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

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.

This is my first experience of using a back pack so I carefully selected one for my needs. My job as a golf ranger requires me to carry a variety of necessary items for work and nourishment. This pack has lots of convenient pockets inside and out and is well suited for work and travel. The zippers are to my liking and I actually returned a more expensive pack because of the zipper action. I like smooth and substantial with generous pulls for ease of operation. I live in Arizona and black is not a good choice of color for being in the sun and I can see a slight fading starting but the sun is harsh and nothing can last in it for long unless it has thorns. This is a cool looking pack and I recommended it unless you dont like cool.

Ive held off on writing a review for this for about five months now as I wanted to give this bag a chance to get some wear and tear. Now after two trips over seas, daily use, and a couple of rainstorms Ill finally toss this up. This bag has held up remarkably well for the abuse Ive put it through. I do some travel for work and I had to find a bag large enough for my ASUS laptop and this was one of the only ones I could find. I was a little hesitant to purchase the bag as it was pricey and some of the reviews were not that favorable of it. The biggest concern I had was the reported zipper issues, that almost kept me from getting the bag itself. Now after five months Im extremely pleased with this bag and its durability. Ive had zero issues with the zippers so far and its taken a beating in the London Tubes, the plane rides over the pond and back, and while wondering around London during my downtime. Ive been hit by a few random downpours and the bag has kept my belongings safe and dry inside. The abundance of pockets gives me room to store all my computer related peripherals so I dont have to worry about them loose inside the main pocket. The scansmart feature is wonderful for going through security at my local airport. Before it was incredibly nerve wracking time as you had to unload all your electronics from the bag and put them in separate bins. Now I can simply unzip the bag, lay it flat, and send it through. That being said, over seas you still have to pull your electronics out. This bag is only recognized by the TSA not world wide security. My first trip over I watched a couple with the smart scan bags arguing with British security about it, so keep that in mind when ordering this bag if you do. Ive enjoyed this bag so much I showed one of my coworkers who does a lot of traveling for the company as well and he ended up purchasing another SwissGear ScanSmart style bag.

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.

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

Extremely well made backpack. This is my third one. The first one I bought about 5 years ago. I bought a second one about 3 years ago and gave the first one to my son which he is still using. Im still using the second one. The only reason I bought this one was it was such a good price (Amazon Deal of the Day) that I just wanted to have it in reserve in case the one Im using ever does tear up (which I doubt) or gets too ratty looking (could happen). I travel a good bit and the Scan Smart laptop section is great. I just leave the laptop in the backpack and it always goes right through the TSA scanner. In probably 200 airline trips, TSA has taken my laptop out of the bag only one time. I use this bag every day. It goes with me everywhere. Just to give you an idea, here are things I keep in the various pockets: Main/large pocket - file folders with work papers and personal papers, reading book, plenty of room left over to put food or other items in here to take to work. Zippered upper pocket inside Main pocket - Prescription drugs. Lower zippered pocket inside Main pocket: portable hard drive and other electronics if I am traveling. Pocket inside Main pocket designed for MP3 player - I keep my work security badge here, extremely handy and I always know where I put it. Front lower outer pocket - pens, pencils, personal grooming items (floss, comb, nail cutter), mini-maglight, eyeglass repair kit, business cards, etc. Front upper outer pocket - ear buds, usb cord, 110v to USB charger adapter, 12v to USB charger adapter. Side zippered pockets - eyeglass cases, laptop mouse. Side mesh pockets - laptop power cord when Im traveling I ride my bike to work alot. I unzip the Scan Smart zippers lay my neatly folded cloths in that section, rezip. and when I get to work my cloths are still nice neat and unwrinkled. As you can probably tell, I really like this bag and I highly recommend it.

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 have only been using this backpack for a few months but already I can tell it is the best backpack I have owned. Cavernous on the inside. Fits my work laptop Dell M4800 (a large laptop for a 15) with plenty of extra room. Not too bulky. Comfortable to carry even with heavy laptop and charger. Lots of thoughtful gizmos like sunglasses holder, adjustable bottle pockets, carabiner hook for keys etc. Looking forward to many years of service. I noticed that lots of people commented on the ScanSmart feature. Its my experience that the TSA agents are not familiar with or dont care about the rule that you can fold your bag open and put the computer through the scanner. I have tried this with a TSA-friendly briefcase and been told Nope. many times until I gave up. So my $.02 is dont worry about the ScanSmart feature but do get this backpack for its capacity, comfort, creature features, and build quality.

I really like this backpack! It is so convenient to have the ScanSmart feature when going through airport security! The laptop compartment unzips to allow you separate the laptop from the rest of the backpack. This backpack has lots of storage compartments like many other reviewers have mentioned. I was able to carry my laptop, DSLR camera, a couple of changes of clothes, several magazines and books, and still could have packed more. Of course it was pretty heavy at that point, so I wouldnt have wanted to pack more. My point is that you can carry a lot with this backpack! It seems like it is good quality and will last a long time. However, this is a pretty large backpack. Im a pretty big guy (64) so it fits me fine, but it looks a little silly when my wife wears it. So you may want to get a smaller size backpack if you dont want to look like a pack mule.

Got a great deal on this back pack! After seeing a similar model in a big name office supply store and refusing to spend over a hundred dollars for a back pack, I was happy to find this a few weeks later on Amazon while scanning the daily deals. My son is in eighth grade and we are hoping this lasts till senior year. Well, I hoping it will. He will probably be asking for a new one in another year. It is sturdy enough to survive a teenage boy who believes backpacks are meant to slung across the room and left in the busiest pathway until it is time to leave the house to catch the bus. Goodness only knows what happens to it in school. I love that it is black and does not show the dirt and grime the way his former red back pack did.