My wife and I travel a bit...annually, roughly 50,000 miles+ domestic and a couple of hops to Europe every year. I teach and consult, and my wife is a network administrator who needs remote access. So we drag laptops with us wherever we go.
At first, beacuse the classes and presentations were all PowerPoint, I wanted to make really sure the laptop got there intact, so I placed it in a Pelican 1520 case. Although truly the best protection (I sized the case to fit with a minimum of 1.5 inches of foam all arround) it is a bit of a boat anchor, especially on fun trips where it is not so mission critical, just used for email, etc.
So I picked up a backpack (from somewhere, I don't remember, maybe CDW) that had a side loading slot. The first time I saw the zipper working its way down and the computer starting to fall out, I retired it on the spot.
The replacement backpack was from Codi. Very well built, actually seemed to have been laid out by a real road warrior, and lots of nice features, like no-slip grips on the shoulder straps, etc. Way, way not as expensive as Brenthaven or Targus, and it was better suited to my style of travel. Their
web site is here.
As convenient as a backpack is, with a laptop, charger, a book or two, etc, it began to load down my shoulders. So after looking a few wheeled computer bags, like the ones from Targus, Brenthaven, Codi, and TravelPro, I was not satisfied with the layout. They had a clunky design and not much interior space for what you'd expect from the outside dimensions. Not to mention, every one of them practically screams, "Laptop inside! Steal me!"
We settled on taking our padded sleeves from the backpack, placing the laptop inside the sleeve and put them into a TravelPro Crew4 Rolling Tote. I believe this has been replaced by the FlitePro3 Rolling Tote, which looks pretty identical. These have been our favorites, especially at the airports with miles of walking like AMS, and actually a lot better than the backpacks. We've been using these for about a year and a half, and if you have other wheeled luggage, they also have a cool strap that lets you "stack" the luggage.
These little bags don't look like they have laptops in them, and I have room for a couple of books, my Bose headphones, etc. Most laptop sleeves like the Sumdex are available for only about $20 from places like EBags, and are side-loading, so I don't even have to take the sleeve out of the bag at TSA checkpoints.
However, if I'm going where I have to teach a high-dollar class, or make a consulting presentation, I always revert back to the Pelican case, as unweidly and ugly as it seems.
It just depends on what your goals are.
All the best, James
