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antlass · May 27, 09, 2:29 pm

Alrighty... I flew with the Nirvana recently and here's my perspective:

I took it on a 2.5 hr DTW-OKC Delta “red-tail” flight on a CRJ (which btw ended up landing in Ft. Smith, Arkansas due to tornados in OKC, and then we ended up on a 2.5 hr bus ride from Ft Smith to OKC finally arriving at 3:30am, UGH. But I digress...)

Before the flight: I carried it as a shoulder bag in the airport. It was pretty handy really. My 8.9" acer aspire netbook slid right out of the top flaps for the security check and the little slot for my id/boarding pass was right there. The netbook slid right back in again – no problems. (note: do not fill the other pockets with bulky items or the return of the netbook wont be nearly as easy) It was a nice & smooth security process.

Ladies, this is definitely not a purse replacement though, as you really do need to unzip the bag to access items lower than the "top" id/document compartments. (Could a larger, prettier handbag accomplish this ease with a netbook too? Absolutely... so on to the real use of the Nirvana...)

Then I bought a water bottle to take on board the flight. Again, it's not easy to access the inner guts of the bag from the top entry, so I had to set the bag down & open it right up to put the water bottle in the holder, and it fit just fine - even with the bag zipped back up again. Cool! (Although I admit I had a moment of trepidation seeing the water bottle snuggled up so close to my video & mp3 players. I wished I had a Ziploc bag and made a mental note to myself: "make sure that cap is on tight! We don't want any leaks!". I may not use it for water transport again, I’m too just freaky about my gadgets.)

During the flight: After we were airborne and heard the “bell”, I turned to my seatpartner and said, "Ok, here we gooo". And unzipped the Nirvana. It slid very easily on to the tray and I had no problems locking the tray up again. The Nirvana was about 2 inches wider than the tray (this by design to accommodate different size trays/seats). I would have been happier if it was slightly narrower (perhaps with elastic bands to accommodate larger trays?). I was sitting on the aisle and was a bit leery of having it overhang at all into the walkway, so I slid the full 2inch overhang to the gap between the 2 seats. I was sitting next to a friend, so this was ok. If I'd been next to a stranger, I probably would have felt compelled to ask them if they were ok with it. I had my water bottle, my mp3 player, my netbook, a paperback & a pen in it. The netbook made the pocket gape forward, but this was solved by zipping it closed as far as possible.

I felt the eyes on me from the surrounding rows, and the FA commented on it during the drink service “Hey, that looks really convenient”, the guy across the aisle said "pretty cool!" and a businessman from the row behind me asked what it was and where he could get one.

Pros: Nice when used as a shoulder bag taking a netbook thru security. No interference with knee space. Great organization with fingertip access to your stuff & water bottle in flight. Did not interfere with my seatpartner’s space at all, not even when they got up to use the lav. (granted I didn’t have it stuffed full either)

Cons: Quite large when opened up and in use. Overkill for short flights - holds more stuff than most people need. Pockets tend to gape forward if heavier items are in it. Not great as a purse replacement. Bottle holder doesn’t work well with the plastic cups served inflight.

Will I use it again? Hrmmm….

Short flights (under 3 hrs): Probably not. I'll stick to my regular travel purse + my Cup Pilot, and carry my gear in a small rolling underseat bag. (Unless I’m flying with the 3 yr old… then it’ll probably be priceless for any length of flight! Lol)

Longer flights: Most likely, yes. I can see myself using this on larger aircraft during my TATL flights when I use more gear and want to reserve the underseat floor space for my feet instead of for a gear bag that I can access regardless of turbulence restrictions. (unfortunately, I'm mostly a TATL coach class flier..waahhh!)

Overall: It’s a great concept that could use a few tweaks, but it’s really getting there. I’d love to see a slightly scaled down version. (Now I’m itching to test fly the Sarahbelli Traveler organizer hehe).

