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47 of 48 persons found the following review helpful.
Not for a road-warrior
By F. G. Gates
I purchased this to replace a SwissGear 'Melton' backpack I'd been using for 3+ years. My old backpack suffered a rip when I without advance planning snagged it on a sharp edge (my fault) but had other than as supposed or expected been the best laptop backpack I had ever owned (of 5).
On the other hand, this SA1908 is the worst I have ever owned and I have returned it. Within hours of transferring my junk to it one of the zippers burst, just as other Amazon reviewers have reported (I now read). On my backpack it was the zipper for the little compartment at the foot of the bag and all I had in there was a couple of USB flash drives and an iPod cable. Hardly over-stressing the zip. The zippers are plainly lower quality than the ones on my former backpack.
I had to use the backpack for a trip with 6 flights involved since I had no other backpack available. Over the course of that trip I realized:
- The TSA/Equiv do not recognize the backpack as ScanSmart and each time I was told to remove my laptop in spite of my opening the backpack per SwissGear instructions. (PHX, PHL, LGW (UK), MAN (UK), JFK, ATL).
- There are too few little pockets. Every pocket extends to the bottom of the laptop so you need to rummage wrist-deep or elbow-deep to find anything. I'd prefer some more little pockets to coordinate things.
- The top handle is set too far back to be capable to place the backpack on a rolling 22" cabin-baggage rollaboard case and hold both the backpack handle and the rollaboard handle in one hand. It is possible but very uncomfortable as your hand can not grip properly.
- The top handle is only made of quilted fabric and does not have any interior steel strengthening as other SwissGear laptops have or had. I doubt this handle would stand the test of time.
- The side-pockets intended for water bottles are too baggy and any water bottle will fall out each few minutes.
- The zipper toggles are stylish but functionally wanting. Rather than a simple toggle you may just pull, these have polygonal loops which attach to the zipper closure and each time you need to open or close a zip the toggle has fallen to the faulty angle and jammed so that you have to spend seconds fiddling with the toggle.
- There is very little padding in the bottom of the laptop compartment. If you are not super careful setting down the backpack on a hard surface you may listen the crunch as the corner of your laptop hits the floor.
In the week I had to use it the stitching in one of the shoulder straps popped and the edging begun to fray away. If I kept it longer the shoulder strap would have separated. (This with one light 4lb laptop, charger, a paperback book, a few light cables, and a great deal of Bose headphones).
Overall: I hope this laptop isn't representative of all SwissGear's present productions because I do hope to buy another. I'll be inspecting backpacks in person even though before I buy another.
88 of 98 people found the following review helpful.
Well designed but a little tight for a heap of 17-inch laptops
By J.R.S.
I chose this backpack to carry my new laptop and to replace a regular old backpack that I carry my things to work in each day. My decision was based mainly on it merchandising for 67% off and that it seemed like it would be huge sufficient for my laptop. I've got a 17.3" Asus gaming laptop so it's in truth long and also gorgeous thick. This is a great bag, in particular for the price and the only reason I gave only 4 stars is because it is a very tight fit for my laptop. Due to the side-access design, inserting/removing the computer is much harder than it might be if it just slid in from the top or opened up all the way. Once the computer is inside it is hard to zip up and I have to pull and stretch the edge as I fetch the zipper around the corner of the laptop or the zipper pull will drag versus it. Once zipped up the top corner of the laptop in truth pushes out hard versus the zipper and I hope that after a lot of use it doesn't bust through and ruin the zipper in that spot. If I'm lucky the bag itself may stretch a little and give a little more slack. Don't get me wrong this is still a finelooking huge bag; if it was even just 1/2 inch taller it would be perfect.
Once the laptop is inside, the whole bag may open up like a clamshell and there is a "ScanSmart" plastic window that looks into the laptop compartment. This is supposed to be a feature that makes it easy for TSA screeners to screen your laptop at the airport. Since not one thing else sits behind the laptop, by opening the bag like a clamshell it leaves the laptop side all alone without your other pockets full of stuff obscuring the x-ray image. However, as far as I knew the TSA requires all laptops to be wholly got rid of anyway so your mileage may vary with this feature. There are various other pockets with a lot of good storage space for things like folders, pens, keys or other computer accessories. There is a consecrated MP3 player pocket inside with a little hole to push headphones through that I think will come in genuinely handy. The TWO water bottle holders on the sides are stretchy elastic and my extra wide 32oz. bottle fits in easily. The back of the pack and the shoulder straps are both finelooking cushy and there is a little elastic band on the back of the strap to hold your sunglasses if you want. The materials all around all appear very sturdy and feel substantial. There's also a sturdy handle on the top of the bag to pick it up by or carry that way if you choose.
TL;DR version:
Should without apparent effort fit mainstream 17-inch laptops but is gorgeous tight for more spectacular gaming type laptops. If you have an 18-inch don't even bother. This is in all likelihood the best laptop backpack on Amazon at this time in particular for the low price. Tons of sweet storage choices and well constructed; not cheaply made. Looks cool too.
21 of 21 persons found the following review helpful.
Good bag for a good deal!!!!
By S. Patel
This bag is perfective for 17.4" laptops. Actually it reduces weight on your shoulder due it's air-flow technology. This bag is huge sufficient to put college books or business documens. I likewise keep cooling hub and external hard drive in it. This is perfective for outstanding deal. Thanks amazon.
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Tags: bags, laptop, laptop backpack, mochila, swissgear, swissgear laptop backpack black, today 
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