Swiss Gear SA1923 Black TSA Friendly ScanSmart Laptop Backpack - Fits Most 15 Inch Laptops and Tablets

I just got the item a few days back - it seems to be exactly as per my expectations (and the description on the site). It is spacious, and well suited for my day-to-day needs. Ill need to use it for a couple more months to provide a more detailed feedback, but here are some initial observations: 1. The middle chain that opens the bag completely should be really helpful for airport security checks - hopefully Ill not have to remove my laptop and can just pass in the bag opened up. 2. The section in the front is spacious enough to hold a couple of books (books totaling 2 inches in thickness) and a tablet. 3. I can fit my 13 macbook pro comfortable in the laptop section at the back with a lot of room to spare. I think a 15 laptop would easily fit too. Not so sure about 17 4. Lots of small pockets / room for accessories - cables, connectors, pen-drives, travel adaptors, cameras (My GoPro has a nice fitting place inside) etc. 5. Very comfortable on shoulder. No negatives so far, except that I would like a red+black dual color version of the bag (Searched at many places, but this particular one comes only in all-black).

I got this backpack on a gold box deal for $40, which was quite the steal. This backpack works tremendously for me going to and from work, as well as traveling for work or pleasure. I wish I had this backpack when I was in college, as it would have been invaluable then. This backpack is extremely roomy, well compartmentalized and very well designed. It has plenty of zippered compartments, and within the main zippered section there are small dividers at the bottom that can separate and organize folders, notebooks or papers into different sections...ingenious. There are zippered sections on the side that can fit my umbrella, and both sides have mesh pockets for water bottles. The front zippered pocket above the carabiner clip is small, and useful for items work such as pen drives, stopwatches, combs, lip balm, etc. And the frontmost section at the bottom also has plenty of dividers for my headphones, pens, wireless presenters, etc. I use it for going to work as well as traveling, and there is nothing better. The separate laptop compartment makes it a lot easier to go through security, and even when packed heavily the backpack still maintains a slim enough profile to count as my personal item on all the flights Ive traveled on. The main zippered section has a mesh pocket near the top where I keep my passport and other documents easily accessible. This backpack does everything I need it to and much more. The organization and design of it are impressive, and I will be using it for as long as it remains it one piece.

How do you carry the absolute maximum on an airline that allows one carry on and one personal item?? You use this bag and a 22 rollerboard (if you can still find one). Rollerboards are getting harder to find as spinners are taking over, but in my experience they just dont hold as much. This fits under the seat in front of you and the rollerboard in the bin. This bag and other Swiss Gear backpacks like it are becoming the de facto bag you see see business travelers using - at least those that use backpacks. If you are considering it, go ahead and buy it. Its a good investment that will last a long time.

I got this as a gift for someone who travels a lot, so I cant really speak to longevity. Ive had dozens of laptop backpack over the years and this one has to be one of the best designed ones Ive seen. I initially purchased the larger one, since the detentions were only a half inch larger in each direction! That was a huge mistake. a half inch all around is way larger than one would think and no way that one would have fit under an airline seat. This bag, on the other hand is the perfect size for someone who has to carry a lot of gear, but needs to remain conscientious of size. The fact that it opens up like a clam shell is really nice. To think of all the times I had to manage two laptops, shoes, belt, wallet, carry on.....just shoot me already! This bag definitely keeps the line moving faster. Wish everyone had a similar set up going through the TSA checkpoints!

Swiss Gear backpacks last forever. The one my daughter has been using daily for 7 years had no issues other than her water bottle did not fit well. This one is more than a school backpack, with thicker/sturdier material. A bit heavier than I hoped. It is a wider backpack, but doesnt look weird on my slim daughter. I ordered slate and got a blue, which is part of the reason I knocked a star off. Not going to go through the hassle of exchanging though. The other reason is that it is really difficult to understand how much a bag weighs by itself online - Id like that to be included in the specifications.

