Letitride3c

With US airliners trending toward their newest tool, the infamous sizer - including our once favorite, UA - we are taking another good look at our MLC and one bag strategy, since the personal item's sizing would make it quite difficult to secure any 17" laptop.

Aside from our eBags TLS Mother Lode Weekender, we also use a Eddie Bauer laptop/messenger bag (it's my favorite - owned 2 of them as it's a discontinued model but perfectly sized smaller than 17x10x9, but expandable) and a High Sierra backpack with compression straps - the resolution for 2014 is to pack even lighter and/or "acquire" a Scottevest or similar travel jacket to re-allocate the loads ... given all the heated debates among the DYKWIA elite/status flyers and that even on TPAC flights, it's going to be a battle.

We travel with the tablets & for laptop power - stick with a compact 11" or 12" netbook - it's lighter & easier to deal with ... we also have a Targus backpack that I used for running on the ground only - it doesn't look Techie or Corporate, similar ones sold at Staple at a good price with lifetime warranty, surprised to find that it "exceed" the personal bag specs & would likely be flagged by the carryon sizer at the UA counter/gate ... Perhaps, we will begin to see FT's moving away from those 17" laptops and back down to the 15" ones as it's easier to squeeze them into most personal bag under the radar.

brp1264

My vote is for an Everki backpack. Great functionality, you don't seem them often, and they are neither too techy or too business-like.

gobluetwo

Depending on the range, it could be 2 or 10 years, or limited lifetime or more comprehensive lifetime. At $30, I'd bet that this is either a 2 or 10 year limited warranty. The "carry with confidence" warranty is the comprehensive one, which covers defects + common carrier damage.

http://www.victorinox.com/us/content...lWAndPOverview

bocastephen

I'm going to take the bag to Costco...the (almost) same bag is on ebags right now, although at a higher price than I paid Costco. I also need to correct myself - the brand is Swissgear, not Victorinox. If Costco has the same bag in stock somewhere, I'll take a replacement.

squatch

i have no idea if this falls into either of you categories, but i love the timbuk2 laptop backpacks. the one i have i a couple of years old and discontinued, but this one is close...

http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/...ckpack/2486930

brightaxis

This is what I use by Thule - http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/produc...le_85854218474

Works very well - picked it up on sale almost 2 years ago. Still looks new.

Baldpacker

I'd take a look at the North Face Router.

Pinned

Check out Incase. I rarely like a product this much but... I've had an Incase 17" MacBook Pro specific backpack for 4 or 5 years now. It has traveled around the world with me, and has even been my sole bag for 4 night trips. I have used it at least 5 days a week since new. It's the best bag I've ever owned and still looks brand new inside and out. I'm currently using it with my 15" MBPr, as the bag outlasted my 17" MacBook Pro.

I checked the Incase site, it looks like they've updated the bag slightly but the important features (straps, outer material, inside compartments) all appear to be the same. And, even better, since the 17" MacBook Pro is no more it's on sale. I wish I had a reason to buy another, because $50 is an incredible price for this backpack. I consider the $100 I spent on mine years ago to have been a serious bargain.

http://goincase.com/shop/incase-nylon-backpack#view/0