It's doing my head in when I just dropped $270 on one bag with accessories and $295 on another bag, and you recommend a $39 bag as being your go to one.

How long have you had the Swerve and how is the durability? I liked the functionality and capacity of the Wegner, and it didn't feel bad at all with a 15kg load, but it obviously couldn't take it as the strap is coming apart after 10 months.

I have trouble believing the Tom Bihn Brain Bag wouldn't amply hold those things. I also have trouble believing the Swerve is gonna hold all that stuff and last.

With the Brain Bag, I could easily fit 2 laptops in one of the large compartments and still have room for books, files and more just in that one compartment along with the 2 laptops.

Almost a year since I began my search and I'm still very, very pleased with the Brain Bag. And after almost a year of very heavy duty use, it looks the same as the day I got it. Not a thread out of place. To say this is a well made bag is understatement.

That's exactly what happened to my Wegner bag too :)

I have had the Swerve for 6 months now, which means about 60 flight legs for me (and few train rides when I don't fly.) And still is at 100%.

I needed a new backpack/laptop bag about a year and a half ago and I looked at many of the ones discussed here. I decided on a TravelPro Business Backpack and couldn't be happier with it. It is TSA Checkpoint friendly; secures my laptop very well; has a compartment opposite the laptop that holds a zipper bag full of charges, cables, etc.; has a water bottle compartment, that expands enough to hold a Starbucks Venti Ice Tea; has an outside earphone compartment; and, it has many compartments for office supplies, files, etc. I have also put a 17 inch laptop in a separate padded case into the main body when I needed to take two laptops with me. I routinely fly with my smaller laptop, bag of electronic stuff, Bose headphones, files, Kindle Fire and miscellaneous supplies. On top of that, because of the two bag rule I have to put my purse into it when boarding. I remove my purse once seated and have never had a problem putting the bag under the seat. It also sits up when on the ground, so it is easy to access files and anything else in it. It has a strap to put over a rollaboard handle for easy transporting. There are several sites online that sell it at a discount. I paid just under $100 for it and received free shipping. I've used it well over a year and haven't had any problems and nothing has broken or torn. I recommend it highly.

Thanks for the feedback Kirakat. Looking at the videos, pictures, and dimensions of the TravelPro, it just seems too small for all the gadgets that I carry for work/travel. The dimensions are smaller than the Targus Feren backpack I am using now as a standby until I return home to grab the replacement. I could barely zip everything up on my current trip out here and although it did fit in the overhead of the CRJ going BOS-EWR, I simply need more room and easier access to my items.

Right now I have ordered the following 4 bags and will update with a review of them next week:

• The Tom Bihn Brain Bag with Vertical Freudian Slip, Travel Tray, and Vertical Cache for my fat-battery laptop. ($160 + Accessories + Shipping = $267)
• The Everki Concept Premium Checkpoint Friendly Laptop Backpack ($295)
• Targus CityGear Chicago Backpack Case for 16 Inch Notebooks. (Somehow it was on sale for $19.79 + 4.65 s/h from Amazon through TigerDirect - at that price I could not say no and will just end up keeping this bag and use it as my new backup bag)
• eBags TLS Workstation Backpack ($74.99)

Right now I think it's between the Tom Bihn and the Everki, but I couldn't say no to the Targus at that price and I wanted to give eBags a shot before striking them out entirely.

Who will come out on top? We shall see.

I found a High Sierra Elite backpack at Costco on sale for under $30. At that price, I had to try it. It has all the features I was looking for, including being able to slide onto the handle of my carry-on and the "TSA-friendly" sleeve for my laptop for those non-PreCheck security lines. They quickly sold out, so I'll live with one of the side compression straps having fallen off. I eventually found another one months later in blue (no longer on sale) in a corner with some other one-of-a-kind items that I picked up as a backup. I travel almost weekly and I've gotten my money's worth and more out of this one.

Ahh, the laptop and tablet/charger organization looks great on that.

It also reminds me a lot of my Swiss bag that is falling apart in the pics above - the straps especially. How is yours holding up with regards to the straps? I carry a heavy load usually (30lbs or maybe even mroe) with it and I often pick it up and sling it with just the one right strap, which destroyed the Swiss bag.

