Comments on Profile Post by Melvillian

Going with current trends, a Magni 3.

Jokes aside, how large a laptop are we talking about?

Just a standard dell 13" (I think) laptop. They're pretty low profile.

Just double checked and it's a 13.5" latitude

Does it have to be a messenger bag?

What kind of materials and budget requirements do you have. I love the Tumi Alpha Bravo line, with Timbuk2 making some pretty bulletproof bags at a lower price point than Tumi. Saddleback Leather Co has some lifetime quality stuff if you want real leather.

@zerodeefex Actually no. Something I can use for work. Backpacks are welcome too

A friend recommended Timbuk2 and they seem to be reasonably priced.

@fraggler Looked at Tumi, they're nice but a bit expensive. I'm looking at around $200 max. Material is not important

I love my Razer Blade. Thin, powerful, great screen. Not cheap though.

Tis much more wee than my behemoth then. The North Face (Surge II) had a fantastic bag for distributing the immense weight of my DTR, but I found myself sweating too much with typical backpacks due to lack of airflow.

Bumbakpak (BBP), which is unfortunately now out of business, makes the backpack style I like the most (Hampton Hybrid).

I prefer backpacks. A lot of them have special laptop pockets. I can't really recommend the one I have now since it has a big college logo on it, but I've seen similar in a bunch of places like CostCo. Plus messenger bags tend to burden one of my shoulders too much.

Im officially looking for a backpack now lol messenger bags do tend to burden your body unevenly.

Timbuk2 and Waterfield seem nice. Waterfield is above my budget but I might go for something around $300 if I'm going to use it for a long time. Don't know anyone who's ever owned one of their bags though

Truce designs is dropping a clamshell later this year. I'm excited for that. With regard to general use, the osprey pixel is excellent.

LLBean has a nice leather backpack if you want to look suavely dumpy. I get compliments all the time with it and it'll last you. Mine's going on a decade.

I don't have experience with a really wide variety of bags but I love my trusty Mountainsmith bag.

I use one of these, plenty of bag styles:
http://www.rickshawbags.com/
Custom Zero Medium Messenger is what I have.

A little over your budget, but https://www.goruck.com/echo/ will last forever and beats the crap out of most backpacks

@philipmorgan I like how low profile they are.

Thanks everyone for some great suggestions.

I bought my Kelty backpack 8 or 9 years ago and it hasn't deteriorated in any significant way in that time. I don't use it everyday, but often enough that of it were junk I would know it by now.

Edit** actually decided to go with the Northface Surge II. Got something that's more than just carrying a laptop.

Btw, there’s a thread on backpacks

@Cspirou funny thing is today at work this older gentleman with a green backpack was talking to another gentleman about how backpacks are “IN” nowadays. thought it was funny.
Thanks for pointing that out. Will check it out

I have noticed recently that fanny packs are making a comeback. It was only a matter of time since everything else from the 80's and 90's is back in style.

Just FYI most of North Face's backpacks start from the same 'chassis' but have different 'tops' sewn on. Do take a look at some of the other designs.

Besides the darkening of the white brand embroidery my Surge II still looks new 4 years on.

@DigMe some things should just be left alone and forgotten.

@Grahad2 i like how it looks and the size seems perfect for me. Good to know they’re also durable. Pretty excited to get this Friday.

Buy something that you can lock (with a baggage lock, &c.). Mine is a Targus. It's very sturdy, but I seldom use it because I usually leave my laptop at home. I also own a Timbuk2 backpack. It's very good, but the fact that it doesn't lock is a real downside. Lately, I've been using a rolling backpack from LL Bean. It's both simple and well-designed, and it locks. Highly recommended!