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Part Three: My honest opinion:
I was going to run the pack through
a series of complex benchmarks and offer performance
graphs and charts, but I couldn't find any backpack
benchmarking tools online. Maybe next time. The next
best thing to do would be to manually explore the
pack and give my own honest opinion so that will be
the preferred methodology this time.
I took this bag out for an evening of gaming and
brought the standard loadout that is necessary to
bring to a LAN party or even just to a friends house
(or the library where they have a T1 connection.)
I grabbed my laptop, mouse, n50 speed pad, game controller,
cables, CD player, big headphones and some other stuff.
There was plenty of room for all of this, and I could
have fit a six pack and some snacks in as well. Big
isn't the word to describe the main compartment… "Cavernous"
comes to mind. After this, I loaded it down with books,
but that wasn't nearly as interesting as the gaming
loadout; I was able to fit nearly a dozen full sized
books, mostly standard textbook size and still would
have been able to fit a laptop in the main compartment
and snacks in the side pockets for an evening of serious
studying.
Overall I really like this bag, it has a secure,
well padded space to carry a laptop without risk of
damaging it and it holds more than enough stuff for
a night of gaming or studying. The fact that the cell
phone pouch is removable is a plus for me as I do
not own a cell phone and find pockets on the shoulder
straps a bit of an annoyance. The bag looks very cool
and fits the color scheme of other Belkin mobility
products which are almost all silver on black. It
is very comfortable with plenty of padding in the
places that count when carrying a heavy load. My only
real gripe is that it is a bit on the large size for
the designed use. Most folks that are bringing their
laptop somewhere don't need such an enormous bag,
and the bulkiness might detract from some convenience.
Also the front panel is a bit of an enigma. Used for
protection, it makes it hard to get in and out of
the bag, which has the upside that your stuff is secure
from impact as well as pickpockets. But it also means
that you have to open the flap before getting into
the bag, and it is a bit stiff so that putting the
bag at your feet on the car or in a full trunk is
awkward.
Pros:
High quality construction
Well padded compartments for laptop and CD player
Well padded shoulder straps and back support
Very roomy
Cons:
Maybe a little too big
Stiff front panel is cumbersome
Could use a waist strap to support heavy loads
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