My straps are holding up surprisingly well. I try to not 'yank' it unnecessarily, but I am always just carrying it on one shoulder and have yet to have a problem. One of the side 'compression' straps gave out after one or two trips, but frankly my bag is never empty enough to need to compress the bag. If I had known how well this bag would have held up, I would have gotten a second one when they were originally at Costco.

Nice conversation.I does not agreed with you that the website for the bags are not absolutely gives the views of what the bag actually does.I had an experience of buying a laptop sleeve it look like as it is when came in my hand. http://www.personalizedlaptopsleeves.com/ you can also visit it see the bags huge range.

So someone finally messaged me and gave me a poke to go ahead already and post my review and final decision on a new laptop backpack. So, I will post 3 more posts, one reviewing the Tom Bihn Brain Bag, one reviewing the Everki, and then a final conclusion and my decision.

For some background, I am a travelling engineering and my list of gadgets, tools, and electronics I need to carry with me grows every year in my position. We can go to some pretty remote locations, so the motto is often “better to be looking at it than looking for it”. I’ve added spare cables (cisco, serial, LAN, USB) to extra documentation, and some weird odds and ends like a ESD wrist-strap to my carry-on bag. Suffice to say, I have to carry ~25lbs of goodies including my laptop and tablet, so with a standard backpack I come in at around 28lbs of weight on the bag. That means I need a very durable well-made bag that has some room and organization to boot.

So, here is a pic of everything I need to load into the backpack:


http://i.imgur.com/65IVeUUl.jpg


A list of components include:

Dell Precision M4400 Workstation with extended battery.
Asus Transformer Prime Tablet and Apple Ipod Nano.
Chargers for the above gear.
Hard drive case with external hard drives.
Hard drive case with various small electronics cables.
Portable digital camera AA battery charger.
United BusinessFirst toiletry kit with various electrical adapters and other odds and ends.
Spare change of clothes (t-shirt, underwear, socks).
Medications.
Snacks and gum.
Documentation folders and receipt holder.
Passport case and various foreign currency.
Cardholder for the countless frequent flier, hotel, and car rental cards as well as international driving license, immunization card, checkbook, etc...
Serial cables, LAN cables, Laptop locking cable, Cisco cables, HDMI cable.
Pens, Pencils, Sharpies, work ID, Sunglasses, and travel umbrella.
3-1-1 toiletry bag.
Water Bottle.
Various office supply odds and ends (travel stapler, post its, business card case, USB thumbdrives).

So, let's meet the bags now. The Everki Concept Checkpoint Flyer and the Tom Bihn Brain Bag.

Pic of the two bags from the front:


http://i.imgur.com/es7k5ZYl.jpg


Pic of the two bags from behind:


http://i.imgur.com/htjmUzOl.jpg

So, first up, the Tom Bihn Brain Bag.

I received this bag first, and I must say that I love the look and material feel of the bag. It definitely is a high quality bag and I could tell that it will last a very long time even with everyday use. As you all probably know, it has two large empty compartments with no organization, only areas for annex clips and an O-ring at the top of each compartment. There are two pairs of compression straps going across these two compartments. There are two smaller vertical compartments on the front with some internal organization, and a small horizontal compartment with a keystrap. To top it all off, there is a carabiner clip and some tie-down straps in the front along with a mesh pocket on one of the vertical compartments.

So, as the Brain Bag lacks internal storage by design, you have to order some accessories to deck it out and make it a little more useful if you plan to use it as a laptop bag. Along with the Brain Bag, I ordered the following accessories:

• Vertical padded Cache for my laptop.
• Vertical Freudian Slip.
• Travel Sack.

Unfortunately, my work laptop has the annoying extended battery that juts out the side and increases the dimensions of the laptop beyond what any vertical brain cell will accommodate; as a result, I was forced into removing the Annex clips and using a large vertical cache that fit my laptop, but was definitely not a snug fit and not as protective as a brain cell. Also, Tom Bihn was backordered on snakecharmers, so I had to make do with the electronics organizers I currently have.

