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

So I had a Jansport backpack and it was stolen and that left me in the weird position of having to buy another backpack. I figured this time Id opt for what was practical for me as opposed to what was in style at the time. I did some searching and discovered this bag and was intrigued when I saw it could serve all of my needs. First off, there are compartments galore. Three separate areas, one main compartment, one flat compartment designed for your laptop, and a rear compartment that can hold some extra stuff. All three compartments are very long, with the main compartment being the biggest. The padding on the backpack is unreal. It really feels like having a pillow on your back. The side mesh pockets are great for holding a bottle of water or coffee container, and the Swiss Gear logo really adds a bit of style to the whole thing. Overall, Im very pleased. Well worth the money.

Love this bag very strong and well built for rain resistance as well with two side water bottles holder

This is my second backpack like this. The first was stolen out of our rental car. It has so many pockets and is great for travel. It fits under the seat in front of you in airplanes. I usually haul my camera, iPad, one or two lenses and many other necessities needed on a trip. Side pockets hold a water bottle Little pockets inside are good for headphones, medicine, change. Use front pocket for items needed immediately such as wallet and passport. There is a separate zippered area for your laptop and you can throw a lightweight jacket in there too. It has traveled to Australia, London and Paris and it looks brand new still. The biggest drawback about this backpack is the weight. I dont know how much it weighs, but its pretty heavy.

Fantastic backpack. Ive been wanting to upgrade my backpack for a few years now and have had my eye on this one for a long time. It is what you would expect from a SwissGear pack, nice and big for holding items but not feeling overly large, with good, solid and wide padded straps that really make carrying the thing feel easy. In fact, that is the biggest change in my upgrade, the fact that I can have more items in my bag (i.e. heavier) and yet it feels more comfortable and lighter to carry. Things I love about this pack: Like I mentioned above, solid SwissGear build. Little things like the rubber handle on top and the padded straps really make a big difference. A side zipper for access to the laptop area. While I actually use it for my tablet (and have tons of free space because of it), simply accessing my device from the side zipper is really fast and convenient. Gone are the days of the oh man, I have to get that out of my bag feeling. The ScanSmart seems really cool. I have not used it yet because I only travel a couple times a year at most, but it seems really convenient to zip the backpack down and fold out flat. I do question if that will be accepted in some of the finickier airports, but like I said grabbing the laptop from the side pouch is really fast so if so I dont think it will be a hang up in the security line. The main inside pouch is deceptively large. There is a flat divider in there making 3 compartments, yet I really only utilize 2. Basically I use one for my portfolio book, and the remaining space for my miscellaneous items (i.e. bag for lunch, pouch of personal care items, etc..). However, I can see this as being really well organized if I had more items, say some folders/files for work, or some school books if that is your usage. There is an inner pouch that I put some infrequent use items in. The outer pouch has some dividing pouches for pens and the such, but I put all those items in some containers (hot tip, you can use old glasses cases to hold pens or usb cables etc...) and I can fit 2 large cases in there with room to spare. Some of the items dont fit in the conventional way I would have done them, but far from badly. Its just an adjustment from using the same backpack and organizing things a certain way for years. There are a couple things I dont like about the backpack too though. They are definitely minor in comparison, but I think they are worth mentioning. The water bottle holders on the side are really small. They can hold a typical 12/16oz bottle of water (the smaller kind) no problem, but the netting should come up higher than it does. If you happen to really pack your bag full to the point where the sides dont give at all the water bottles can pop out. There are also side pouches to the bag. I love these. I actually keep a set of prescription sunglasses (in a case) inside one side pouch. However, if you use the side pouch, the water bottle pouch is less usable. It isnt impossible, but like I mentioned above if there is too much in there they conflict with each other. So my typical pack is glasses on one side and bottle on the other. Since this bag has the ScanSmart ability, the place for the main zipper (the middle of the pack, behind the top handle) is for that feature. Therefore the zipper for the main compartment of the bag is forward a little more (in front of the top handle). Not a big deal overall, but because the zipper line runs toward the front of the bag (you can see the line of it in the picture) you need to open the bag pretty far to get big items out like a portfolio or books etc... No big deal overall, but then that leaves the bag very open. The way/places I use my bag I like to open it and leave it open. But that leaves all the other contents sort of out in the open so to speak. Its a hard thing to describe, and it sounds really stupid as I type this out, but it sort of makes me feel like the contents are overly exposed. So I tend to zip the zipper up a bit now so the bag doesnt hang open. Just a weird idiosyncrasy of the bag and a change from how I handle it. Im probably mental or something, but it just feels weird to me. It really isnt a big deal. UPDATE: After using the bag for over 6 months, what really strikes me as negative about the compartment set up is where the weight is distributed. If you dont actually have a laptop in the bag, then filling the other compartments places the weight primarily at the front of the bag. It makes it tip forward all the time. Again, not a deal breaker, but it really is annoying. I just want my bag to sit upright like it should. Overall, I love this bag. I wish I had bought it sooner. The critiques I have are minor and would not stop me from buying it again. My only other critique would be the price point. Since I have been watching this bag for a few years, I have seen the price fluctuate up and down. I grabbed it for about $45 but have seen it as low as $40. I have also seen it as high as $80. That is just crazy to me. If you grab it at the $40ish range this is a good deal. If I had spent more than that I would have felt it should have come with a robot to carry it for me or something.

This bag is great, really liked it and I had always wanted one. It had fit all my laptop gear and then some. BUT, it didnt fit the laptop itself. I have an MSI Titan gaming laptop (17.3in) and the corner of the laptop sticks out of the bag and I cant zip it up. Forget fitting it into the laptop sleeve slot. Maybe if it was thinner it would have fit, but my MSI too thicc with its nice cooling system. Boyfriend is happy to take it off my hands tho!

