SwissGear Unisex-Adult 5358 USB ScanSmart Laptop Backpack, Black Dot, Large

I bought this for my husband who frequently travels to take care of his elderly mother. He loves it and will be using it for the first time later this week. He is already organizing dedicated places for his phone, computer, pens, books, calendar, and anything else he is taking along.

Before I found SwissGear I only thought I liked my prior backpacks. They became my refernece. SwissGear seems to be standard issue for most IT people. My prior backpacks that have met my needs. Swiss Gear, Maxxum & Synergy (Older Version), and Kenneth Cole Reaction. I mention them as a reference. My purpose for a backpack is to carry my laptop, electronics, and accessories. This includes 16 Laptop, 13 Work Laptop, & Tablet. Im glad to see it still has the key holder. I use mine for a small flashlight, ear plugs, & a swiss army knife attached via small S-biners. This is handy but does get in the way of using the pocket for a larger tablet. The pockets in the front compartment are ok, but I wish they had a small zippered pocket. The arrangement is fairly standard. The TSA friendly feature is handy for better access to the laptop compartment. The TSA has me remove my laptop anyway. They didnt get the memo. My 16 laptop is on the larger side and it fits comfortably. A 13 laptop fits easily into the tablet spot. Thus far the padding has protected my laptop in spite of the backpacks propensity to roll over (and often onto the floor). When it comes to sitting up, its not as stable as my reference backpacks. The battery pocket works. I have a battery just under the maximum capacity the TSA allows, so fairly large. Having the battery in that spot creates a pressure point on your laptop. So far thats not caused any problems but it seems odd. A mesh pocket above the laptop and/or tablet pockets would be handy. The USB cable is USB A. Safe but not the future. The cable is longer than it needs to be though maybe thats so you can use a battery lower in the compartment. The extra length can sometimes get in the way. The cable doesnt appear to be replaceable. Thats too bad. Cables wear out. One of the shoulder straps has the external USB A connection. A mesh pocket sits below it. It will hold a larger phone (S21 is what I used) for charging though its an awkward arrangement but probably functional. The luggage strap is too low or to thin to hold it stable when loaded. It tends to lean and that will throw smaller luggage you may have it strapped on, off balance. I had to grab the hanging strap to keep it stable while walking. The handle is improved. They have the same metal cable but the padding is better. The hardcase glasses pocket is a mixed bag. My sunglasses are in a hard case so for me a soft one would work better. I carry my ear buds in this pocket as well. Its tight but fits. The glasses pocket is also in the way of getting anything in and out of the main compartment. More so as you fill the pack. You can see this in the photo. If they put it on the back, it would be in the way of the two pockets but less in the way of accessing the main compartment. Its an annoyance. The two pockets are nice. They should have put a mesh compartment above the pockets for misc items. The potential spot for the mesh pocket is in the photo. The main compartment is small relative to the backpacks I reference above. But for every day carry thats a fair trade off. The backpack has 3 outside pockets, not counting the sunglasses spot. It could have 7. It should have more than it does. The two side pockets are ok. One is mesh for a beverage but also has a zipper compartment with some insulation. Its gimmicky but...I used it for its purpose so thumbs up. No problems there. The other side pocket is a shoe pocket. It has a mesh zipper pocket inside which I use for some cash that Id rather store in the front compartment if it had actually had such a pocket. I also store a small pouch of accessories I use often. Yes a pouch inside a pocket because otherwise everything would get lost in the shoe sleeve. I might use the sleeve for a rain jacket in the summer. The last outside pocket is the front pocket. This is essentially using the front flap as some bonus storage. Its a bad design. I bought the smallest USB cable organizer I could find and found it wouldnt fit. The inside is large enough the zipper isnt. You can see this in the photo. I ended up using another pouch for inside the pocket. Where I would put other pockets. Two small ones would fit, on the top half of each side. The front flap could fit a small one where the Black cloth and logo is. You could have two more below that for relativly flat items.. Either vertical, horizontal or a larger one to fit misc items you tend to pick like boarding passes, luggage claims and paper. With these and the mesh pockets they could have added, or even half of them, this pack would be far better than it is. But it lacks some of the design niceties they used to include in their older backpacks. With that and a tweak to the design of the sunglasses holder location I would have the best daily carry backpack Ive ever had. But thats not the case. Ive had to improvise solutions to problems that older backpacks had already figured out. The quest continues for a good EDC backpack. This will do until I find it, but this isnt it. That said, my first choice for that next one would still be Swiss Gear.

Great bag for daily carry. It isnt huge but isnt small. The only thing I do not like about this bag is the glasses pouch. Which seems like its always in the way.

