Customer Reviews

be.ez LEvertigo Messenger Bag--13 Inches (Lime Art)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a well-made, attractive, and functional bag. It's good for those who want a small bag capable of holding just a laptop, power supply, and a couple small books and accessories. The size is perfect for holding a 13" MacBook/MB Pro, although a 13.3" MB Air will swim a bit in the laptop enclosure. Its construction quality seems excellent, and its appearance is subdued (on the outside at least), and unoffensive if a bit plain. The inside of the bag (I have the black/pumpkin model) strives for the contrasting bright color that seems to be en vogue lately, although it comes off as mostly garish. The be.ez logo "e" also serves as the velcro clasp, and I found myself wondering why it was necessary. I imagine I'll be embarrassed opening this bag around others, as it looks ridiculous. It also necessitates that characteristic velcro shwwwk sound, which means it can't be opened discreetly. The inside pockets are decent, although there's no obvious place to stow pens and a small notebook (the smallest pockets are great for business cards or an iPhone, but won't fit my small Moleskine notebook, for example).

As other reviewers have noted, there are a few relatively minor problems with this bag that all add up to unfortunate heartache.

(1) The laptop compartment has a velcro clasp to hold the computer in. It provides security, but mostly gets in the way when inserting the bag, because the velcro catches upon itself. Which means you'll have to fiddle with it every time you go to stow the computer.

(2) The strap is made of slick nylon, and it will slip off your shoulder unless carried across the chest. This can be remedied by adding your own frictiony shoulder pad to the strap, but you'll have to add one aftermarket. It's a shame that be.ez didn't include one, although I do understand that it would reduce the elegance of the strap's appearance.

(3) There's no handle on the top of the bag to facilitate grabbing it directly. That may seem like a minor detail until you realize how often you'll want to do that.

(4) There's no pocket in the back of the bag. I didn't even think about this before purchasing, it's become such a standard feature. Having easy access to a book, magazine, airline boarding passes, etc. without opening the main compartment isn't possible with this bag.

Overall, the 13" LEvertigo can be compared to the Tom Bihn Ristretto, a bag I also own. They are almost exactly the same size and weight, with similar design goals. I'd hoped to replace the Ristretto mostly for reasons of style (the be.ez's black color and simplified flap are more appealing), but for the reasons mentioned above, the be.ez is a functional downgrade. That said, the Ristretto costs twice as much, so if value is a priority, the LEvertigo offers excellent quality tempered by a few major design oversights.

This bag fits Apple MacBook Pro MB991LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop like a glove. No wobble at all. It's made out of durable and water resistant nylon. Unlike many other bags I've seen, this one is designed so that rain water won't seep through when the lid is closed. The interior is nicely padded. It has room for your MacBook, letter-sized documents, iPhone/iPod x 3, and a few accessories. At the same time, it's slim and comfortable to wear -- partly due to its vertical design. The stitching is nice and clean. The only thing I didn't like about it is the color of the interior. It's super-bright lime green -- a bit too tacky for my liking.

The 17" macbook pro fits absolutely perfect into this bag. and while the bag looks small and slender, it can house a lot of stuff besides just the laptop and charger. It has several padded pockets (some zip) and a mesh seperator to keep things organized. I only have one complaint: the front flap is a little more ruffled/crumpled looking that the smooth looking picture. It doesn't look "bad" but not as clean looking as the product picture. As far as 17" computer bags go, this one is definitely the most stylish, while also being well made, bag on the market.

This is an awesome bag. Its durable, strong, looks great as well. The only not-so-good thing about this bag is that it doesn't really fit anything else when the laptop is in there. You can fit 2 notebooks in there at most. Another negative is that the buckle on the strap keeps shifting whenever you pick up the bag, its a little annoying. Other than that its a great bag!

I was looking for a bag for my 15'' Macbook Pro (MBP). After a while I decided that it should be a vertical messenger bag, like this one. There are not so many options on the market, and after looking at a few other bags, I decided to give this one a try. It arrived a few days ago, and so far I'm very satisfied with it.

First, note that there are actually three different models being sold here. The black/pumpkin and "Lime art" are the "LE Vertigo US edition", while the black (ebene) and the grey/lime are the normal edition, and finally the grey/blue is a model for 17'' laptops. I got the "Lime art" US edition model. There are a few differences: The US edition has a shoulder strap that is sewed on and comes with a shoulder pad, while the normal model has a removable shoulder strap and, according to some reviews, comes without shoulder pad.

Laptop: The laptop compartment is exactly the size of a 15'' MBP. There is enough room if you want to put the MBP inside a sleeve for additional protection. There are velcro straps that are adjustable, so it also can hold a 13'' MBP in place, and, they are removable if you don't like them. The sides of the large flap fold in (see picture) and protect the laptop from rain - this is something many other messenger bags don't offer.
For me the laptop compartment is sufficiently padded, so I don't use a sleeve. If you are very concerned about scratching your laptop should use a sleeve or buy a bag with a plush lined laptop compartment.