I received this bag as a gift to replace my old backpack. I went to look it up a little and I was at first kind of confused about the solidity of the materials. Even though SwissGear is a well-known brand, I wasnt sure about its ability to make bags. But it has been 6 months now, and even though I always pack my bag at its limits, it is still in a really good condition, so I was gladly surprised and figured that I would come here and rate it to share my comments about it. First of all, the main pocket is quite wide and will take all your books without any problems whatsoever. The front bottom pocket is really useful to put all your small items, I personally use it for my chargers. The back pockets are perfect for a laptop and/or a tablet. I used the side pockets to put some small bottles. The side pockets with zipper wont serve a lot if you put bottles though, but its not that big of an issue since its up to you to choose what you want those pockets to be used for. I would then gladly recommend this item and if its still going in that direction, I may certainly use the same as its future replacement.

For a while I had a messenger bag to cart around my laptop, but as I traveled around the country, I found my back and shoulders getting increasingly sore. Asymmetrical loading, as it turns out, is bad for your body on long trips through an airport. With that in mind, I knew I needed to find a more traditional carrier, like a backpack, but it needed to be well padded if it was going to haul around my Mac Book Pro. When it comes to fixing that checklist, the SwissGear SA1923 ScanSmart Backpack has exceeded by expectations in almost every way. Pros: + Really good capacity. With a laptop pocket more than big enough for 15 inches (it fits up to 17), a main compartment, two sides, and two small fronts pouches, theres plenty of space. Plus, you can also squeeze a tablet in the little pocket in the Scan Smart section. All that means you can keep a laptop, some electronics, and a couple days of clothes in there. + If you travel, the Scan Smart system is incredible. You can just unzip, lay it flat, and run it through the metal detector. No TSA trouble at all, and no extra bins + The padding is really thick and cushy. I dont worry about putting it down, or it riding through turbulence. + The price is really good for the main features of the bag. + Its comfortable and adjustable. The fiber in the back will let your back breathe. + It looks good too. Clearly less kid like than grabbing an ordinary backpack out of the local retailer. Cons - The only thing that I can really say is that it doesnt take two years of almost nonstop air travel well. The mesh is worn out and tearing. Most bags arent designed for that kind of abuse though. So its more of a nitpick, as its still fully functional. - The water bottle holders on the sides have a tendency to not hold onto liquids that well. A few times strangers have handed me things that fell out on my trip through the airport. Overall though, I love this bag. Its been very comfortable, protected my stuff, and fits almost anywhere on a plane. Id recommend it to anyone.

I bought this backpack for school. After an exhaustive search online, in local stores and across campus, I can definitively say that this is hands down the best laptop backpack you can buy! Pros: 1. Tons of space and usable compartments: - 1 padded laptop compartment - 1 thin compartment that can be used for papers and folders - 1 main compartment that contains vertical dividers to keep things organized, a smaller interior mesh pocket, and an ipod/cell phone pouch that leads to a slit in the top of the backpack for a headphone cord - 1 decent sized pocket on each side (I use 1 for my laptop charger and accessories) - 2 stretchy water bottle pockets big enough for the big 1 liter bottles (good for umbrella too) - 1 small pocket on the top front - 1 pocket on the bottom front that contains a bunch of small organizer pockets found in every backpack that nobody ever uses 2. Comfort: padded, shock absorbing arm pads, padded back, and a comfortable handle on top. 3. Appearance: In my opinion, this is one of the best looking backpacks out there, but I cant argue with taste so if you have one of those ugly backpacks, thats fine with me. 4. Price: Phenomenal deal! ($50 when I purchased it) Would have gladly spent more (dont tell amazon) Cons: (there really are none... Im nitpicking here) 1. The opening for the laptop is on the side (not the top) which makes it a little awkward to get in and out. Not a big deal though. 2. I would have liked a little more padding underneath the laptop. The amount of padding is pretty similar to most other laptop cases though. You just need to be careful about setting it down to hard. 3. The size was perfect for my 15.6 widescreen. I havent tried a 17, but Im guessing it would be too big (if you could get it to fit inside, it would be VERY tight)

This backpack is just OK. I bought a backpack from Walmart I think(actually my wife bought it....;)with skulls on it. It was for kids going back to school. Well I like skulls, even though Im older now, and it was just a great backpack! Everything was in the correct spot! The 1 and only thing that was lacking that this backpack has, is the side drink holder pockets! Those are great! Everything else is more of a pain then anything else. The quality seems good after having it for 2 months. Still looks good and all that, which is to be expected for a $60 backpack! Its just that the pickets, and everything is just a little off, and that little off makes them not convenient and you misplace and lose stuff easily because of it. Stuff that used to take me a minute to grab in my old backpack, doesnt stay in place with this one, and I have to dig for it! I HATE THAT! The pockets also are not meant to get into on the go. And Im always on the go, so thats very inconvenient!

I was skeptical about this purchase with the myriad of complaints about quality in the reviews. So far this pack has held up well to both urban and camping usage. I can carry a decent amount of weight in it without strain. I loaded 35 pounds in it and took it on a 4 mile hike with my dog - no sweat! It has LOTS of compartments that are well designed for all the various electronics used today and various items I like to carry The straps are comfortable and easy to adjust. The handle is sturdy. And so far, every bit of it has held up to some abuse. My only complaint is the zipper design. They are all curved in a way that is pleasing to the eye and helpful in how much you can open each compartment. BUT because of the curves, its been impossible for me to close any of the zippers with one hand. I get annoyed when I reach for something and then want to close it back up and have to set things down so I can use both hands.