I bought a suitcase for my husband. He had been using an eBag Motherlode and the handle would no longer retract. He used his new Marlon this past weekend for a 2 night trip. He was content. He said it pulled well and that it fit easily in the overhead compartment. He liked having one large packing area rather than the two that the Motherlode has.
He will remove the power pack and leave it at home on future trips. On smaller planes, he needed to gatecheck the bag. He said he wasn't supposed to have the power pack in the luggage hold. It wasn't a feature that was important to him when he bought the bag so it doesn't matter to him if he removes it. It weighs 9 oz so will reduce weight by that much.