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Seeking the Perfect Laptop Bag

Finding the best case for toting a notebook (and sundry other necessities) wasn't easy—but it was worth it, thanks to the eBags Firewall.

By Christopher Lindquist

June 15, 2007 — CIO — Needs change. For years my laptop carrier of choice was a now-unavailable Briggs & Riley backpack that had survived a decade of abuse and still didn't look much worse for the wear. Unfortunately, such durability has a downside. It left me stuck with a perfectly good computer bag in an unfortunate shade of bright blue that made me look like a balding third-grader on his way to grammar school.

The bag had other problems, too. While it was great for carrying a laptop and a sheaf of paperwork, it had precious few other pockets—just a pair of unpadded narrow slots on the sides and a back zippered section with spots for pens, business cards and maybe some spare change.

It was time for something new. Something with a more professional aura. Something with more space to hold the cables, cell phone, PDA, camera and other paraphernalia that have come to define my working life. Yet it still needed to hold paperwork. (The paperless office is nothing more than a 20-year-old cruel lie, after all.) And a shoulder strap; a nicely padded shoulder strap.

I started hunting at the local electronics, computer and luggage stores as well as online, but what I encountered was a mix of depressingly shoddy and unimaginative or outrageously expensive laptop bags.

While poking around the eBags.com website, however, I discovered their top-selling Firewall laptop brief. It seemed to have everything I was looking for, and users were raving about the thing. $69.95 and a few days later, I had my bag. And I (almost) couldn't be happier.

First, the downside: The interior is orange. Bright, blaze orange. Turn the bag inside out, put it on your head, and you' d be legally compliant for deer hunting in most states. If orange isn't your color, you'll be unhappy. That said, the orange makes it very easy to find things. Nothing gets lost against this bright hue the way it could against a darker background.

Another negative: The bag is a touch tippy. Based on comments on the eBags site, the amount of tippiness seems to depend on the size and shape of laptop you carry, but with my ThinkPad T42, the Firewall has a tendency to keel over slowly unless I lean it against something. A flip-down floor stiffener in the bag' s bottom apparently makes it less of a slouch than previous versions, but it' s still a bag that would rather be on its side. A problem? Not really, but it might annoy some people.

 

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