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I recently lost my trusty laptop case and so am looking to replace. I am looking for a backpack that will hold a 17 inch laptop that I can use as my "personal item" when travelling in addition to my carry-on suitcase. Any suggestions for under $50?
I recently lost my trusty laptop case and so am looking to replace. I am looking for a backpack that will hold a 17 inch laptop that I can use as my "personal item" when travelling in addition to my carry-on suitcase. Any suggestions for under $50?
I bought a nice one at REI one time. I think it was around $39.
Mine is by Solo. I do not remember what I paid. It's about three years old and holding up well so far. It is fairly big, but it will fit under the seat in front of me.
You can also get any standard backpack that suits you and use a separate laptop sleeve. I have a North Face "Borealis" pack and use a targus neoprene sleeve that opens on the short end. When going through security, I leave the sleeve in the bag, and just pull the laptop out for screening, which makes it easy to slip the laptop back in after screening. By using a separate bag ans sleeve, I can use the bag without my laptop (i.e. hiking, day trips), and I can use the sleeve with other bags.
It's a little bit more than your $50 limit (though not much, and it's free shipping), but this one has the Checkpoint Friendly feature. I travel frequently for work, and it's honestly my favorite thing about my laptop bag. I don't have to futz around with my laptop and risk forgetting it or someone picking it up. It stays in the bag, I just unzip and lay the bag flat.
It's a little bit more than your $50 limit (though not much, and it's free shipping), but this one has the Checkpoint Friendly feature. I travel frequently for work, and it's honestly my favorite thing about my laptop bag. I don't have to futz around with my laptop and risk forgetting it or someone picking it up. It stays in the bag, I just unzip and lay the bag flat.
I travel with a laptop a fair amount for work and I used to have an earlier model or similar of this one and it was my favorite laptop bag until I got the SwissGear Ibex Notebook Backpack a few years ago:
The Ibex seems a bit more padded and sturdy and I actually like not having the zippers go all the way down because once you overfill it and the zipper teeth begin to not stay interlocked the bag becomes a bit "unreliable" (just my personal preference though).
I'd say that just about anything SwissGear (Wenger) is pretty much solid though so you really can't go wrong with whichever one you pick!
The Ibex seems a bit more padded and sturdy and I actually like not having the zippers go all the way down because once you overfill it and the zipper teeth begin to not stay interlocked the bag becomes a bit "unreliable" (just my personal preference though).
The zippers that go all the way down the side don't get strained because nothing goes in the part that the zipper encloses. There's the front section for all your "stuff", the back section that holds only the laptop, and the zipper down the sides simply connects the two sections. Putting anything in between the two would defeat the purpose of having a checkpoint friendly bag.
This one, from Case Logic, has been great for us. Best part is that it can be used as a back pack, or it has small handles that can be used to put it on top of a carry on suitcase. Not the most comfortable backpack that I've ever worn, but the various pockets and zippers and size of the thing really make up for that difference. And it fits other stuff, like makeup, jewelry, underwear, even with my 17" laptop inside. Highly recommended.
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