spoonbebold
Aug 20, 12, 7:07 am
Hey all,
I walked into Samsonite today and found a Stratolite Upright 55-20 on clearance for half price (about $80). This model was apparently discontinued two years ago, so this is really old stock. I haven’t been able to find any reviews on it. (I mean, really, at that price, I don’t suppose I have much to lose. But the guy’s put it on hold for me for a week, so I’ve got time to be a bit more thorough / pedantic.)
Pics here: http://www.samsonite-shop.cz/10568/
So. Does anyone have any experience with this model, especially for business travel? Dodgy zips, trick wheel, anything?
Also, I found this while hunting for my first travel-for-work carry-on, so I’m starting with a $65-$115 price range (I’m converting from Malaysian Ringgit, which is why the odd numbers). And since I’m in Malaysia, where luggage is hideously overpriced, that limits me to mostly OEM brands which you probably would not have associated with luggage (Camel Active, Pierre Cardin, Beverly Polo, some crappy pieces which – can’t imagine how – carry the Delsey name). Even the lowest-end Samsonite’s and Delsey’s (for the most part), on super sale, are $150 and up.
Hence my surprise when I discovered the Stratolite.
Here’s my take on it from a cursory walk-through:
2-wheeler, soft case – exactly what I’m looking for. (Also, a tangent / vent: why are spinners so hot right now? You lose so much packing space! And yet that’s what makes up 80% of the stock over here at the moment.)
20” x 15” x 7.5” (and expandable). A lot of airlines cite a 14” max width for carry-on… Has anyone had issues getting their Samsonites on board over this discrepancy? (I notice this isn’t the only 15” model that they’ve classified as “cabin luggage”.)
It’s red. I know Mafia Black would have been the first to go, but r e d… I was hoping to keep my travel-for-work gear conservative. (I’m not the DIY sort, but if I get this piece, I might just go crazy with some Sharpies.)
Despite being old stock, it’s in good condition with no physical damage, except for a couple of dirt marks (nothing that my own magic marker experiments won’t hide, anyway).
The telescoping handle slides smoothly and holds up fairly well in the Solidity Wiggle Test (compared to all the OEM brands I looked at). It obviously doesn’t hold a candle to a $440 Samsonite Xion or Samsonite Pro Deluxe 3, but it’ll do.
The wheels are okay, too (though the gold standard for me so far was an Osprey with see-through wheels that felt like it really meant business).
Comfortable handles on the top, side and bottom (yay!).
Zips were very smooth when opening / closing, so I was happy with that. (Another ‘oddly enough’ – I found a Camel Active duffel backpack which had the most buttery zips… as well as about 6 kg in deadweight… so, nice, but no.)
No TSA lock, just a regular combo.
“Strength flex”. Okay, someone told me to do this… Lay it open, and try to “fold” the main compartment diagonally, just to test for resistance and structural integrity. All the bags felt the same to me, so... yeah.
Service and warranty: 3 years warranty, and I can just bring it in to any of the stores. This is a huge deal for me out in Malaysia. I can’t afford to ship a bag off to the US for repairs, so I had to cross a lot of awesome brands off my list since they didn’t have a service center in Malaysia.
Deadweight: 3.5kg. I know, this one’s on the heavy side, but my packing plan involves bringing a laptop backpack and siphoning off some weight at the scale. (Don’t tell anyone.)
Built-in organizers: A sort-of suiter compartment, but it’s pretty tight in there. I like the resulting cavernous space in the main compartment, though.
Have I missed anything?
spoon
I walked into Samsonite today and found a Stratolite Upright 55-20 on clearance for half price (about $80). This model was apparently discontinued two years ago, so this is really old stock. I haven’t been able to find any reviews on it. (I mean, really, at that price, I don’t suppose I have much to lose. But the guy’s put it on hold for me for a week, so I’ve got time to be a bit more thorough / pedantic.)
Pics here: http://www.samsonite-shop.cz/10568/
So. Does anyone have any experience with this model, especially for business travel? Dodgy zips, trick wheel, anything?
Also, I found this while hunting for my first travel-for-work carry-on, so I’m starting with a $65-$115 price range (I’m converting from Malaysian Ringgit, which is why the odd numbers). And since I’m in Malaysia, where luggage is hideously overpriced, that limits me to mostly OEM brands which you probably would not have associated with luggage (Camel Active, Pierre Cardin, Beverly Polo, some crappy pieces which – can’t imagine how – carry the Delsey name). Even the lowest-end Samsonite’s and Delsey’s (for the most part), on super sale, are $150 and up.
Hence my surprise when I discovered the Stratolite.
Here’s my take on it from a cursory walk-through:
2-wheeler, soft case – exactly what I’m looking for. (Also, a tangent / vent: why are spinners so hot right now? You lose so much packing space! And yet that’s what makes up 80% of the stock over here at the moment.)
20” x 15” x 7.5” (and expandable). A lot of airlines cite a 14” max width for carry-on… Has anyone had issues getting their Samsonites on board over this discrepancy? (I notice this isn’t the only 15” model that they’ve classified as “cabin luggage”.)
It’s red. I know Mafia Black would have been the first to go, but r e d… I was hoping to keep my travel-for-work gear conservative. (I’m not the DIY sort, but if I get this piece, I might just go crazy with some Sharpies.)
Despite being old stock, it’s in good condition with no physical damage, except for a couple of dirt marks (nothing that my own magic marker experiments won’t hide, anyway).
The telescoping handle slides smoothly and holds up fairly well in the Solidity Wiggle Test (compared to all the OEM brands I looked at). It obviously doesn’t hold a candle to a $440 Samsonite Xion or Samsonite Pro Deluxe 3, but it’ll do.
The wheels are okay, too (though the gold standard for me so far was an Osprey with see-through wheels that felt like it really meant business).
Comfortable handles on the top, side and bottom (yay!).
Zips were very smooth when opening / closing, so I was happy with that. (Another ‘oddly enough’ – I found a Camel Active duffel backpack which had the most buttery zips… as well as about 6 kg in deadweight… so, nice, but no.)
No TSA lock, just a regular combo.
“Strength flex”. Okay, someone told me to do this… Lay it open, and try to “fold” the main compartment diagonally, just to test for resistance and structural integrity. All the bags felt the same to me, so... yeah.
Service and warranty: 3 years warranty, and I can just bring it in to any of the stores. This is a huge deal for me out in Malaysia. I can’t afford to ship a bag off to the US for repairs, so I had to cross a lot of awesome brands off my list since they didn’t have a service center in Malaysia.
Deadweight: 3.5kg. I know, this one’s on the heavy side, but my packing plan involves bringing a laptop backpack and siphoning off some weight at the scale. (Don’t tell anyone.)
Built-in organizers: A sort-of suiter compartment, but it’s pretty tight in there. I like the resulting cavernous space in the main compartment, though.
Have I missed anything?
spoon