fit the front organizer
compartment. The front organizer pocket also has just the
right number of pockets.
The bag also features the same super-comfortable squishy
handle as the Typhoon, and although the shoulder straps
aren’t padded as heavily, they are still comfortable. My
only complaints are minor: the side mesh pockets (on both
this and the Typhoon) are narrow so it takes some effort to
put in a water bottle, the shoulder straps are shaped so
that they sit broadly on the shoulders (which felt a bit
strange on me), and there is no convenient cell phone pocket
on the shoulder strap. However, there is a strap to which a
cell phone case can easily be attached.
Overall, I really liked that Riptide. The material isn’t
the highest quality, but at the price, it’s good enough. Did
I choose this to be my new backpack? You’ll have to tune in
(or, um, open your paper) next time, when I review the rest
of the bags I tried. |
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