[PLUG] laptop bag - marginally Linux related

Rogan Creswick creswick at gmail.com
Fri Mar 14 01:45:08 UTC 2008


On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 4:14 PM, Kurt Sussman <plug at merlot.com> wrote:
>  But my T61 doesn't fit. I need something that doesn't look extreme; not
>  too corporate and not too pierced and tattooed. No big logos, no fine
>  Corinthian leather, no shiny buckles. On the inside, I need room for a
>  15.4" widescreen with the fattest factory battery and all my stuff
>  (power brick, collection of retractable cables, paper notebook,
>  headphones and a Clif bar).

I've been using a Chrome messenger bag (www.chromebags.com) daily for
years (~10 years?) it doesn't have a laptop sleeve, but that's easily
remedied by getting one for $20 (I *don't* suggest Tom Bihn sleeves --
they are very expensive and very bulky, which seems counter to the
idea of a sleeve.)

Things I like about the big chrome bag / little sleeve combo:

   * it doesn't look at all like a laptop bag.
   * new laptop? new $20-30 sleeve, same ~$100 bag, and you *could*
carry ~4 T61's at once, if you were insane.
   * in 10 years of daily use, the only sign of wear is sun bleaching.
   * lots of space, and you can take the laptop sleeve out if you need
more (and either leave the laptop, or get another strap and carry the
sleeve over your other shoulder)
   * Chrome makes amazing messenger bags.  It has a rubberized liner
which is waterproof, and once you grock packing it right, you can
easily make it mold to your back at nearly any level of fullness.

My only complaint is that I haven't found a good way to carry a camera
+ lenses in it.

Chrome does make laptop bags, but I have no experience with them.
I've also been generally impressed with Crumpler bags, but they are
quite heavy and somewhat stiff, so they may or may not meet your
needs.  Tom Binh bags look nice, and many of them probably are (plus,
he's local to Seattle) but the sleeve I'm using now is by him ant it
is bulky compared to other sleeves, as well as costing somewhere
around $45 + $20 for the shoulder strap. (I desperately needed one on
hours notice, and it was the only place open.)

--Rogan



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