I bought this bag to replace a travel carry on I had. Funny how once I got to the airport that I noticed 50% of the travelers had Swiss Gear backpacks. Good sign. I bought this bag for my GF who is a Flight Attendant and she loved it. Anyway, it has pockets to keep all your stuff separate and organized. Everything is pretty easy to get into. The handle on top is great. On the left shoulder strap it has a band that you slide your sunglasses into to hold. That was the coolest. Why I didnt give 5 stars. It has a bit of weight to the bag even when empty. But, that is because it is a good quality bag. Just sayin. My only suggestion is to put your own tag or ribbon on it because everyone has one of these bags and they all look alike.

This is very spacious with more than enough pockets. The only problem I have is that my 3 inch binder is hard to fit in here. There are two separate large spaces but neither is easy to fit the large binder in. Other than that it works great and keeps me organized on the go. Im often a walking desk because I have to carry most my desk contents location to location.

I bought this backpack as a replacement for another Swissgear backpack that the strap broke. Although it is made well and I like the amount of pockets it has, I do miss the large front pocket in the front top of the bag that I had on my other one. It was big enough to hold my phone and inhaler as well as any pill bottles I carried on the plane. The construction of this pocket - with the zipper facing down is poor, in my opinion. When you open the pocket with the bag upright, everything falls out of it. The main pocket is large and can hold books, notebooks, my large teacher planner, etc. The back computer pocket holds my 13” Ipad, 15” Dell computer, as well as all charger cords, extension cords, and any other computer accessories. Overall, I like the bag, but do not care for the “improvements” that were made to this design.

OK, so that may be a bit dramatic. I looked for quite awhile for a bag reasonability priced with pockets, bottle pockets, key pockets, kleenix pockets, eyeglass case pockets, book pockets, laptop phone and cord pockets and so on. I commute many mornings via Park and ride into work and need a bag that is easy to carry, pockets for bus pass, phone, Kindle, paper files, pens, keys, glasses, lunch bag, rain coat, and wow. This bag has it all. I am quite satisfied. Sturdy construction. Zippers tough and hold up to my every day use. I have been using for a couple months (or thereabouts) and have nothing about which to complain. Side pockets, one on each side, easily handle my 22oz thermos and coffee cup. The front pocket has slots for pens, markers. There is a attached key clip thingy that easily releases and re-clips. I dont use the padded laptop pocket much - it is large enough for a 15 - 17 screen. My wife things it larger than necessary, however, she isnt the one on the bus in rain and or snow wanting an easy one hand or over the shoulder bag. I do recommend it! Did I mention it has pockets? 22Oct2013 update - I continue to really enjoy this bag. This week (no kidding) I have seen this same bag over the shoulder of a fellow bus commuter, and a gentlemen who belongs to the same wellness center. I have take work out clothes with me to work using this bag so that I could stop and workout on my way home. This is ideal in my book.

