Thursday, July 20, 2006
RoadWired's Skooba Seventeen+ Laptop Bag
Posted by Jason Dunn in "HARDWARE" @ 08:00 AM
The RoadWired Skooba Satchel is the best laptop bag I've ever owned, but it wasn't quite big enough to fit my 17" screen laptop. So when RoadWired told me they were coming out with a bigger version designed for 17" screen laptops, dubbed the Skooba Seventeen+, I was immediately very interested. Here's a photo Quick Look at what this bag has to offer and my impressions after using it for a few weeks.
Design-wise, the Skooba Seventeen+ has much in common with it's smaller sibling, the regular Skooba: it has a modern, appealing design, made of ballistic nylon. It's extremely durable, while still being quite light at 48 ounces. By comparison, the RoadWired MegaMedia bag I have is 5 pounds when empty (to be fair though, it's a bigger bag with more storage). It has an extremely comfortable shoulder strap, and slings easily over the shoulder (even when carrying a heavy 17" laptop). The front grey stripe is neoprene; unfortunately the bag is only available in the one colour for the fashion-conscious among you. I imagine we'll see more colours offered if this bag is a hot seller. The bag sells for $119.95 USD direct from RoadWired. Now let's get on to the pictures!
Figure 2: The bag has over 20 total pockets and compartments. This is the inside of the front pouch and where most of the smaller storage compartments are. The inside of the flap has a zippered mesh pouch that's perfect for a wallet, travel documents, and a phone. There's a small slot for a business card in case you lose the bag. The other part of the front pouch has two velcro-flapped pouches, and four narrow sleeves for pens. I'd prefer to see two of those pen sleeves be removed and replaced with small pouches for memory cards or something similar. Who needs to carry four pens with them? The velcro flapped pouches are of a good size. The larger of the two is big enough to fit several CD cases, or an optical drive from a laptop. I typically use it to carry my Zen Vision:M player and a few cables. The smaller of the two pouches is still big enough for my iGo Juice AC adaptor and cables. Lastly, there's a clip for keys. Here's a high-resolution version of the photo above with more detail.
Figure 3: The front-most pouch is a simple affair, closed by velcro, and if the main front pouch is jam-packed, this pouch doesn't have much room for expansion. It's good for paperwork, but not much else.
Figure 4: This is where the Skooba Seventeen+ differs from its smaller sibling, the regular Skooba. The Seventeen+ has three velcro-based pouches, good for small electronics such as digital cameras, digital audio players, etc. I use one of the pouches to carry a wireless mouse for my laptop.
Figure 5: The interior mesh pouches are perfect for cables or paperback books.
Figure 6: I didn't find this space especially useful, but you could put a a magazine or paperwork in it. It's open at the top and does not seal.
Figure 7: Here's where we see some clever design. RoadWired uses two zippers to expand or contract the zone where the laptop is held. In my case the 17" Fujitsu notebook didn't need the zippers open, so it was a nice, snug fit (they are open for illustration purposes only). There's a clip over the top of this area to keep your laptop in place even if the bag is opened and tipped upside down. RoadWired is confident this bag will fit all 17" laptops: the internal pouch will handle laptops in size up to 16.5"L x 11.75"H x 3.25"W.
Design-wise, the Skooba Seventeen+ has much in common with it's smaller sibling, the regular Skooba: it has a modern, appealing design, made of ballistic nylon. It's extremely durable, while still being quite light at 48 ounces. By comparison, the RoadWired MegaMedia bag I have is 5 pounds when empty (to be fair though, it's a bigger bag with more storage). It has an extremely comfortable shoulder strap, and slings easily over the shoulder (even when carrying a heavy 17" laptop). The front grey stripe is neoprene; unfortunately the bag is only available in the one colour for the fashion-conscious among you. I imagine we'll see more colours offered if this bag is a hot seller. The bag sells for $119.95 USD direct from RoadWired. Now let's get on to the pictures!
Figure 2: The bag has over 20 total pockets and compartments. This is the inside of the front pouch and where most of the smaller storage compartments are. The inside of the flap has a zippered mesh pouch that's perfect for a wallet, travel documents, and a phone. There's a small slot for a business card in case you lose the bag. The other part of the front pouch has two velcro-flapped pouches, and four narrow sleeves for pens. I'd prefer to see two of those pen sleeves be removed and replaced with small pouches for memory cards or something similar. Who needs to carry four pens with them? The velcro flapped pouches are of a good size. The larger of the two is big enough to fit several CD cases, or an optical drive from a laptop. I typically use it to carry my Zen Vision:M player and a few cables. The smaller of the two pouches is still big enough for my iGo Juice AC adaptor and cables. Lastly, there's a clip for keys. Here's a high-resolution version of the photo above with more detail.
Figure 3: The front-most pouch is a simple affair, closed by velcro, and if the main front pouch is jam-packed, this pouch doesn't have much room for expansion. It's good for paperwork, but not much else.
Figure 4: This is where the Skooba Seventeen+ differs from its smaller sibling, the regular Skooba. The Seventeen+ has three velcro-based pouches, good for small electronics such as digital cameras, digital audio players, etc. I use one of the pouches to carry a wireless mouse for my laptop.
Figure 5: The interior mesh pouches are perfect for cables or paperback books.
Figure 6: I didn't find this space especially useful, but you could put a a magazine or paperwork in it. It's open at the top and does not seal.
Figure 7: Here's where we see some clever design. RoadWired uses two zippers to expand or contract the zone where the laptop is held. In my case the 17" Fujitsu notebook didn't need the zippers open, so it was a nice, snug fit (they are open for illustration purposes only). There's a clip over the top of this area to keep your laptop in place even if the bag is opened and tipped upside down. RoadWired is confident this bag will fit all 17" laptops: the internal pouch will handle laptops in size up to 16.5"L x 11.75"H x 3.25"W.