Fits my MacBook Pro like a glove. Very spacious pockets and right from zippers and the straps, you can feel the quality. Sturdy, strong outset shell. Very well designed and though off - space for eye glasses, secrets pockets, space to hang carabiners etc. Amazing bag, worth the spend and well liked.

This is my fourth attempt at finding a backpack with all the features needed to be the perfect travel companion for car trip and airplane travel, and this backpack is IT! I especially love the zip pocket for the water bottle so it does not continuously fall out (bonus, the pocket has a mini waterproof, cooler liner to keeping the drinks cold/warm). I use the zip pocket designed for shoes for my camera and I can easily take it in and out of the backpack without having to expose the rest of the contents. There are several perfectly sized pockets for other valuables and the icing on the cake is the plastic-lined zip pocket on top to protect my sunglasses. It is a bit too heavy to convert to use for long, vertical hikes, but is great for use in going to the beach or anywhere else where weight is to an issue. This back-pack is a real game-changer for the active traveler, simply, unimaginably perfect!

Good bag. Wish I’d known the they dropped the price by 30 bucks before I through away all the tags though.

3/31/2021 Wanted to provide an update on the bag. Everything I said is still true. 1 year, 4 months, and 10 days later, not a blemish, not a tear, not a loose string, not a stitch undone. Ive brought this bag overseas twice, snowboarding on the mountain 20+ times, dropped it, scratched it, and nothing, nada, zilch in terms of wear or tear. I will never own another backpack model. A coworker of mine put me onto the SwissGear bag brand while picking up liquor to sneak into a boozeless karaoke bar. Before a trip to Amsterdam and Brussels, I ordered this magical sack. This bag rocked it all trip long. From impeccable comfortable weight distribution (35 pounds feels like 15), to the clever wheeled luggage strap connecting your bag to the luggage handle, this thing has it all, and more. The bag can unzip and open like a crocodile’s mouth when swallowing a dwarfed hippo and consume your belongings with ease. There are many compartments and compartments within compartments. The bottom right pouch for shoes doubles as an umbrella or flashlight holder keeping the rest of your bag dry. Plus, you can open and close it to snag the umbrella without taking the bag of, like a Ninja unsheathing their sword. Have not used the USB charging feature but, seems excellent. I have an iPhone Xs and it does fit into the front shoulder strap phone holding pouch. Again, the comfort level is real and how it just feels like it’s floating above your back even with significant weight in it. If you have back probs, pops, you should probs buy this props-worthy bag. The metal cable in the top carrying handle is ingenious. Plus, an insulated cold pouch for soda or a roadie. Also, I ordered the $9.99 4-year insurance which SwissGear will repair or replace irreparable bags for, you guessed it, 20 years! Nope. 4. Showed my friend my new bag based on his SwissGear recommendation. He bought one and dearly loves It. Sometimes he wears it to bed. No, no he does not. Finally, I put the bag to the ultimate test. I wore it to an interview with nothing else on. Guess what, I got the job! The panel interviewers were able to easily overlook the fact that I was only wearing a backpack due to there complete adoration of the bag. DISCLAIMER: Some of these statements may be embellished, exaggerated, stretched, or even a dream. CLAIMER: Buy this bag!

I strongly recommend this bookbag! It has enough pockets to keep oneself and a family organized.

Everything you need

Usable, but should have had more internal pockets instead of the totally useless-to-me Shoe pocket that takes up so much room inside the bag if you actually put shoes inside the pocket. Not as many usable internal pockets as would appear from photos. The shoe pocket is also of thin material that will probably not last long if you actually put shoes inside it. With perfect 20/29 hindsight realize I should have bought the other model. Durability; Looks durable, but only actual usage and time will tell that. Annoying zipper strap arrangements, not really well thought out by the designer.. You have to unfasten them to use the bag zipper there. (See photos) Has two totally annoying useless straps with round plastic circles at the end of them hanging down the bottom of the bag. These are for adjusting the bag to fit your back, but some way of fastening the extra length of them up and out of the way should have been considered. Will probably just cut the extra length off, since there is apparently nothing on the bag that those plastic circles at the ends actually fasten to. (See photos) No instructions included with the bag; but lots of lovely tags to explain, fastened here and there on the bag for instructions. The lock is a joke a kid could easily force open, if you want a lock on the bag get a real one. Keeping it, but will modify it to fit my needs. Overpriced for what you get, and annoying. Will probably just remove the worthless fragile shoe pocket by cutting it out inside the bag, never use that zipper, and use industrial silicon glue to place some durable pockets inside the bag in that compartment. Silicon gluing durable pouches inside to make more pockets works for me. Have modified bags before.