I need a new backpack

January 16, 2005 1:07 PM

I need a new backpack. (My current one hurts my back and is covered in cat hair.) My new backpack goals are: (1) it should hold my computer comfortably (Powerbook G4), but (2) I don't want the boxy rectangular ones they sell at the Apple store; (3) I want something smart and sexy (perhaps in yellow?). Is this too much to ask? I'd also (4) like to be able to buy it online.
posted by adrober to Shopping (16 answers total)

Maybe a Timbuk2 messenger bag? It isn't too much to ask. You just pay for it. ;)
posted by pedantic at 1:22 PM on January 16, 2005

I like Crumpler Bags - Base Toucher seems like a pretty decent backpack-style laptop bag. I have the Crippy Duck in orange and I love it, although I prefer a shoulder-bag myself. The major selling feature for me was how very much these bags don't look like laptop bags.
posted by id girl at 1:27 PM on January 16, 2005

Tom Bihn (various colours are available).
posted by AlexReynolds at 1:34 PM on January 16, 2005

Rather than Crumpler or Timbuk2, go with R.E.Load Bags. They are very nice and will custom design a bag for you, although, of course, all this requires money.
posted by scrim at 1:35 PM on January 16, 2005

I've owned a bunch of backpacks, and my favorite so far is from Patagonia. I like the minimalist nature of the bag, and it's pretty stylish and does a great job with my laptop.
posted by josh at 1:49 PM on January 16, 2005

I have a Jansport backpack with an internal frame and a padded laptop compartment. It is extremely comfortable even with heavy loads, and protects the laptop well without telegraphing "I am a laptop bag; steal me and my contents."

Looking at the Jansport site it looks like they don't make the specific bag I have any longer, but this line is pretty close to what I've got.
posted by enrevanche at 1:54 PM on January 16, 2005

The ask.archives have some good advice as well.
posted by milovoo at 1:55 PM on January 16, 2005

Have you considered getting a padded Powerbook sleeve? Then you could put it in any bag you choose.
posted by gyc at 2:02 PM on January 16, 2005

I have a regular JanSport backpack and I use an Eagle Creek laptop container. The combination works great since I don't usually take the laptop with me. If I was taking the laptop everywhere every day I would probably look for something integrated.
posted by grouse at 2:07 PM on January 16, 2005

I'm a big fan of eBags.com for this kind of thing, because it lets you pick the model of your laptop and then tells you which bags it will fit in. I bought a bag from there last year and the e-commerce / delivery side of things was flawless.
posted by simonw at 2:08 PM on January 16, 2005

This is one I almost bought when I was briefcase shopping a year or so ago. I had a chance to check it out at a local retailer and it seemed well-made and comfortable. I only balked because I wasn't sure I wanted a backpack...

(Looking back, I wish I'd done that instead of a regular soft briefcase w/shoulder strap.)
posted by gazole at 2:14 PM on January 16, 2005

Previous Ask MeFi threads:
I need some advice on a good bag for a bad back.
iBook Laptop Sleeves.

The collection of links gathered while I was searching is up at del.icio.us/mrbill/bags.

I ended up with a Tucano "Second Skin" sleeve for my iBook 12", and it rides around in a dot-bomb-refugee Enron Broadband Services laptop backpack.
posted by mrbill at 4:18 PM on January 16, 2005

I love my LapTrap.
posted by mothershock at 5:11 PM on January 16, 2005

There's a store on Greenwich Avenue called Flight 001 that sells a lot of cool computer bags I've never seen anyplace else. If you feel like taking a walk. It seemed to me like they had more designs in the store than are currently on their website.

I got a bag that looked like a Pantone swatch there a few years ago and it was the best computer bag I've ever had. I never found another one of them online and Pantone denies ever making them. Which is weird because the store also carries that whole line of Pantone-branded office organization products. Odd.
posted by bcwinters at 9:29 PM on January 16, 2005

I love my Crumpler Base Toucher almost as much as i love my mac. Good internal padding, excellent back support, looks like an ordinary bag and is almost nigh indestructible. Well worth the hefty $ tag.
posted by elphTeq at 11:37 PM on January 16, 2005

I've had an L.L. Bean laptop backpack for the last 10 years, but sadly they don't appear to make anything like it anymore. Perhaps it was too proof against obsolescence.
posted by breath at 2:13 AM on January 17, 2005