So, I did my best to load up everything in the bag and organize it the best I could. It was definitely able to fit all my items, and probably has some more room to through a few extras if I pick any up during my travels. The bag definitely felt solid and that it would not buckle under the weight.

Here are some pics of it fully loaded and snapshots of the internals:


So, the good things in this bag:

• Extremely durable and well-made.
• Attractive and distinct bag with great feeling material.
• Very versatile in that I can remove many of the organizational features of the bag and use it as a carry-on chock full of clothes if I want to go that route. Basically, with the right accessories, this bag can fit almost any role you could need for a carry-on or travel bag.
• The cost isn’t too bad for the bag itself, but climbs in price when you add more accessories.

Some things that I don’t like about the bag:

• The lack of organizational features makes it somewhat difficult to pack everything properly. Also, as there are no places for loose items, they need to be packed into organization cases or cubes.
• The inability to use a vertical brain cell for my laptop makes the bag less appealing. The cache is okay, but I have to pull it out during laptop screening and pulling the laptop in/out of the bag in a section that has to be used for more than just the laptop can be troublesome. Also, I have to pull out and put back in my tablet as well since it has a keyboard dock.
• The shoulder straps are definitely solid, but I find them somewhat uncomfortable, especially with a heavy load. When wearing a long sleeve shirt, it’s relatively okay, but in a short sleeve shirt they can rub up against your bare skin and it doesn't feel pleasant.

So, the contender from parts unknown, the Everki Concept Premium Checkpoint Friendly Laptop Backpack, up to 17.3”.

I was definitely hesitant purchasing this bag – at $295 it is not a cheap investment, and is actually the most expensive piece of luggage I have ever purchased (28” hard-side luggage included). So I received this bag and it came packed in its own Everki white bag that I can see myself using as an expensive laundry bag. The website shows all of the good features of this bag, so I’ll just say that it is as it appears in the videos and pictures. The stitching appears to be good, the leather and ballistic nylon have a good feel, and it does feel a solid bag. One thing that I didn’t notice from the website is that the strapping materials is similar to that of a car’s seatbelt, so it has a great smooth feel to it and definitely seems durable. The buckles on the shoulder straps are also metal, which was weird to me at first, but they should hold up better than plastic.

I managed to squeeze everything in the bag I needed to bring with me, and the separate laptop and tablet compartments do help keep things separated. My laptop fit just fine in the sleeve, and there is even more room in there so I could upgrade to a larger laptop if need be. The corner pads on the bottom are solid and definitely add a layer of protection in case of a bag drop (unless it drops on the top). The orange lining is great and allows me to quickly find things in the bag, which is helpful when it is chock full of items. This bag has most of the organizational features you would expect of a laptop backpack, and I managed to fill up all the little slots and zipper compartments. I actually think there could be more compartments in the bag if they wanted to =). I was able to get my water bottle into the side of the bag, but it is a somewhat tight fit. I was worried that it may slip out (happens sometimes when pulling my current bag out of the overhead), but I found that I could snake the compression strap through my water bottle’s carabiner clip and secure it in place nicely!

So, here are some pics of the bags outside and inside packed with my stuff:

So, the good things in this bag:

• Appears extremely well made and durable with good materials and stitching.
• Some great organizational features that work well for my typical work travel.
• Internal setup works well for me and allows me to put my laptop and tablet in a separate compartment that I open for Airport screening and keep my laptop in the fold down sleeve (in most countries) and remove my tablet w/ keyboard dock to through in a bin.
• Nice thick padded and comfortable shoulder straps – we shall see how well these hold up.

Some things that I don’t like about the bag:

• The price!
• It can only ever really serve as a laptop bag and would not be very well suited as a carry-on bag for clothes.
• There is no carabiner clip or webbing straps on the front of the bag for affixing an ID tag or hanging other items. How are people to know just WHO I am without my 1K tag hanging in their face while they wait behind me in line? =)~ I managed to solve this by sneaking some cable locks in the clips of the compression strap buckles though.
• Hard sunglasses case is a little too big and takes up some room in the main compartment.
• Never really heard of Everki before and concerned about the long-term durability of the bag and whether I’ll have to replace it or send it in for repair after a few years.

