redfooj

Need a bag -- mess OR backpack -- for my commute.

Have a largish and massive laptop ... 15" screen , 14x10" dimension, 7lb. Will carry power adaptor, probably a few portfolios and a small book and such


I have a large Targus bag with the carrying capacity, but it obviously wasnt meant to be carried on a bicycle (or even walking, for that matter). I need something that will be fairly stablized and , most importantly, comfortable on a road bike


Chrome seems to have a few offering ... wonder if there are other good suggestions

DoshKel

I think Timbuk2 offeres a laptop pouch or something. My buddie's got one and he loves the ****. I dunno though.

rocks in head 

check this out...
https://www.fixedgeargallery.com/reviews/messengerbags/
it's a nice synopsis.

leloy

i have a boblbee megalopolis for riding around with expensive stuff, feels safe and its really comfortable...

travsi

i've got the large bagaboo with a custom padded
laptop pocket. there is only one problem with carrying
a laptop in a messenger bag that i have experienced.
since the bag is straped diagonally across your back,
when you're leaning over while riding, the bag bends
around your back (no big surprise). but this puts alot
of stress on a laptop, especially wide screen, because
they're so long. i've had some problems in the hinge
of the display twice because of this. and once there
was enough pressure to cause a dent in the back of the
display from the power supply being pressed against it.

does anyone else notice this sort of thing?

asalvador

thats my main concern with putting stuff in my bag. Especially in a laptop specific bag because you cant offset the padding on it, its strapped to your back.

I have a chrome metro and i just bought their laptop sleeve for my 17" powerbook. Only downside to it that i see is that it doesnt have pockets for anything, but if im going anywhere where i need more than my laptop, i will be carrying more stuff anyways so it will be in my main bag.

Im thinking of making some pads for my bag and throwing them in between the canvas and the liner so that when it is on my machine doesnt flex... well see how that goes...

eddiebrannan

i have a regular laptop carrying sleeve which i use loose inside my timbuk2. it seems to work ok

666pack

i too have a LARGE (17inch widescreen) laptop... and it's hard to find a moderately priced sleeve.
timbuk2 has the best line of bags to hold laptops i think. i just wrap mine up in a hoodie when i ride with it.

you hipsters with mac notebooks don't know how easy you have it. small laptop possessing mother****ers.

srsly

i carry around a dell d810, 15" screen, about an inch thick, and weighs like 5lbs. i just throw it in the bottom of my chrome ivan, pad it with a change of clothes. i guess it's different since it's a work laptop and i don't really care if it gets wrecked in a crash but padding it with a shirt and a pair of pants is just as good as some kinda sleeve. besides, i couldn't find a sleeve that wasn't hideously expensive and/or huge that would fit this beast. but since it's a backpack it carries nice, fits it perfectly horizontal. i think anything wider would have to go in vertical.

don't be hatin' because you bought that ugly brick of a pc laptop

travsi

yea, don't hate ...and since when is 17" small?

666pack

who's hating? mine's a dell too (inspiron 6000 widescreen). don't get a timbuk2 medium if you plan on carrying a laptop this big in there. this baby just barely fits in there, i don't think if i had a sleeve for it it would fit that nice. i usually pad it in the front with a weekend's worth of clothes, so i don't really worry about much happening to it (but it does make the bag unbalanced, and it always falls out of the car when i have my bike in the back... and it always falls on the top / rear. right on my laptop. great.

and that mac is considerably slimmer than mine, in addition to probably being more narrow as well (i have more casing around the screen)... not to mention it's probably about half the weight of my dell.

mattface 

I carry a laptop every day. My Trager Courier Laptop bag works well for holding all my work ****, and it's held up well to daily abuse for about 5 years but it doesn't stay put well on my back when I really get on it. I'm looking for something a bit better in that regard so I'm interested to see what other folks find works well. Currently I'm leaning towards a Bagaboo with a built in laptop sleeve.

itsacosbysweate

I bought the laptop sleeve from Chrome and it holds my 13" iBook like a dream, although I have noticed tiny hairline cracks around one of the bolts on the bottom presumably from the power cord pressing against it. I suppose the solution would be to make sure anything that may press against the outside is placed towards the front of the bag (the outside of the bag when worn).

visitordesign

lately i've had to lug around a 15" powerbook and a 13" macbook. 2 sleeves in a timbuk2 bag. add locks, arabic textbooks, hard drives, tools, misc. crap--that bag's been weighing a ton, but it holds just about everything i need it to. i even crammed new sheets and a blanket in there last week, but that stuff sort of fit more on top of the bag than in it...

Ceya

I used to carry my 10" Fujitsu now my 7" Smartbook G138.

YEP WINDOWS BASED.

S/F,
CEYA!

DoshKel

Nice! Smartbooks are some damn rad. I've always wanted one just because they are the best.

mattface 

I use Macs, and prefer the smaller ones, because I carry them everywhere every day (well every weekday). Those 17" powerbooks or Macbooks are great machines, but they look like a big silver surf board

Over the years I've carried a 14" Powerbook G3, a 15" Powerbook G4, a 12" Powerbook G4, various 12" iBooks (sometimes along with the 12" G4), and most recently a 13" Macbook. the 12" powerbook was by far the lightest, and by a little bit the smallest, but I still tend to wind up with 20-30 pounds in my bag most of the time.

pixel

I have a Case Logic neoprene sleeve I use for my 15" Powerbook that I picked up cheap (~$16) at the local Microcenter. Power adaptor and mouse go in one of the pockets of my bag. Bag-wise I have a medium (I think, its been awhile) Courierware, which is a tad on the small side when I'm carrying a change of clothes, my sketchbook, tools, and whatever odds and ends I have in my bag in addition to the laptop. I've been thinking of getting a Freight Baggage backpack as a replacement, because the Courieware is on the small side for grocery shopping.

redfooj

some of the timbuk2 offerings look nice... but none seems to accomodate thicker 1.7" lappies ("portable workstations")

hahaha. i dont think ibooks/powerbooks can handle my application needs

skelly

17-inch powerbook in a foam sleeve, loose inside a giant backpack. seems to work ok. i hate riding with that thing in my bag though, all i can think about is falling and breaking it.

nightfly

I've got 15" Powerbook and slip it in this sleeve:

https://www.booqbags.com/Detail.bok?no=98

And put it in any bag I happen to be using. I've got a Northface Recon backpack which has a sleeve in it that fits the laptop in the case next to your back with a layer of padding in between.

I've also used this in a ghetto messenger bag but I'd like to replace this with a Chrome or similar. Only problem with the backpack is the weight on your shoulder tends to put pressure on your wrists if you are leaning over your bars where I think a messenger bag probably supports more weight in the small of your back.

crackerjack

12in PB in a Shinza ZeroShock. Booq and Brenthaven also look cool.

srsly

hmm, never thought of that. my right wrist has been kinda bugging me lately. maybe i'll loosen the straps a little bit so it sits a little lower...

ernest

why two laptops?

nightfly

Take care of it sooner rather than later. My wrist got so screwed that I had to not ride for a bit and ended up switching up my bars and stem to something more wrist friendly. Probably wouldn't have gotten to that point if I had paid attention to the first pain. Bare bars and no brakes seem to put added stress on the right wrist and the computer in the backpack made me have to work a little harder to get my weight right to skid.