May 27, 09, 2:29 pm	#29
antlass Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Michigan Programs: Northwest WorldPerks Silver Elite Posts: 83	Alrighty... I flew with the Nirvana recently and here's my perspective: I took it on a 2.5 hr DTW-OKC Delta “red-tail” flight on a CRJ (which btw ended up landing in Ft. Smith, Arkansas due to tornados in OKC, and then we ended up on a 2.5 hr bus ride from Ft Smith to OKC finally arriving at 3:30am, UGH. But I digress...) Before the flight: I carried it as a shoulder bag in the airport. It was pretty handy really. My 8.9" acer aspire netbook slid right out of the top flaps for the security check and the little slot for my id/boarding pass was right there. The netbook slid right back in again – no problems. (note: do not fill the other pockets with bulky items or the return of the netbook wont be nearly as easy) It was a nice & smooth security process. Ladies, this is definitely not a purse replacement though, as you really do need to unzip the bag to access items lower than the "top" id/document compartments. (Could a larger, prettier handbag accomplish this ease with a netbook too? Absolutely... so on to the real use of the Nirvana...) Then I bought a water bottle to take on board the flight. Again, it's not easy to access the inner guts of the bag from the top entry, so I had to set the bag down & open it right up to put the water bottle in the holder, and it fit just fine - even with the bag zipped back up again. Cool! (Although I admit I had a moment of trepidation seeing the water bottle snuggled up so close to my video & mp3 players. I wished I had a Ziploc bag and made a mental note to myself: "make sure that cap is on tight! We don't want any leaks!". I may not use it for water transport again, I’m too just freaky about my gadgets.) During the flight: After we were airborne and heard the “bell”, I turned to my seatpartner and said, "Ok, here we gooo". And unzipped the Nirvana. It slid very easily on to the tray and I had no problems locking the tray up again. The Nirvana was about 2 inches wider than the tray (this by design to accommodate different size trays/seats). I would have been happier if it was slightly narrower (perhaps with elastic bands to accommodate larger trays?). I was sitting on the aisle and was a bit leery of having it overhang at all into the walkway, so I slid the full 2inch overhang to the gap between the 2 seats. I was sitting next to a friend, so this was ok. If I'd been next to a stranger, I probably would have felt compelled to ask them if they were ok with it. I had my water bottle, my mp3 player, my netbook, a paperback & a pen in it. The netbook made the pocket gape forward, but this was solved by zipping it closed as far as possible. I felt the eyes on me from the surrounding rows, and the FA commented on it during the drink service “Hey, that looks really convenient”, the guy across the aisle said "pretty cool!" and a businessman from the row behind me asked what it was and where he could get one. Pros: Nice when used as a shoulder bag taking a netbook thru security. No interference with knee space. Great organization with fingertip access to your stuff & water bottle in flight. Did not interfere with my seatpartner’s space at all, not even when they got up to use the lav. (granted I didn’t have it stuffed full either) Cons: Quite large when opened up and in use. Overkill for short flights - holds more stuff than most people need. Pockets tend to gape forward if heavier items are in it. Not great as a purse replacement. Bottle holder doesn’t work well with the plastic cups served inflight. Will I use it again? Hrmmm…. Short flights (under 3 hrs): Probably not. I'll stick to my regular travel purse + my Cup Pilot, and carry my gear in a small rolling underseat bag. (Unless I’m flying with the 3 yr old… then it’ll probably be priceless for any length of flight! Lol) Longer flights: Most likely, yes. I can see myself using this on larger aircraft during my TATL flights when I use more gear and want to reserve the underseat floor space for my feet instead of for a gear bag that I can access regardless of turbulence restrictions. (unfortunately, I'm mostly a TATL coach class flier..waahhh!) Overall: It’s a great concept that could use a few tweaks, but it’s really getting there. I’d love to see a slightly scaled down version. (Now I’m itching to test fly the Sarahbelli Traveler organizer hehe).