So, the big question, which bag did I choose and which got packed up and sent back to its maker?

I have to say, this was a much more difficult decision to make than I thought it would be. These two bags are on opposite ends of the design spectrum. The Everki is designed with tons of organizational features and pockets/sleeves that make it suited only as a laptop bag. The Tom Bihn is a much more flexible and adaptable bag, that is meant to be able to suit any purpose you can think of if the correct accessories are added or removed.

When I had these two bags, I spent most of the day packing and unpacking them. Moving items from one bag and then into the other, carrying them up and down stares, and even doing mock TSA checkpoint laptop/tablet/3-1-1 removals a la a security screening. I even packed up each one and showed them off to my kettle family members and asked for their advice! There were mixed votes for either bag, based mostly on the look of the bag more-so than the functionality. While I would have loved to keep both bags, I couldn't justify that cash outlay, and in the end, only one bag would undergo a ribbon cutting ceremony for the attached tags.

In the end, I chose the Everki.

The main reason for this choice? While the Tom Bihn is arguably a better backpack, the Everki is definitely a better laptop backpack. That key points is crucial, because I needed a new laptop backpack and not a flexible carry-on that may be capable of one-bagging. I know for my job I cannot one-bag no matter what carry-on bag I have, so I might as well pick the best functional and comfortable laptop bag I can. For my usage, the Everki fits that bill better than the Tom Bin.

Some other reasons for the choice of the Everki over the Tom Bihn:

• The shoulder straps on the Everki are definitely more comfortable, especially under load.
• After some shifting of items and some clever packing, I was able to get the Everki to pack very well and utilize all the organizational pouches very well. The ones that are harder to access now house the cables and items I don't use as often, and I have items I use every day easily accessible on top.
• The organizational pouches in the Everki allow me to ditch some cases for items, including my digital camera, laptop, tablet, hard drive, and sunglasses.
• Due to ditching a lot of the organizational pouches, the Everki weighed in at ~1 lb less than the Tom Bihn loaded up with the same items.
• The checkpoint friendly feature will definitely be of use and I am finding that more and more airports are becoming amiable to them (Frankfurt and Changi, get with the program!).
• I already have some good carry-on bags in my inventory (RedOxx Air Boss + Extra Small Aviator, Briggs and Riley Travel Satchel, and Camelback daypack) that I can use for vacation purposes, so I wasn't so swayed by the brain Bag's ability to multi-task as many different bags.
• The Everki has some unique features like the sunglasses holder and rain cover. I know in the Middle East I will use the sunglasses holder a lot, and when I get caught in Mumbai/Singapore/Hong Kong during monsoon/typhoon season, the rain cover may get some use as well.

I have my first series of flights on Saturday with this bag, so I will see how it goes. It is definitely going to be a thorough test, as my itinerary is as follows:

4/6, EWR-IAD-PEK
4/9, PEK-PVG
4/11, PVG-TAO
4/13, TAO-PEK-SWA
4/29, SWA-PEK
4/30, PEK-SFO-EWR

Feel free to ask any comments or for some more updated pics if you want - I know my phone's camera isn't that good, but I tried to get pics as good as I could.

Great stuff on the comparison between the Brain Bag and the Everki. I'd never heard of that brand, otherwise I would've given that bag a look when I was making my decision.

I'm a couple years down the road with the Brain Bag and I like it a lot, but I DO wish it had a bit more intrinsic organizational capability. The vertical freudian slip addresses much of that, and the bag has aged beautifully. Still looks brand new.

How are you liking your Everki now that you're some months down the road? Still happy with it?

I have been using the Everki Concept for close to a year now. I fly pretty much every week.

Durability has been excellent. No issues with the zipper or stitching. Before I got TSA Pre-check I opened the laptop compartment all the time to go through security. It was nice not having to take the laptop out and put it in to a separate bin. Recently, I have had to carry two laptops along with my usual gear and it has held up very well.

I only have very minor complaints - I would like the main laptop compartment to be adjustable like they did on the most recent Titan. A few more pockets in the front compartment would be nice as well to help organize all my stuff but that's probably just me carrying too much stuff :)