Customer Reviews

SwissGear Computer Backpack (Black)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a very nice, well designed book bag. The main Laptop compartment is very well padded and it has a strap on the inside to keep the laptop securely in place. The middle compartment has two dividers inside of it to help organize your things. The front pocket doesn't really have enough space to store anything major, but the Cell phone pocket is very convenient.

The picture is somewhat misleading to me. I thought it would be a lot wider than it is. Tye size is not too large, big enough for any student. It has enough pockets to store loads of extra things, especially small, easy-to-lose things.

The outside is very durable. I would bet you could take a knife to it and it wouldn't rip.(Not a guarantee, just speculation). All in all, a very dependable, sturdy, stylish back pack.

*EDIT* I tried this yesterday, and my Xbox 360 fit in the Laptop padded compartment, if that gives you an idea.

Cons - does not have a water bottle pocket on the side, as it does in the picture. It has a zipper/web pocket on each side, but no bottle I know of will stay there reliably. I put other things in these pockets.

Pros - everything else. Lots of pockets to organize stuff. It can hold far more that I imagined, but still be easy on the back/shoulders. Looks terrific, understated.

I was afraid to buy a bag without actually seeing it, but after reading reviews I decided to take a chance. I'm so glad I did.

UPDATE 4 months later -- Love the bag more every day. I am shocked at how much I can pack in when I need to, and happy how light it is with I don't. There is one area I personally would redesign, but considering the hundreds of other details that contribute to the usability, looks, quality, and durability, I have no complaints. I'm happy with it every day I use it, which is almost every day.

UPDATE some weeks later --- Fell down many stairs. The backpack and stuff I had in it saved my entire back from injury and still looks new. The rest of me is still recovering.

Nice-looking backpack.
The padding for the laptop is thick, and if you like a zillion compartments, pockets and organizers like I do, you will definitely love this backpack.
After seeing mine, my son and my husband each bought one. It's nice as a piece of carry-on luggage that can hold your laptop and still have room to carry plenty of other things.

The only drawback I can think of is that it is a bit on the heavy side.

The construction of the backpack is first-rate. The zippers are industrial strength, the fabric seems tough and the stitching also looks to be high quality. The design and construction of the straps make it comfortable whether you carry it on one shoulder or two.

It is a great backpack for school. It has three main compartments which are divided into sections and smaller pockets within the compartments (including a media pocket with an opening for headphone cords). This makes it easy to organize books, notebooks, calculators, etc. for easy access in class, on the bus or on the plane. If this was ONLY a schoolbag, I would gladly give it five stars other than the straps on the side get in the way of the zippers at times and you really are going to have a snug fit with a 15.4" laptop and don't even dream about a 17" - AND...

I like backpacks to have a little more utility (especially ones from SwissGear - the makers of the famous army knives) and therefore I give it three stars for a few reasons. First, as a backpack for traveling, daytrips or just carrying random stuff of a non-educational nature it really is not ideal. Clothing and non-books do not fit well due to the very things (i.e., compartment separators) which make it work so well as a bookbag. And if you try to fit those things you are sacrificing internal volume to carry around separators for your books and laptop. It might have been a good idea to have designed the separators with velcro attachments so they could be removed. Also, while the picture makes it seem like it is fairly large and has a lot of volume, it really does not compared to my old Eddie Bauer pack, nor is it very big.

And one other nitpick. It has side pockets for water bottles, but unless you are carrying a small milk carton, they are too big to stop the bottle from slipping out - and they did not provide drawstrings. I would have preferred mesh pockets with a drawstring in case the bottle is wet. This just seems like it could be a mess.

Take this review FWIW (it's free), if you are looking strictly for a backpack that TIGHTLY holds your 15.4" laptop, some books and papers, then this is really pretty nice. But if you want something with more utility and volume, you might want to skip it and go with something a little less librarian and a little more mountain man.

This pack is of very high quality at a great price. There are lots of storage compartments and pockets of various sizes to meet your needs. It does not transport loose papers very well if you have other items in the bag as they tend to distort the dividers. Also if you need to carry very large or bulky items, this bag is not for you. It does protect and secure a laptop very well.

This backpack is a sturdy workhorse that is fantastic for air travel. It has many pockets and zipped areas, making it easy to keep track of various items, especially those that need to come out for security screening, such as a laptop or 3 oz. and fewer liquids. The only thing I wish it had was a water bottle holder, as well as a sleeve that completely detached from the inner backpack for the laptop. I carried this bag full of items (a DSLR camera, laptop, snacks, etc. through several airports while toting a toddler along with me and my back survived the trek without pain. I highly recommend this item for purchase.

I will note that my laptop is a smaller, 12" laptop, so I had no issues with it fitting in the sleeve.

From the makers of the Swiss Army knife, you get a solid, utilitarian backpack. You can call it a 'computer backpack', because you can carry a laptop in it. I am writing this review on a Thinkpad T60 and, it's official. The T60 fits inside the laptop sleeve with plenty of room to spare. And it's padded too. And, if you don't feel like carrying your laptop in a backpack, it's okay to use it as a regular backpack. This particular one (my second SwissGear purchase) was for one of my kids because the first one I bought was grabbed by my first born because he was the one who opened the box and it's going to be his SchoolGear. So, let's summarize.

THE GOOD:
- Solid build, pretty close to 'indestructible'.
- Lots, of pockets, and I mean LOTS. I can see why my kids loves this. The more I investigated, the more pockets I found and my kids just counted 22 of them.
- Padded computer sleeve, of course. Seems adequate for most laptops.
- The organizer pocket lets you store pens, a cell phone, money, maps... has many internal pockets where things can be organized.
- Water bottle pocket.
- Sunshades holder.
- Swiss Army knife pocket, of course.
- The shoulder straps are quite comfortable.
- Compression straps allow you to secure items inside.
- Airflow padding on the back for more comfort.
- Cool design, in black, with little Swiss silver crosses over red everywhere.

THE NOT SO GOOD:
Can't think of anything other than, to my surprise, it turns out that it's made in China.

I feel compelled to give it five stars.

The price was good and the quality appears to be ok. But I am returning this because:

1) I have both a 15" and a 15.4" notebook computer. There is practically no protection for the top corners of either computer in the backpack. This design seems to be quite common for many backpacks. I really do not understand why a person may feel safe to put their valuable computer inside a backpack with similar design.

2) The shoulder straps are too wide for me. It is not comfortable and I do not feel the backpack is secured preperly on my shoulder. I am skiny; this backpack may work better for a person bigger than me.

This was a goldbox item so I got it at a good value. It's very durable with many pockets but it's just not quite big enough for me. It also does not have a water bottle pocket like advertised which really disappointed me... The two side pockets are just too small.

Got this fantastic bag 1 day after the order, thanks to Amazon.
Overall satisfaction is quite good. The gag is not heavy and made in tough, so I hope it could last at least a couple of years. Yes, it's a Swiss Gear!
I ordered a Targus Citygear 15.4", but had to return it as the delevered one was damaged, and order this bag.
One might has a misunderstanding of the size like me. I expected a little bigger than the actual size, as I compared the size information with other Swiss Gear bags and some Targus as well.
15.4" laptop will not be fit 100% into the sleev. My 14.1" one is also not fitted perfectly. The upper side of the labtop has no protection. If you have a laptop bigger than 14.1", please search more.
However, overall satisfaction is 4-star.