Storage: The bag is as small as a 15'' laptop bag can be. The vertical layout makes it very compact and it sits very nice on the back - I previously owned a 17'' horizontal messenger bag that would just bounce around a lot. There are two large compartments that fit magazines or letter/A4 sized notebooks, and a thin book or two. The small zipper compartment in front easily fits the charger and my wallet, and allows very easy access. There are some smaller compartments (see pictures) that easily hold an iPod or smartphone, in my case I have pens and headphones and some other stuff there. It fits everything that I want and need to carry around, but nothing more. If you need to carry around a lot of stuff, you might want a bigger bag.

Design: It looks great. The outside nylon looks very solid, yet elegant, and the design is very simple, so it fits well with any outfit. The shoulder strap is thin and broad and gives a very safe feeling. There is no plastic that can break! On the "Lime art", it has a thin green line in the middle that matches the inside of the bag, and adds to the elegant overall look. The inside is colored brightly, and looks awesome. It is very well thought through and a lot of attention was paid to details, like the zippers that are held in the same color as the lining. Overall, the bag offers a very well thought through design that provides a maximal amount of functionality.

To comment on a few of the other reviews:
The bright inside coloring is what sets this bag apart from thousands of other black/grey, boring laptop bags. If you don't like it, or feel embarrassed by it, obviously you bought the wrong bag. The lack of handle and back pocket is something to consider when buying, and the velcro strap that holds the laptop in place could probably be improved. For me the bag is close enough to perfect to warrant a five star review.

Overall, this is a very well designed and solidly manufactured laptop bag, and exactly what I was looking for. It won't be perfect for everyone, so I hope this review helps deciding whether or not it is suitable for you.

PS: I had actually ordered the black/pumpkin. Amazon sent the wrong color, but since it's a present, and I didn't feel like messing around, I decided to keep it. Minus one star for Amazon, but the bag is still very nice.

i just got this a week ago, and it's perfect for me. All the other bags I looked at had some kind of little problem and by looking at the pictures and details I thought this would work out just right and it has! I'll be going to college this fall so I needed something carry my stuff around in. I love the fact that the laptop goes in vertically making it look a lot slimmer, and it's with all my stuff in it's not too heavy (which was why I didn't really want a messenger bag, because it kills your shoulders after a while if its too heavy.) The clasps give me assurance that it won't rip or anything and I love the way the flap is, because it prevents any rain or snow or anything from getting in at all! The fabric on the outside is sturdy and the fabric on the inside where my MBP fits is soft and cushy. It has room for everything, my wallet, keys, ipod, pens/pencils, cell, a book or two and my laptop of course. I also love the color as well on the inside, although I was surprised as in reality it's a bright turquoise color. The only thing that might bother me when putting my laptop in is the fact that the strap the secures the laptop inside the case won't fit around a 15" it's made for a 13" even though it says it fits both.

The bag is much heavier than I expected it to be.
The interior pockets are too narrow and too few to keep me truly organized. They are also not deep enough for my purposes.
An additional handle at top of bag would be a useful addition to the design.

There are a lot of options for carrying your laptop around. I was looking for something a little different from what I had used before. This bag carries well, but the addition of a rubberized grip on the strap to keep it from slipping on your shoulder would be a welcome addition. The inner pocket that holds my MacBook Pro is snug. Not too tight unless you also use a snap on cover for the laptop. The interior pockets seem well crafted and carry the odds and ends that accompany a laptop adequately. This is not really a business bag, but the look will probably not appeal to the business guys. I do like the vertical orientation - it seems to be a little easier to carry without banging into things. This bag is well made and looks like it would take a beating. The materials look first class. Overall a great bag for the price.

First, the good:

1) The bag looks great.
2) A 15" Macbook Pro fits nicely and is well padded.

Now the bad:

1) You can't fit a whole lot in there beyond a laptop. Even packing just the battery charger makes the bag feel kinda bulky.
2) The strap has unclipped accidentally from the bag a few times since I've owned it, causing the bag (and the laptop inside it) to crash to the ground and making a small dent in the laptop.
3) The strap clip squeaks when you're walking.
4) There's no handle. This makes quickly picking up and moving the bag a pain, as you either have to grab a handful of the top of the bag, or grab the shoulder strap, which is unwieldy for just moving the bag.
5) The compartments in the bag are too small to be of any use. There are three small compartments, each big enough to hold a deck of cards. Then there's a zippered, medium-sized pocket which still isn't big enough to fit anything useful.
There are no compartments that can fit a laptop charger.
6) There's no padding at all on the strap. "Luckily" this isn't much of a problem, since you can't carry a whole lot in the bag, so it's never that heavy.

I was looking for a laptop bag for my 15-inch macbook pro. i bought this vertical messenger bag and so far very happy. Here's a breakdown on why i scored 4 of 5 stars.

+2 - It definitely holds my 15-inch macbook pro well. It has a little velcro in the laptop slot that keeps the computer snug in place.

+1 - It feels very thick and sturdy, almost like it can get wet and won't seep through. basically no way in hell this bag will rip or tear in any place

+1 - its hip/cool/awesome/stylish - mine is grey and lime green on the inside. Chicks dig lime green things.

4 - stars

I left out 1 star, because i wish i was about an inch thicker. Its got room to fit a laptop, but very little room for things once its full. Definitely not 2 laptops, or even a small digital camera. womp womp.