I read many of the reviews and decided to buy it in the end when there was a great deal on it for over half off. ($59) I have actually seen the price on this fluctuate before so I just waited and hoped it would go back down... And to my luck it did after a few months. As many other owners of this bag have said, I agree that it is probably the nicest backpack that I have ever owned. The material that it is made out of is thick and seems very durable, it has metal pull tabs, and is well sewn for a sturdy product. It is also sturdy enough to stand upright on its own when I set it down, which is nice in my opinion. The handle at the top seems to be made of quality, hard rubber and is extra reinforced to ensure it can stand up to heavy loads. The material seems to be very water resistant. I tested this by making puddles of water on the fabric to see if it would absorb it. After a several minutes, the puddle remained and the inside was dry. I did this with the padded parts too which do absorb water, but even so, after minutes of letting the pool of water sit in the drenched fabric, the water still was unable to penetrate through to the inside. I went further and tested the inside lining and it seems even more water resistant than the outside material. I dont say that any of this is water proof because after wiping up the puddles, the fabric remains slightly damp (the inside lining was nearly dry) but the fact it is able of hold a puddle of water for a long period of time without getting through the other side proves it is difficult for water to penetrate all the way through. Therefore, I trust that it would hold up in rain just fine. I cant accurately test if water will easily seep through other parts of the bag (zippers, seams, etc... Just dont go swimming with it) but I know water wont be getting through the material itself. The only part of the bag Id be concerned of water getting through to the inside is the side pockets as there are ventilation holes, but other than that Id say this bag is weather resistant. Wearing this backpack is very comfortable, with ample padding for the back and well fitting straps, I can imagine I will rarely feel too uncomfortable wearing it for long periods of time. I can feel the gap that they leave open along my spine which allows me to assume it does actually let air flow through keeping my back cool, which I look forward to as my back tends to sweat a lot while wearing backpacks. The adjustment straps are also easy to pull because of the plastic loops they added to the end of them, making it easy to tighten and loosen while wearing it. The shoulder straps have a few extra loops for accessories as well. The one loop on the left shows that it is for sunglasses. There are two towards the top of each shoulder strap with an image of arrows pointing up and down... I dont know what these are made for. There seems to be a lot of discrepancy in the size of laptop this bag can hold so I would like to try and clear this up. The bag actually comes with a tag saying it is made for a 17 laptop. Laptops, televisions, and most other things with digital screens are typically measured diagonally. That being said, it holds my 17 (14.75 x 9.5 x 1.125) laptop just fine with quite a bit of room to spare (about 2 of extra space on both top and side). The padding is nice around the sides and top of the laptop, but just like some other reviews, I feel there isnt much padding on the bottom (most backpacks dont from my experience) but there is a little as the material the bag is made of in general is fairly thick. Because of the extra space though, I solved this minor issue by rolling up an old medium sized T-shirt and stuffing it on the bottom of this compartment. It makes my 17 laptop fit snugly and now I have no worries of damaging anything when I set the backpack down. This compartment also has fuzz along the sides for a padded velcro strap to securely strap the laptop in place as well. With everything Ive said so far about the laptop compartment, in theory, a 19 laptop might make a tight fit (youd be cutting it close if you tried). I cant guarantee that claim though because laptops can vary in style and size. The zippers next to the laptop compartment unzips all the way down so the back of the bag, where the laptop resides, can flap apart from the rest of the bag which is how the smart scan feature functions. There is a thin divider for a few papers here as well. There is ample space in the main compartment to hold plenty of things. There is a small pocket to hold your phone or music device and a well covered slit above it for headphones to be slipped through so you can listen to music from the device. There are built in file dividers to separate documents. There is also an interesting piece of padding sewn along the bottom, back end of the bag underneath the separators which allows it to flap up and down... I just push it down so it lines the entire bottom of the bag which also allows the bag to hold its shape and may protect anything in this compartment from impact (they shouldve had similar padding in the laptop compartment...). I guess if I had important papers along with clothes or books in the bag, I could also lift the flap up against the dividers and it would prevent the clothes, books, or anything I put in the main compartment from wrinkling my documents in the dividers. Other than that, I dont know why the bottom padding is allowed to flap around. There are two smaller compartments in the front of the bag. The one on the top is narrow and can fit a graphing calculator or a DVD box... or perhaps a sandwich (though it might flatten the sandwich out). The bottom is nice and spacious with multiple small dividers and pockets to hold various things like pens, pencils, post it notes, an ID card, and a bigger pocket in the back for a planner/organizer. There is also a detachable key ring as well. The side compartments are very spacious reaching up to almost 3/4 the length of the bag. A small umbrella, liter water bottle or a large rockstar energy drink could fit in either pocket. You might want to avoid putting water sensitive items in here because they are vented by two holes, but honestly, the holes are small enough that I wouldnt worry too much about water getting in unless its pouring (I put my laptops charging cable in here). Along these side pockets is an elastic pocket for a liter sized water bottle or canister. There is a clip strap to hold it in place. Note, if you do decide to put large water containers in these pockets, it makes it difficult to fit thicker items in the zipped compartments (and vice versa). This is a great backpack and I am very excited to use this for the years to come.