[McFarmer]

Originally posted by jfromnillicus:
any more thought on the boblbee products? i've had my eye on one for quite some time now. do the peoples' delight models work well with the 15 inch PBs? how much extra room is there? i was looking at a megalopolis because i was afraid the PD would be too small for books and such but no i wonder if the PD would work too.

I bought the Boblbee Peoples Delite model (the smaller model) for my Wallstreet PowerBook five years ago.

The main advantages of this bag, of course in my opinion, are:

- it is rock solid. You can drop it, people can hit it, you can bump into things, the hard shell will protect you and your laptop.

- due to its (deliberately) curved shape part of the weight sits on your lower back, taking a lot of weight off your shoulders. Closing the cross-straps in front of your chest helps additionally. Especially with a heavy laptop, like the Wallstreet, or with heavy books this was a great help. I had other backpacks too but ended up using the Boblbee exclusively because my back felt so much better after carrying my 'Book around for a few hours.

- it is expandable, thanks to its flexible sides, up to more than twice (!) its volume.

- it has its own separate laptop compartment, at the back where the interior is flat. So no matter what else you put in the bag at the front, you can still slip your laptop in and out easily.

The Wallstreet fit in width- and height-wise, but the velcro straps at the top of the laptop compartment which secure the 'Book additionally inside it (in case you should hold the bag upside down), these straps were a bit short in the Delite model. Or in other words the Wallstreet was a bit too big. Since the Wallstreet generally fit though, with only the straps too short, I just bought some velcro cable binders at IKEA and used them as 'extenders' for the straps. With those the Wallstreet was safe. In the 3 1/2 years I carried it around, I must have dropped my bag accidentally at least half a dozen times. The Wallstreet was always safe.

My next PowerBook, a 15" Titanium, fitted even better as it was half as thick as the Wallstreet. I wouldn't have needed the IKEA velcro extensions any longer, but kept them, just in case I wanted to stack another item like a book in the laptop compartment too.

Regarding capacity, I was always surprised how much I could fit into the small Peoples Delite model. As the backpack has flexible sides, it can in fact grow to more than twice the depth and store quite a bit extra. The clever rubberband closing strap allows it to be tightly closed with whatever fill capacity. I think the most I ever put in was when I went for an interview out of town where I had to stay overnight at a friend. I put in my TiBook, 2 magazines, toiletries, a towel, a large bed sheet, a suit (trouser and jacket), a white shirt, socks, t-shirt, boxer short, and a pair of black leather shoes. It was full to the brim, but it fit all in.
I can barely imagine how much more you would be able to pack in the bigger Megalopolis model...

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by poolmouse:
i can vouch for the incredible durability, waterPROOFness, style and flexibility of the timbuk2 detour bag. the only addition would be a 12" sleeve so the laptop sleeve is nice and snug.

the timbuk2 detour is by far the best backpack/shoulderbag i have EVER bought for my laptop.

...did i mention the timbuk2 bags have a layer of rubber that keeps water out? we're talking waterPROOFness...not water resistance.

don

i have a timbuk2 deedog (un protected large messenger bag) as ... in .. unpaded i mean... It has gone through pouring rain in SF and got SOAKED .. horribly soaked ... but the interior was bone dry ... i just hung up my bag for a few hours and the cordura fabric on the outside dried off. now i think they have ballistic nylon material (not a big fan of how the material is shiny so i chose cordura) and i assume the ballistic will dry even faster. the inside is a rubber tarpish material that is soft and very rubbery. nothing gets through. other bags though ... have had water seap through BOTH the zippers and the "water sealing wax" or whatever that thin spray thing that's in there consists of...

[azdude]

I already have had my Tom Bihn Brain Cell for a week or so now (INCREDIBLE), and I'll be taking delivery of my Brain Bag when it arrives on Thursday.

I'll be posting a full review with pics either here or on my website, but I'll let you know.

It sure is expensive, but I purchased it because all feedback that I could find was 110% in love with the Tom Bihn combo, and it was my opinion that it was "the ultimate Powerbook backpack."

I really love the sleeve... the "hard outer shell, soft sling filling" was my vision of the ideal sleeve before I even started looking... and the Brain Cell sure fits it wonderfully.

I'm psyched for my Brain *Bag* as well... it will safely hold my brain cell along with a ton of other stuff if need be, supposedly has incredible build quality (and will, if my brain cell is any indication), and does not appear to be a laptop bag from the outside.

Anyway, end the experience-less speculation... I'll let you all know how it is when it comes on Thursday.

[daiSho]

Originally posted by GENERAL_SMILEY:
I have a Boblbee hardcase back pack thing, it is very comfortable fits my 17 inch AL very securely (I have it in a separate sleeve as well), as well as all my other crap if I need to take it with me - eg. external drive, wacom tablet, etc...

It is made of ABS plastic and I have dropped it with relatively delicate items in eg. my XL1, my laptop - it has so far protected them all.

It comes in lots of colors as well, although I have min in a relatively conservative dark blue so as not to scare off the more staid clients.

Boblbee (Swedish apparently)

this is something i have wondered about for quite a while, and did ask in the mile-long pb case thread but never got a response... so, a 17" pb *will* fit in a Boblbee Megapolis backpack? wonderful news if so, i'll build one up (in orange w/ blue fittings) later this year..!